According to incomplete statistics from Odaily Planet Daily, from January 5 to January 11, 2025, a total of 7 financing events were disclosed globally in the blockchain sector, a slight increase from 4 events in the previous week. The total amount raised reached $33.2 million, a significant increase from $2.77 million in the prior week. Investment and financing activities have returned to normal this week.
The largest single financing deal this week was from the stablecoin company Rain, which announced a $250 million fundraising round at a valuation of $1.95 billion. Next was Protege, an AI data exchange platform, which announced a $30 million Series A funding round.
The following are specific financing events (Notes: 1. Listed in order of disclosed amount; 2. * indicates companies in "traditional" sectors partially involving blockchain technology):
On January 9, stablecoin company Rain announced the completion of a $250 million funding round at a valuation of $1.95 billion, led by ICONIQ with participation from Sapphire Ventures, Dragonfly, Bessemer, Lightspeed, and Galaxy Ventures. To date, the company has raised a total of over $338 million. Rain helps clients launch stablecoin cards on the Visa network. The company plans to use the capital to expand its presence in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, and will also utilize these funds to help adapt to the rapidly evolving global regulatory environment.
AI Data Exchange Platform Protege Completes $30 Million Series A Round Led by a16z
On January 8, AI data exchange platform Protege announced the completion of a $30 million Series A funding round, led by a16z, with participation from Footwork, CRV, and Bloomberg Beta. To date, the company has raised a total of $65 million. Protege supports AI optimization, data cleansing, anonymization, and formatting of authorized aggregated datasets for training and evaluation, while also helping data providers earn revenue sharing.
On December 31, the Web3 gaming ecosystem project RuneSoul officially announced the completion of a $30 million strategic funding round. According to reports, the funds from this round will be specifically allocated for the reconstruction of the platform's underlying architecture and a brand strategy upgrade, marking RuneSoul's official transition from a GameFi gaming project to a Web3 gaming aggregator and launchpad platform.
RuneSoul is committed to building an end-to-end full-chain service system covering asset issuance, user growth, incentive mechanisms, on-chain data analysis, and final settlement, aiming to become the "Steam + issuance middleware" of the Web3 industry.
Babylon Completes $15 Million Financing Round, Backed by a16z Crypto
On January 7, the decentralized Bitcoin ecosystem protocol Babylon announced that it has successfully raised $15 million in funding, with participation from a16z Crypto. Specific valuation details have not been disclosed. It is known that Babylon's competitors include centralized service providers such as Coinbase, Kraken, and Tether. The company plans to integrate its technology with the lending protocol Aave in the second quarter of this year. Currently, the company has more than 40 employees.
RWA Distribution Infrastructure TBook Secures Over $10 Million in Funding, Led by SevenX Ventures
On January 9, RWA distribution infrastructure TBook announced the completion of a new round of funding, led by SevenX Ventures, with participation from KuCoin Ventures, Mask Network, HT Capital, VistaLabs, Blofin, Bonfire Union, LYVC, and GoPlus. The company stated that its total funding has now exceeded $10 million. It is currently building an embedded RWA liquidity layer, aiming to connect asset issuers with qualified users.
HabitTrade Completes Nearly $10 Million A-Round Financing, Led by Newborn Town Inc.
On January 8, HabitTrade announced on the X platform that it has successfully completed a near $10 million Series A round of financing. The round was led by Newborn Town Inc., with participation from Bright Venture Capital, StableStock, and other investors. This funding marks HabitTrade's transition from foundational development to the next phase of scaled expansion. HabitTrade will utilize these funds to expand its regulated brokerage infrastructure globally and accelerate the integration of traditional capital markets with on-chain finance.
KOLECT Completes $1.2 Million Pre-Seed Funding, Led by amber.ac under Amber Group
On January 10, trading strategy platform KOLECT announced that it has recently completed a $1.2 million Pre-Seed round of funding. The round was led by amber.ac, the Web3 accelerator program under Amber Group, with follow-on investments from Wonder Capital Group and GC Capital.
On January 9, digital finance and payment infrastructure provider PhotonPay announced the completion of a multi-million-dollar Series B funding round, led by IDG Capital, with participation from GL Ventures (Gaoling Ventures), Enlight Capital, Lightspeed Faction, and Shoplazza. The new funding will support the deployment of a blockchain-driven next-generation payment infrastructure, leveraging smart contracts to reshape the automation and transparency of global settlements, reduce transaction frictions and processing costs, and simultaneously enhance AML (anti-money laundering) and anti-fraud systems.