iAngels is a women-led venture capital firm and one of Israel's most active and recognized investors. Combining a deep, proprietary due-diligence process alongside best-in-class reporting, iAngels provides a window into Israel's extremely rich startup world and has a proven ability to generate and deliver superior VC returns. iAngels believes in going beyond and backs those who do, partnering with some of the highest-caliber entrepreneurs in the nation.

iAngels

ConsenSys is an Ethereum software web3 company. ConsenSys enables developers, enterprises, and people worldwide to build next-generation applications, launch modern financial infrastructure, and access the decentralized web. ConsenSys' product suite, composed of Infura, Quorum, Truffle, Codefi, MetaMask, and Diligence, serves millions of users, supports billions of blockchain-based queries for its clients, and has handled billions of dollars in digital assets. Ethereum is a programmable blockchain in the world, business adoption, developer community, and DeFi activity. On this trusted, open-source foundation, ConsenSys is building the digital economy of tomorrow.

ConsenSys

ViaBTC is a world top Bitcoin mining pool and cloud mining contract provider.

ViaBTC

Blockchain Founders Fund (BFF) is a Singapore based early-stage Venture Capital Fund which invests in top-tier Blockchain startups globally. Their industry leading go-to-market focused Venture Program aids seasoned and first-time entrepreneurs across key business functions to fast-track growth. BFF has scaled many of the leading Blockchain startups and is always looking to connect with exceptional founders across the industry including Web3, metaverse, gamefi, DeFi, and NFT.

Blockchain Founders Fund

Join me and on the cryptocurrency revolution – a movement to decentralize the world and build a layer a trust. Boxmining is the only YouTube channel with a truly global outreach forming a bilingual bridge between China and the West! I break down the most important topics into easy-to-stand videos and cover how it’s received in both the East and the West. Covering Bitcoin, Vechain, Ethereum, and Decred I leave no technology undiscovered.

Boxmining

Founded in 2017, Krypital Group is a leading global venture capital firm and blockchain incubator. Vested in a complete blockchain ecosystem, the company has specific investment funds for both primary and secondary markets, as well as providing end-to-end services such as project incubation, brand management and technical advisory. To date, Krypital Group has active arms in North American, Asia and Latin American.

Krypital Group

Mapleblock Capital is an investment firm that exclusively consults and invests in crypto-assets and blockchain companies. It was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Delhi, India.

Mapleblock Capital

Woodstock Fund is a multi-asset investment fund that focuses on early and growth-stage Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) startups.

Woodstock Fund

Transform Capital is a traditional late-stage venture capital fund with a unique approach to impact. We invest in high-growth, revenue generating technology companies and donate 50% of General Partners’ profits to causes selected by Transform investors and founders.

Transform Capital

Momentum 6 architect momentum for crypto and blockchain projects.

Momentum 6

GBV Capital is dedicated to invest, develop, and the support blockchain and crypto projects to build our future

GBV Capital

Curve is a decentralized exchange liquidity pool on Ethereum designed for extremely efficient stablecoin trading. Launched in January 2020, Curve allows users to trade between stablecoins with low slippage, low fee algorithm designed specifically for stablecoins and earning fees. Behind the scenes, the tokens held by liquidity pools are also supplied to the Compound protocol or iearn.finance where to generate more income for liquidity providers. Currently, there 7 Curve pools: Compound, PAX, Y, BUSD, sUSD, ren, and sBTC which support a swaps for wide variety of stablecoins and assets. Curve currently has no native token. Although the team plans to release a CRV token eventually. Each Curve pool has its own ERC20 token. Curve has most recently been audited in March 2020 by Trail of Bits.

Curve Finance

Morningstar Ventures is an investment firm backing ambitious ideas by early-stage founders. Based in Dubai, Morningstar Ventures focuses primarily on the blockchain and digital assets space and is led by Chief Investment Officer Danilo S. Carlucci. The firm is active in both token investments and equity investments and has a particularly strong focus on the Elrond ecosystem. In October 2021 Morningstar Ventures launched the Elrond Dubai Incubator to support projects building with Elrond technology.

Morningstar Ventures

Mr.Block is a blockchain community that creates a connection between international projects and another country. It believes that this is crucial to growing a healthy market for blockchain and cryptocurrency.

Mr. Block

Banter Capital is an early stage venture capital fund focused on backing founders who are unusual, surprising, curious, and ambitious. It is the distillation of a near decade apprenticeship working under the mentorship of some of the best venture capitalists of all time.

Banter Capital

Bison Fund Management invests in private small businesses by providing flexible capital solutions.

