Tag: funding

Nigerian Payments Provider Nomba Secures $30 Million in Pre-Series B Funding Round – Africa Bitcoin News

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The Nigerian payments startup, Nomba, is reported to have raised $30 million via a pre-Series B that was led by Base10 Partners. The new solution is expected to help the startup operate more efficiently and deliver “excellent customer experiences.” Plugging Gaps in Payment Processes Nomba, a Nigerian payments startup, has raised a US$30 million pre-Series B funding round. According to a Disrupt Africa report, the startup’s oversubscribed equity round was led by San Francisco-based Base10 Partners. Helios Digital Ventures, Shopify, Partech, and Khosla Ventures also participated in the round. As…

Quadratic funding: The future of crowdfunding, explained

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Quadratic funding is a new approach to crowdfunding that incentivizes smaller contributions and promotes the funding of diverse, high-quality projects. What role could blockchain technology play in the future of quadratic funding? In the future, blockchain technology has the potential to significantly enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of quadratic funding.  Blockchain technology can alleviate some possible issues and restrictions with the present system by offering a safe, open, and unchangeable record of donations and funding distributions. Blockchain-based smart contracts can automate the entire funding process, lowering the risk of abuse…

US-Based Bitcoin Focused Startup Fedi Raises $17 Million in Series A Funding Round – Africa Bitcoin News

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Fedi, the U.S.-based fintech which is led by the Nigerian bitcoin advocate Obi Nwosu, said on May 3 that it recently raised $17 million in a Series A funding round. The company said it will use the funds to help it launch what it called the “world’s first federated operating system.” Obi Nwosu said the Fedi Alpha version, which is targeted at the builder community, is set to be rolled out later in May. ‘Protecting User Privacy and Autonomy’ The United States-based fintech and bitcoin-focused company Fedi announced on May…

a16z and Others Invest $100M in AI Startup Pinecone in Series B Funding

The investment from a16z is a strong vote of confidence in Pinecone’s technology. California-based AI startup, Pinecone has received a $100 million investment from venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) in its series B funding. The round also featured ICONIQ Growth, Menlo Ventures, and Wing Venture Capital. Following the investment, the company now has a market valuation of $750 million. With the investment, the vector database company will expand its team and improve its database further. Gaining Ground Pinecone creates vector databases that serve as long-term memory for AI models.…

Standard Chartered-backed Zodia Crypto Custody Raises $36M in Funding Round Led by SBI Holdings

With the SBI investment, Zodia Custody will increase its Japan presence amid increased demand for digital assets from institutional investors in the country. Zodia Custody, an institutional-grade crypto asset custodial platform backed by Standard Chartered in association with Northern Trust, has announced that it raised approximately $36 million led by Japanese financial conglomerate SBI Holdings. The London-headquartered crypto startup announced that the funding round also saw participation from SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s venture arm. As a result, SBI Holdings is now the second-largest shareholder in Zodia Custody after Standard Chartered…

Crypto Wallet Giddy Raises $6.9M in Funding to Further Self-Custody Adoption

“Crypto users understand now, more than ever, that there are serious risks with a third-party holding their tokens for them,” Giddy said in its statement. “Crypto, at its core, is about taking back control of your finances and embracing financial freedom, but this cannot happen as long as the mainstream continues to rely on centralized, custodial, trust-based platforms.” Source 6.9MadoptionCryptofundingGiddyRaisesSelfCustodyWallet CryptoX Portal

Britain Unveils £100M Funding for Taskforce to Help Build AI

The AI taskforce has the mandate to improve the economy of Great Britain through state-of-the-art and in-demand technology. Great Britain through its Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan have unveiled the creation of an expert taskforce to help build Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions for the country. According to a press release shared by the UK Government, the taskforce has been bootstrapped with the sum of £100 million (approximately $124.5 million) to commence work. As the announcement noted, the allocated sum will be in addition to the £900…

VC funding into Web3 start-ups down 82% year-over-year: Crunchbase

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According to data from Crunchbase, venture capital (VC) funding into Web3 start-ups tanked 82% year-over-year (YoY), declining from $9.1 billion in Q1 2022 to $1.7 billion in Q1 2023. Crunchbase News highlighted the data in an April 20 report, noting that the $1.7 billion figure for Q1 2023 also marks the lowest amount of Web3 start-up funding since the $1.1 billion posted in Q4 2020 — a time in which “many people had never heard of Web3.” In this context, Web3 startups are defined as early-stage companies that are either…

Berachain, DeFi-focused Layer-1 Platform, Secures $42M in Series A Funding

Berachain’s “proof-of-liquidity” consensus system will allow users to simultaneously stake assets on Berachain while using those assets to trade, borrow, or lend on-chain. On Thursday, April 20, DeFi-focused Layer 1 platform Berachain announced that it had raised a total of $42 million in Series A funding at a valuation of $420 million. Polychain Capital led the fundraising, already finalized in December 2022, along with other investors such as da05, Hack VC, Tribe Capital, CitizenX, Shimla Capital, and Robot Ventures. Along with it, several undisclosed centralized exchanges also chose to participate.…