Crunchbase’s Web3 Tracker is your field guide to what’s happening in the world of Web3 startups and the investors who fund them.
Last updated: 11/29/2022
Crunchbase News is launching Crunchbase’s Web3 Tracker, a new site to look at startups, investors and funding news concerning all aspects of Web3, cryptocurrencies and blockchain.
Yuga Labs
$4B
Yuga Labs is a blockchain technology company that develops NFTs and digital collectibles. It specializes in the fields of blockchain, cryptocurrency, and digital media. Yuga Labs was founded in 2021 by Wylie Aronow and Greg Solano and headquartered in Miami, Florida.
Miami, United States, North America
Number of Acquisitions 3
Total Funding Amount $450M
LayerZero Labs
$3B
LayerZero Labs is an omnichain interoperability protocol that unites decentralized applications (dapps) across disparate blockchains.
Vancouver, Canada, North America
Number of Acquisitions 0
Total Funding Amount $143M
5ire
$2B
5ire is a blockchain network that brings sustainability, technology, and Innovation to build the 5th industrial revolution (5IR). Founded by Pratik Gauri, Prateek Dwivedi, and Vilma Mattila, proponents of blockchain technology, in August 2021, the mission of the 5ire ecosystem is to embed the for-benefit paradigm at the heart of the blockchain, highly incentivize practices that align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), facilitate the transition from the 4IR to 5IR and accelerate the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The company's primary offering is 5ireChain, a first layer, sustainability-driven 5th generation blockchain that ensures adherence to the philosophy of 5IR, creating a net positive impact on the planet and serving humanity.
London, United Kingdom, Europe
Number of Acquisitions 1
Total Funding Amount $121M
Phantom
$1B
Phantom is a digital wallet reimagined for DeFi and NFTs. Phantom makes it safe & easy for you to store, send, receive, stake, and swap tokens on the Solana blockchain. It was founded in 2021 and is based in San Francisco, California.
San Francisco, United States, North America
Number of Acquisitions 0
Total Funding Amount $118M
MSquared (M²) develops a network that allows metaverses to be used together. It uses blockchain and cryptocurrency to connect digital assets to various organizations. MSquared is based in London, United Kingdom.
London, United Kingdom, Europe
Number of Acquisitions 0
Total Funding Amount $150M
FTX
$32B
FTX Exchange is a cryptocurrency exchange company that develops a platform for professional trading firms. They strive to build a platform powerful enough for professional trading firms and intuitive enough for first-time users. FTX supports quarterly and perpetual futures for all major cryptocurrencies, leveraged tokens, and OTC. FTX was incubated by Alameda Research, a top cryptocurrency liquidity provider. Because of this FTX has had industry-leading order books from day one. It was co-founded by Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang, in 2018 with a mission to build the best derivatives exchange and to help move this space toward becoming institutional.
Nassau, Bahamas, North America
Number of Acquisitions 6
Total Funding Amount $2B
Blockchain.com
$14B
Blockchain.com is a platform that offers ways to buy, hold, and use cryptocurrency. It creates a financial system for the internet that empowers anyone in the world to control their money. Over 50+ million customers have signed up to use the Blockchain.com platform. It's a fast and easy way to buy bitcoin, trade crypto, send, receive, secure, and borrow digital currencies. The Blockchain.com explorer is one of the most trafficked websites in the world to find out what's happening in the crypto markets and the Blockchain.com exchange supports a fast trading experience.
London, United Kingdom, Europe
Number of Acquisitions 5
Total Funding Amount $490M
OpenSea
$13B
OpenSea is a peer-to-peer marketplace for crypto collectibles and non-fungible tokens. It includes collectibles, gaming items, and other virtual goods backed by a blockchain. On OpenSea, anyone can buy or sell these items through a smart contract.
New York, United States, North America
Number of Acquisitions 3
Total Funding Amount $427M
Alchemy
$10B
Alchemy is a web3 developer platform that helps companies to build reliable decentralized applications. Its mission is to provide developers with the fundamental building blocks they need to create the future of technology without the hassle of managing blockchain infrastructure in-house.
San Francisco, United States, North America
Number of Acquisitions 1
Total Funding Amount $564M
KuCoin
$10B
KuCoin is a global cryptocurrency exchange for numerous digital assets and cryptocurrencies. Launched in September 2017, KuCoin has grown into one of the most popular crypto exchanges and already has over 8 million registered users across 207 countries and regions around the world. Known as "People’s Exchange", KuCoin operates in Seychelles, providing users with 24/7 multi-language customer services. Meanwhile, KuCoin has established about 19 local communities in North America, Europe, SEA and other regions, providing users with highly localized services. As the home of crypto gems, KuCoin has supported over 420 projects with 790+ trading pairs. A number of projects like ICP, BOSON, AERGO, RNDR, and DAO had a primary listing on KuCoin. In November 2018, KuCoin announced $20 million (USD) round A funding from IDG Capital and Matrix Partners. In 2021, Forbes Advisor named KuCoin as one of the Best Crypto Exchanges.
Mahé, Seychelles, Africa
Number of Acquisitions 0
Total Funding Amount $180M
Bolide
$41M
Bolide is an easy-to-use self-custody DeFi platform and high-yield aggregator that lets you keep control of your own BTC, ETH, USDT and other crypto assets while still using them to earn some of the highest returns in the market. Using advanced algorithms to track investment opportunities and smart contracts to execute efficiently, Bolide makes your money work twice as hard. Some of their investment strategies include providing decentralized markets with liquidity to farm trading fees, and extracting lending fees from lending protocols - this allows the protocol to offer some of the industry's highest yield. Bolide achieved a TVL of $6.7M in 7 months since the launch of the first strategy. The protocol previously raised $3.4 million in the $BLID token pre-sale, and now it has opened a Series A fundraiser to become multi-chain, develop vaults for all major crypto assets, and offer private vaults with KYC and AML for institutional investors.
