The first edition of 2023 of Boardroom’s Web3 & Tech VC Roundup includes SpaceX, Hack the Box, Digital Village, Animoca Brands, and more.
We just watched web3 startups raise over $7 billion in venture capital.
A Metaverse Post report indicates that in 2022, VC investors cut checks across the NFT, gaming, metaverse, infrastructure, and artificial intelligence sectors with the greatest frequency. Boardroom’s Metaverse VC Roundup columns throughout the year illustrated this trendline, repeatedly showing that web3 gaming and metaverse startups were tirelessly active.
The Web3 industry is continuously evolving, which is why we’re refreshing this column with a new title and enhanced focus. Mixed with what we already cover, Boardroom’s Web3 & Tech VC Roundup will now include a broader outlook on venture deals and investment highlights across web3 and tech industries. In particular, you can expect to see more VC updates related to artificial intelligence, virtual reality, aviation, and augmented reality.
Here are some web3 and tech VC deals you should know about.
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Venom Foundation & Iceberg: $1B to Invest in Web3
Blockchain developer Venom Foundation and its investment manager, Iceberg Capital, partnered to create a $1 billion venture fund to invest in pre-seed to Series A web3 startups. The pair is mainly looking to invest in companies focused on web3 protocols and decentralized applications that are building platforms across payments, asset management, decentralized finance, banking services, and gaming finance sectors.
The Venom Venture Fund will tap into Iceberg’s resources to offer startup founders incubation programs.
The fund already made its first investment in Nümi Metaverse. The size of the investment was undisclosed.
Digital Village: $4M To Enable Brands to Build Virtual Worlds
Digital Village — a metaverse-as-a-service platform and NFT marketplace for brands, creators, and communities — closed a $4 million funding round to help brands build virtual environments for customers, including blockchain-enabled 3D spaces.
The round included an investment from BOLD, LOréal’s corporate venture capital fund. This is the first VC investment L’Oréal has made in the web3 space.
“We are excited to be backed by BOLD and look forward to collaborating with L’Oréal to revolutionize the beauty industry through the creation of cutting-edge virtual experiences for L’Oréal’s renowned brands,” Evelyn MORA, Founder and CEO of Digital Village, said in a statement. “Together, we are setting the bar for beauty in the metaverse and web3, pushing the boundaries of what is possible and setting a new standard for the industry to follow.”
SpaceX: $750M for 2023 Expansion
SpaceX, the Elon Musk-led designer and manufacturer of reusable rockets and aircraft, is raising $750 million in new funding by selling some of its shares for $77 a pop. This latest investment would value the company at $137 billion.
CNBC reported that Andreessen Horowitz is set to lead the funding round with participation from some early SpaceX investors, including Founders Fund, Sequoia, and Gigafund, among others.
SpaceX is using the fresh capital to continue embarking on space missions and providing satellite internet services. The company has 87 rocket launches scheduled for this year.
More Investments
- Hack the Box closed a $55 million funding to continue building its gamified cybersecurity training platform after reaching 1.7 million users.
- Frank DeGods revealed that Polygon gave his incubator, DeLabs, a $3 million non-equity grant to move his NFT projects Degods and y00ts off of the Solana blockchain.
- Fintech startup Butter Payments raised $22 million in Series A funding to help subscription companies combat accidental churn.
- Digital wallet creator Centbee closed a $1 million Pre-Series A funding round.
- Web3 online education infrastructure DeSchool closed its seed round, valuing the company at $15 million.
- Automakers and a mobility provider Stellantis granted Archer Aviation $150 million of equity capital to build an electric aircraft.
- Since announcing a $2 billion fund to invest in middle and late-stage metaverse startups, Animoca Brands decided to lower that fundraising target to $1 billion.
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