Crypto funding: A $46M week with a crypto exchange snagging biggest haul

Seven crypto startups raised a little over $46 million this week, with Web3 payment platforms and an interoperability protocol among the fray. 

Bit2Me, a Spanish crypto exchange, pulled in the most capital this week — $15 million — in a bid to grow its home business as well as expand into Latin America, an area of the world venture capital firms are beginning to see as a crypto hotbed.

The raise was carried out by Investcorp with participation from Telefónica Ventures, Stratminds VC, Cardano and the YGG fund. 

Leif Ferreira, Bit2Me co-founder and CEO, said in a statement that his company has been working for over two years to improve the quality of the product while also maintaining regulatory compliance.

“This funding will boost our acquisition of new customers specially thanks to Investcorp, an international partner with significant financial muscle, and to Telefónica, who will give us more channels in Latin America.”

This news of fresh cash for Bit2Me comes a week after crypto exchanges Coinbase and Binance fell under the crosshairs of the SEC for allegedly selling unregistered securities. Bit2Me’s services aren’t available in the United States, according to its website.

A focus on crypto payments

Two startups focused on streamlining crypto payments raised money this week.

First, Poko secured $4.5 million from lead investors Y Combinator, NAZCA, and Global Founders Capital. Its two main products right now are a direct checkout tool for smart contracts and an onramp aggregator. 

Poko told news outlet Tech in Asia that it has over 11 million active wallets using its payment rails across Latin America, India, and Southeast Asia.

A second crypto payment processor, BoomFi, raised $3.8 million in a round led by White Star Capital with other investors including Kraken Ventures, Layer Zero, and people affiliated with MoonPay and Stripe.

BoomFi allows businesses to accept a wide range of crypto tokens as payment. And the startup has a lofty goal. 

By 2028, it wants to enable a million businesses and merchants to accept digital currencies, according to a statement.

Other notable fundraises

• Connext, a modular interoperability protocol for chains and layer 2s, took in $7.5 million at a $250m valuation.
• ResearchHub, a tokenized social network focused on scientific discovery, raised $5 million. The platform allows anyone to earn crypto if they contribute new information to the science. It was co-founded by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.
• Data and analytics platform Mnemonic locked down a $6 million seed extension. Salesforce was the head investor but joined up with Polygon Ventures, Orange DAO and others.
• Collectibles.com received $5 million from Blockchange Ventures and Peter Thiel to integrate blockchain tech into the collectibles market.

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