Bison Fund Management

Newman Capital is a proprietary venture capital firm headquartered in Hong Kong with a footprint across APAC and the United States. Our vast knowledge and network allow us to interconnect with diverse communities: East and West, Web2 and Web3, developed and emerging markets, and more. We seek aspirational founders and technology at the forefront of Web3 and connect them with our top-tier network and resources to unlock new opportunities and access, enabling them to scale with true impact.  We focus on investing in early-stage startups building pioneering technologies. Our core investment areas are in consumer applications, development enablers, and blockchain infrastructure.

Newman Capital

Polygon Ventures is an investment firm that focuses on early-stage Web3 startups.

Polygon Ventures

Cypher Capital is a web3 and blockchain venture capital investment firm.

Cypher Capital

Ozaru Ventures operates as a venture capital firm.

Ozaru Ventures

EnigmaFund, a venture capital fund founded in 2019 by Enigma, a technology founder, advisor, and investor with over 20 years of experience in decentralized technologies and approaches, as well as AI, and infrastructure, announces its continued commitment to driving innovation and investment in the Web3 space. From its origins as a smaller personal fund, EnigmaFund has evolved into a significant and highly active player in the crypto venture ecosystem. Since its inception, the firm, has made strategic investments in several notable companies in the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization (portfolio). ''In 2016, I had already been deeply involved in leading Web2 companies driven by a thesis in decentralization for a decade. When I was introduced to crypto and blockchains, it just made instant sense to everything I believed in,'' shares Enigma, underlining their commitment to the Web3 revolution. EnigmaFund is pleased to announce its forthcoming extension to the main fund, which will open doors for high-net-worth individuals and other funds to access the fund's exclusive deal flow. This expansion demonstrates EnigmaFund's commitment to democratizing access to the world of Web3 investments. The fund has gained a reputation for its multifaceted approach, intertwining both investment and advisory roles. According to EnigmaFund, a remarkable 70% of the fund is allocated to companies they advise, aimed at helping founders achieve parabolic outcomes in various areas while steering clear of costly mistakes. Enigma explains, ''Many founders in Web3 are young and seek guidance from sources with motivations that are not aligned with the project's best interests, creating adverse effects for everyone involved. Some of the biggest areas of recurring concern are rampant spending on unmeasurable marketing, lack of investment in assets that work hard for them during downtime (storytelling, go-to-market, positioning), poor tokenomic design, modeling, utility, and sustainability, and an inability to assess market makers or exchange listing performance consistently, which often lead to disaster.'' EnigmaFund's mission is to empower exceptional entrepreneurs as they tackle meaningful and ponderable challenges with a balanced, systematic, and creative approach. Enigma emphasizes the importance of measurable tasks, missions, and approaches for sustainable success in the Web3 landscape. The remaining 30% of the fund is dedicated to direct investments, secondary deal flow, and the accumulation of vesting OTC (Over The Counter) tokens and digital assets. Enigma explains, ''A lot of people have run out of liquidity by overextending themselves in the past two years. EnigmaFund is a source of receiving liquidity in exchange for assets from teams we believe in.'' EnigmaFund has already displayed its active participation in the Web3 ecosystem, making investments and securing advisory roles in a diverse range of layer-1 and layer-2 networks, oracles, Web3 tools, and DeFi projects. EnigmaFund's dedication to fostering the growth of Web3 technologies and guiding visionary entrepreneurs makes it a notable force in the venture capital landscape. As it expands its reach, the fund remains committed to supporting innovation and driving meaningful progress in the Web3 space.

EnigmaFund

Asteroid is a blockchain-focused venture fund and advisory firm.

Asteroid Capital

dt/dv

ZeroLend

Altcoinist is an interoperable community gating infrastructure that transforms private communities into vibrant on-chain economies by bringing cutting-edge token gating, community staking pools, and enabling new revenue sources for creators and communities.

ZeroLend is the most efficient and dominant lending market on Linea, zkSync, Blast and Manta.

ZeroLend offers a DeFi platform built on the zkSync scaling solution, that enables users to lend and borrow a range of layer 2 cryptocurrency assets. It provides an account abstraction feature that allows for fee-less and delegated transactions as well as social logins. Moreover, it also offers a native stablecoin named ONEZ, which can capture the native yield from the lending protocol and has self-loan repaying capability.

Disrupting the traditional financial system using blockchain

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

Altcoinist

Ready

AlphaCrypto Capital

Entangle Protocol

Superchain Network

Movement Labs

ZeroLend offers a DeFi platform built on the zkSync scaling solution, that enables users to lend and borrow a range of layer 2 cryptocurrency assets. It provides an account abstraction feature that allows for fee-less and delegated transactions as well as social logins. Moreover, it also offers a native stablecoin named ONEZ, which can capture the native yield from the lending protocol and has self-loan repaying capability.Moreover, the company plans to launch its native governance token, ZERO in the first quarter of 2024. As of February 2024, the protocol averaged around 100,000 daily active users, with a total value locked of USD 56 millionFunding and financialsIn February 2024, ZeroLend<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/26829"> secured USD 3 million</a> in a seed funding round from Momentum 6, Blockchain Founders Fund, Morning Star Ventures, Banter, and Capital, among others, at a valuation of USD 25 million.

