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<p class="is-style-lead">This week’s crypto funding highlights include investments in web3 gaming, Ethereum scaling, Bitcoin infrastructure and decentralized AI.</p> 
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="riot-platforms-takes-over-block-mining">Riot Platforms takes over Block Mining</h2> 
<p>Our funding roundup starts with a takeover. On July 24, Bitcoin (<a href="https://crypto.news/price/bitcoin/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">BTC</a>) mining firm Riot Platforms said it had <a href="https://crypto.news/bitcoin-miner-riot-platforms-acquires-rival-block-mining-for-92-5m/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">acquired</a> Block Mining, a Kentucky-based Bitcoin miner, in a $92.5 million deal.</p> 
<p>According to Riot, this acquisition could potentially increase its operational capacity by 60 megawatts, with plans to expand to 110 MW by the end of 2024.&nbsp;</p> 
<p>Riot paid $18.5 million in cash and $74 million in common stock for the acquisition.</p> 
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="npc-labs-18-million">NPC Labs, $18 million</h2> 
<p>Web3 gaming infrastructure startup NPC Labs, founded by three former <a href="https://crypto.news/tag/coinbase/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coinbase</a> employees, <a href="https://crypto.news/npc-labs-fundraiser-web3-gaming/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">raised $18 million</a> in a seed funding round.&nbsp;</p> 
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   <p lang="en" dir="ltr">this small team of NPCs is immensely grateful to our VCs and 100+ angels for believing in our onchain gaming vision to bring economic freedom to gamers and game developers.<br><br>thanks <a href="https://twitter.com/VentureBeat?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">@VentureBeat</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/deantak?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">@deantak</a> 🎮<a href="https://t.co/L5e40hhDGY" target="_blank" rel="">https://t.co/L5e40hhDGY</a></p>— npc labs (@npclabs_org) <a href="https://twitter.com/npclabs_org/status/1815408169033884123?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">July 22, 2024</a>
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<p>Pantera Capital led the round, with participation from Mantle EcoFund, Makers Fund, Bitscale Capital, Hashed, Mirana Ventures, and Collab+Currency.</p> 
<p>It brings the total amount of money raised by the project to $21 million after it raked in $3 million in a recent pre-seed round.</p> 
<p>NPC Labs said it will use the funding to bring in new members to the team, especially engineers. It is also angling to increase the adoption of on-chain gaming through its gaming scaling ecosystem, B3.fun, which is built on Base.</p> 
<p> You might also like: <a href="https://crypto.news/eigenlayer-announces-avs-rewards-eigen-programmatic-incentives/"> EigenLayer announces AVS rewards, EIGEN programmatic incentives </a> </p> 
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="caldera-15-million">Caldera, $15 million</h2> 
<p>Caldera, a web3 infrastructure platform, also benefited from this week’s VC activity, raising $15 million in a series A funding round.</p> 
<p>Founders Fund led the round, which also included participation from Lattice, Dragonfly, Arkstream Capital, and Sequoia Capital. It brings Caldera’s total funding to $25 million, with the project having raised $10 million in 2023.&nbsp;</p> 
<p>The U.S.-based startup aims to help developers launch Ethereum rollups or scaling networks “with a single click.” It has a long list of clients, including Injective, RARI Chain, and ApeChain, which altogether have a total value locked of more than $800 million.</p> 
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="igloo-inc-11-million">Igloo Inc., $11 million</h2> 
<p>NFT project Pudgy Penguins’ parent company Igloo, Inc., also got in on the action, <a href="https://crypto.news/pudgy-penguins-secures-l2/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">raising $11 million</a> to develop Abstract, a new layer-2 scaling network on Ethereum (<a href="https://crypto.news/price/ethereum/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ETH</a>).</p> 
<p>Founders Fund led Igloo’s funding round, which included investments from Selini Capital, Everest Ventures, 1kx and Fenbushi Capital.</p> 
<p>Igloo reportedly plans to use the money raised to establish a new entity, Cube Labs, to oversee the development of Abstract.&nbsp;</p> 
<p>In June, Igloo acquired another Layer-2 network, Frame, which majorly supports NFTs. Igloo has said that it will use the team from Frame to help build the Abstract project.&nbsp;</p> 
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="bitlayer-11-million">Bitlayer, $11 million</h2> 
<p>Bitcoin Layer-2 startup Bitlayer successfully <a href="https://crypto.news/bitcoin-startup-bitlayer-raises-11m/" data-type="link" data-id="https://crypto.news/bitcoin-startup-bitlayer-raises-11m/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">raised $11 million</a> in its series A funding round. The round, led by Franklin Templeton, ABCDE, and Framework Ventures, brings Bitlayer’s total investment to $16 million.&nbsp;</p> 
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   <p lang="en" dir="ltr">1/ Bitlayer has successfully raised $11M in our Series A funding round, led by Franklin Templeton [<a href="https://twitter.com/FTI_DA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">@FTI_DA</a>] and ABCDE [<a href="https://twitter.com/ABCDELabs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">@ABCDELabs</a>]. This brings our total investment to $16M.<br><br>Franklin Templeton's participation marks a notable milestone as Bitlayer becomes the first Bitcoin Layer… <a href="https://t.co/4PoF3ft4Zj" target="_blank" rel="">pic.twitter.com/4PoF3ft4Zj</a></p>— Bitlayer (@BitlayerLabs) <a href="https://twitter.com/BitlayerLabs/status/1815732938153082922?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="">July 23, 2024</a>
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<p>Notably, Franklin Templeton’s participation marks the first strategic investment from an <a href="https://crypto.news/ethereum-etfs-first-week-sees-net-outflows-triggered-by-grayscale-ethe/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">ETF-licensed</a> institution in a Bitcoin Layer-2 project.</p> 
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="other-notable-crypto-vc-fundraising">Other notable crypto VC fundraising</h2> 
<p>While the above-mentioned projects brought in the largest investments this week, several other notable rounds helped push the week’s VC funding total, including the Riot Platforms deal, to more than $210 million. Below are some of them, according to <a href="https://crypto-fundraising.info/deal-flow/" target="_blank" rel="">data</a> from Crypto Fundraising:</p> 
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 <li><strong>aPriori</strong> raised $8 million in a seed funding round led by Pantera Capital, bringing its total funding to $10 million.</li> 
 <li><strong>Mezo</strong> raised $7.5 million in a strategic funding round led by Ledger Cathay Fund.</li> 
 <li><strong>OpenSocial</strong> raised $6 million in strategic funding led by Framework Ventures and North Island Ventures, bringing its total funding since inception to $26 million.</li> 
 <li><strong>DAOBase</strong> completed a $6 million funding round with investments from SevenX Ventures, AntAlpha Ventures, and more.</li> 
 <li><strong>Network3</strong> raised $5.5 million in pre-seed and seed funding. The round included Borderless Capital, EV3, IoTeX Eco fund, SNZ, Waterdrip Capital, and Bing Ventures.</li> 
 <li><strong>Redpill AI</strong> secured $5 million in its seed funding round led by Animoca Brands and DFG.</li> 
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<p> Read more: <a href="https://crypto.news/30-solana-celebrity-memecoins-launched-in-june-most-are-dead/"> 30 Solana celebrity memecoins launched in June; most are dead </a> </p>

Crypto VC roundup: Riot Platforms acquires Block Mining in $92.5m deal, NPC Labs raises $18m

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