VC Roundup: Investors pick games, collectibles and creator economy

November strengthened venture capitalists’ confidence in crypto and Web3 projects, with major funding rounds returning to the charts alongside seed capital for early-stage firms. 

Cross-chain protocol Wormhole, for instance, secured a $225-million investment at a valuation of $2.5 billion. The round was led by Brevan Howard, Coinbase Ventures, Multicoin Capital, Jump Trading, ParaFi, Dialectic, Borderless Capital and Arrington Capital.

Another example of capital flocking to Web3 is Rokid. Backed by Temasek Holdings, the startup secured $112 million at a valuation of $1 billion for international expansion, targeting the next generation of virtual reality hardware solutions.

Additionally, early-stage crypto startups cashed smaller checks in November, with BITKRAFT Ventures lending a hand to creative economy platforms and gaming studios in recent weeks.

Cointelegraph’s venture capital (VC) roundup features some of the projects that raised capital in November.

Music collaboration platform Baton raises $4.2 million

Collaboration platform Baton has closed a $4.2 million funding round led by BITKRAFT Ventures with participation from Techstars, Dorm Room Fund, NYU’s Innovation Venture Fund, the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurship, Dark Arts, Franklin Templeton, and Harmonic Future. By leveraging this capital, Baton plans to expand its team and accelerate its product roadmap. The startup is developing an ecosystem dedicated to addressing key issues in the music industry by curating and delivering content “to the right ears, at the right time,” as well as encouraging collaboration and fair compensation for creators. “As a lifelong musician, I’ve seen how challenging it can be for even the most talented creatives to support themselves from their work,” said Baton CEO Gabe Warshaw in a statement, adding that the amount of unreleased songs is a “tremendous untapped” market opportunity.

Saga closes $5 million in seed extension funding

Layer-1 protocol Saga has raised $5 million in a seed extension round led by venture capital firm Placeholder along with Longhash Ventures, Dispersion Capital, Red Beard Ventures, Tykhe Ventures and AVID3. Total funding raised by the company reached $13.5 million. Funds will be used to expand Saga’s team, build strategic partnerships, and grow its Saga Innovator Program, according to an announcement. In total, Saga claims to have nearly 300 projects building on its protocol, while its mainnet is expected to go live in early 2024. The startup is also set to launch its Incentivized Testnet (ITN) Pegasus, which reportedly processed over 150,000 transactions and created 30,000 wallets within two weeks of launching.

Game studio Bazooka Tango raises $5 million from BITKRAFT Ventures

Game studio Bazooka Tango has secured $5 million in a funding round led by BITKRAFT Ventures, with participation from RW3 Ventures, Sfermion, 1Up Ventures, and others, according to an announcement. Along with expanding the studio’s team, the funds will accelerate the development of its collectible tactics game Shardbound. The startup was founded in March 2019 by Bo Daly and Stephan Sherman, former Rockstar Games, Riot, Activision Blizzard employees. Furthermore, Bazooka Tango is collaborating with Immutable Games on collectible tactics games.

Authentick lands $4 million for wallet-free collectibles purchases

Authentick, a platform offering wallet-free purchases of collectibles, disclosed $4 million in seed funding led by Singaporean venture capital firm Menyala. Funds will be used for development and partnerships, according to a press release. Authentick converts digital collectibles into formats compatible with e-commerce platforms, allowing users to purchase them like regular retail items. The platform also recently announced partnerships with e-commerce giants such as Alibaba’s Lazada and Shopify.

Web3 gaming platform Intract raises $3 million

Web3 exploration platform Intract secured $3 million in seed funding from Alpha Wave, BITKRAFT, gumi Cryptos Capital, Polygon, DeVC, MoonPay, Web3 Studios, and tokentus investment AG. The startup offers community engagement solutions, allowing users to earn tokens and NFTs by participating in quests, challenges, and events. Key partnerships include Binance, Polygon and 1inch.

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