London, United Kingdom, Europe
Number of Acquisitions 0
Total Funding Amount $3M
YeraTube
$1M
YeraTube is a fintech video sharing social media platform that brings monetization to African users and content creators banked or unbanked by bridging the gap between traditional digital finance solutions (Bank card transactions) that works worldwide and the mobile money solutions available on the African continent. It's a social media platform where content creators build their communities, upload their creative work and gain points through ad revenue, tips or selling exclusive content that they can withdraw using mobile money solutions available all over the continent. We also are the best marketplace for exclusive African video content.
Delaware, United States, North America
Number of Acquisitions 0
Total Funding Amount $25K
Lemon Cash
$6M
Lemon Cash is digital wallet with FIAT and crypto capabilities. End to end digital ecosystem for Latin America.
Buenos Aires, Argentina, South America
Number of Acquisitions 1
Total Funding Amount $45M
IMERS Immersive VR Trading Software and Metaverse Game
$5M
IMERS virtual reality market trading delivers information both visually and aurally to immerse traders in the information needed to make informed decisions. It allows traders with complimenting skills to work together regardless of location, giving them an edge over competitors. IMERS is currently available as a trading game that will grow in sync with the VR market. The game creates an early path to revenue by providing interactive advertising to the companies that will license our software to convert gamers to paying clients. The game and licensed version will give us what we need to deliver the enterprise version to trading banks keen to decrease their carbon footprint and operate efficient trading desks in the post-COVID world.
Guildford, United Kingdom, Europe
Number of Acquisitions 0
Total Funding Amount $0
Dapper Labs
$8B
Dapper Labs, the company behind NBA Top Shot, uses blockchain technology to bring NFTs and new forms of digital engagement to fans around the world. Since it was founded in 2018, Dapper Labs has given consumer enthusiasts a real stake in the game by bringing them closer to the brands they love, building engaged and exciting communities for them to contribute to, and producing new pathways for them to become creators themselves.
Vancouver, Canada, North America
Number of Acquisitions 2
Total Funding Amount $613M
Web3 is an umbrella term used to describe a new iteration of the Internet that’s primarily built on blockchain technology.
While the Internet of today—or Web2—primarily focuses on user generated content, social networking and cloud computing, Web3’s core focus is on decentralization, transparency and accessibility. The technology ushering in this new era was created in response to the centralized nature of the Internet and the perception that a handful of large corporations control what is and isn’t allowed on the web. Web3 proponents say it puts the power back into the hands of users and creates a more open, transparent and accessible Internet ecosystem.
A few examples of Web3 companies in the U.S. include Alchemy, a developer platform that helps companies build reliable decentralized applications; Polygon, a platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development; and Chainlink, a startup that’s focused on making it easier for traditional data sources, such as APIs, to connect with blockchain technology.
The top three Web3 startups by total funding are Block.one, with $4.1 billion raised; Bitstocks Trading Limited, with £1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) raised; and FTX Exchange, with $1.7 billion raised.
The top three startups in the Web3 ecosystem with the highest valuations are FTX Exchange, valued at $32 billion; Blockchain.com, valued at $14 billion; and OpenSea, valued at $13.3 billion.
While Web3 isn’t a technology, there have been innovations created based on what the concept represents: a decentralized internet. An NFT, or non-fungible token, is an example of one such innovation. NFTs allow individuals to claim ownership over digital art and other assets. For example, if you’re an artist, you can turn an art piece into an NFT and sell it on a marketplace like OpenSea. To purchase the NFT, an individual might pay you 5 Ether for ownership rights. Your newly acquired Ether coins could then increase (or decrease) in value based on demand and market conditions.
A cryptocurrency is a digital currency that’s tradeable and uses cryptography to secure transactions. To create more transparency, these transactions are primarily stored on the blockchain, making them completely traceable.
There are a wide variety of cryptocurrencies, each with its own use case. For example, Bitcoin is considered a store of value. Stellar Lumens (also known as XLM), the token created by the Stellar Development Foundation, was created to help individuals transfer money quickly. These cryptocurrencies, and many like them, can be used for things like investing and making purchases.
Note: please do your research before investing in any cryptocurrency or digital asset.
No. Web3 is the name used to describe the innovations that blockchain technology has given rise to. Cryptocurrency is the digital currency used within the blockchain ecosystem.
To understand how Web3 works, first you need to know the basics of blockchain technology. The blockchain is a distributed database, or ledger, that’s not owned by any one entity (decentralization). It stores information, such as cryptocurrency transactions, in a digital format that can’t be edited or deleted (transparency). This information is stored in a “block” that connects to other blocks when it reaches storage capacity limits, creating a chain. Hence the name blockchain.
With the transparent and decentralized nature of the blockchain, developers are now building a new wave of innovative applications that leverage this technology; what is now known as Web3.
Yes. Our Web3 Tracker is a public resource. We do ask that you please cite Crunchbase as the data source and include a link to the Web3 Tracker when possible. For additional press inquiries, email press@crunchbase.com.
Please reach out to support@crunchbase.com if your company’s data needs to be updated or if something is missing.