MakerDAO is a DAO (governed through the MKR token) that manages the Sky protocol (formerly known as Maker).&nbsp;Developed on the Ethereum blockchain, the protocol allows users to place their funds (through cryptocurrency) as collateral in exchange for its stablecoin DAI, which is pegged to the USD. DAI can be used like any other cryptocurrency and even as savings since holders of DAI are entitled to a return based on the DAI Savings Rate (DSR). The DSR is determined by members of the DAO using a mix of public and proprietary market data.Sky offers access to investing and borrowing DAI through the Oasis app which was developed by some of the creators of protocol. In addition, the protocol is available for developers of DeFi apps who can build apps to facilitate earning, investing, and borrowing DAI. As of May 2024, Sky had integrated with over 400 applications ranging from payment systems to gaming platforms. It generates revenue through stability fees (akin to interest payment on borrowed DAI) and liquidation fees which is an additional charge that occurs when the value of the submitted collateral falls below a set liquidation amount.&nbsp;In April 2022, the protocol announced that it was bridging to StarkNet, a reportedly cheaper and faster zero-knowledge (ZK) overlay chain built by StarkWare. Along with its expansion on Ethereum, the DAO had planned to move toward a multi-chain offering with this rebuild. It planned to roll out this offering in four phases, beginning with a simple bridge between the main blockchain and StarkNet’s Layer 2.&nbsp;In February 2023, the company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16269?industryIds=64">launched a new lending platform</a> named Spark Protocol, to enable users to borrow, lend, and stake DAI, the protocol’s stablecoin. The platform, which is a fork of Aave's version 3 (v3), will be built by Phoenix Labs, a research and development company formed by the DAO. Additionally, the company also announced the deployment of etherDAI, a liquid staking derivative for Ethereum that will be pegged to the value of ETH. Furthermore, in March, the protocol went on to<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17322"> approve several new proposals </a>that make changes to both its governance structure and the investment of its treasury. These changes divide the DAO’s current structure into smaller self-governed and self-sustained units named SubDAOs, which will also have their own tokens in the MakerDAO ecosystem. Moreover, the proposal also planned to increase the protocol’s revenues by investing a part of its reserves (worth USD 7 billion) into real-world assets and money-market funds.&nbsp;The platform outlined its plans for a major update (named Endgame) in May 2023. The launch was proposed to take place in five phases and will ultimately lead to the creation of a new blockchain. The road map is as follows: 1) launching new branding and website as well as upgraded versions of Dai and MKR tokens; 2) launching six Maker SubDAOs, specializing in user acquisition, decentralized frontends, and collateral allocation; 3) introducing new AI tools to assist governance, including tools for summarizing, interpreting, and generating governance proposals; 4) enabling rewards for governance participation; and 5) deploying a new blockchain to house backend logic for SubDAO tokenomics and governance security. The first phase of the update is expected to be rolled out in the summer of 2024.&nbsp;In August 2024, the protocol followed through with the first phase of its plans by <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32993">rebranding itself under the new name "Sky"</a>, and launching new versions of DAI and MKR tokens named the USDS and SKY.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsIn September 2024, Sky<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33252"> partnered with Aave Labs</a>, to launch the “Sky Aave Force” initiative. The initiative featured key proposals such as integrating the newly launched USDS and sUSDS stablecoins on Aave’s V3 protocol, introducing an incentive program for sUSDS suppliers and deploying a direct deposit module for USDS into the Aave Lido Market. Additionally, the partnership will enable the companies to distribute SPK tokens, the native token of Sky’s lending protocol Spark, to create a market for sUSDS on Aave. Collectively, these initiatives enable users to earn yields on their sUSDS deposits from the revenues generated by Sky’s protocol and mint USDS directly on Aave without meeting the usual collateral requirements.

MakerDAO

Founded by former executives of Qualcomm, Solana Labs is the developer of the Solana blockchain, which uses the native cryptocurrency SOL. The company enables developers to create decentralized applications in its blockchain and is capable of carrying out 50,000 transactions per second (TPS) with a theoretical upper limit of 710,000 TPS for the architecture. As of May 2024, the blockchain averaged around 2,400 TPS. This is in contrast to Ethereum’s average of between 13 to 15 TPS. In addition to transaction speed, Solana also has other advantages such as lower transaction fees and improved scalability, given its proof-of-stake consensus mechanism and underlying architecture. The mechanism also enables users to stake their SOL and earn yields for validating the network. Solana provides the ability to create specialized tooling and programming functionality to tokens through <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25910">Token Extensions</a>. This allows developers and businesses to establish rules for tokens, such as dictating their functionality and determining their holders, as well as embed features like whitelisting, automatic transfer fees, and confidentiality provisions for transfers.Solana also provides guides and a content aggregator website for developers to discover tools to create dApps on its blockchain. As of May 2024, more than 440 dApps were created on Solana, ranging across use cases such as DeFi, NFTs, and gaming. It also <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18094">launched a ChatGPT </a>(a chatbot built on OpenAI's GPT model) plugin to allow developers and users to query the blockchain for on-chain data. The plugin works through the ChatGPT interface and allows users to perform various tasks such as checking wallet balances, transferring tokens, and purchasing NFTs.Key customers and partnershipsWeb browser developer Opera partnered with Solana in December 2021 to integrate the blockchain and create a built-in crypto wallet onto the Opera browser to improve accessibility to dApps hosted on the blockchain.As of May 2024, the company served several enterprise clients such as Shopify, Asics, Helio, and Tiplink.Funding and financialsThe total value locked (TVL) in DeFi projects across the Solana blockchain amounted to USD 4 billion as of May 2024. The company raised USD 314 million through an initial coin offering (ICO) of SOL. The ICO was co-led by Polychain Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. The funding was to be used to create a venture investing arm, a trading desk, and support the development of new applications in its blockchain.

Solana

Swiss-based Eidoo is a developer of a wallet that supports cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, along with tokens such as DAI, MKR, AAVE, and UNI, among others. In addition, Eidoo provides a DeFi marketplace that integrates with its wallet, allowing users to trade any tokens that they hold. Eidoo also offers a debit card that allows the conversion of digital assets into fiat currencies, such as the GBP and EURO, and spending or even withdrawing cash from ATMs.Eidoo began with the proprietary token EDO, which it also used to raise USD 27.9 million in an initial coin offering (ICO) in 2017. The token was then upgraded following its merger with blockchain oracle provider Provable Things to establish pNetwork, the infrastructure that facilitates cross-chain interactions between multiple decentralized apps, governed by the token PNT. To obtain an Eidoo debit card, users are required to stake PNT ranging from 20 to 200,000 for various service tiers.Eidoo had several applications such as virtual account numbers to deposit money and obtain a tokenized representation of their deposit as well as features to buy, hold, and trade NFTs in the roadmap as of December 2021.

Eidoo

Synthetix is a DAO (governed by holders of its native token SNX) that offers a platform on which users can trade and vote on the creation of on-chain synthetic assets, which are derivatives based on real-world assets. These synthetic assets enable traders to capture the price movements of assets such as cryptocurrencies, fiat currencies, stocks, and commodities, among others, with zero slippage. The protocol allows users to stake SNX as collateral for the debt pool and earn weekly rewards. As of April 2022, Synthetix had USD 642 million in total value locked (TVL).Additionally, Synthetix also offers the opportunity for developers to build on top of the platform to tap into its liquidity as well as develop decentralized perpetual futures, options markets, deal coordination markets, and more. As of December 2021, the protocol served large DeFi platforms including 1inch, Curve Finance, Yearn Finance, and Paraswap.In February 2023, Synthetix <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16609?industryIds=64">deployed version 3 (v3) of its platform </a>on the Ethereum mainnet. V3 reportedly offers more efficient architecture that enables developers to create products that offer a liquid market for any financial derivative, as well as more complex decentralized applications. Additionally, the solution also offers staking and differentiated debt pools, to enable stakers to earn fees from supplying collateral to specific asset pools. The company went on to deploy its protocol on Base, an Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain developed by Coinbase, in April 2024. Moreover, the company announced plans to launch a new perpetual futures exchange named Infinex in the following months.Funding and financialsIn March 2023, Synthetix <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17267">received an investment of USD 20 million </a>from DWF Labs, a Web3 venture capital company. Synthetix plans to use this investment to drive volume for its protocol across both centralized and decentralized exchanges and invest in product development.

Synthetix

Compound is an open-source lending protocol built on Ethereum that allows developers to build DeFi applications for functions such as deposits and lending. Compound offers adjusted money market interest rates based on asset-specific supply and demand and supports a number of Ethereum-based assets for users to take collateralized loans and lock-up assets without borrowing. Locked assets are automatically liquidated if an independent oracle determines that the price has dropped too low. Additionally, since assets are stored in a shared pool, even users with liquidated collateral can claim tokens if they are able to repay the general pool. Compound also <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13038">offers borrowing services</a> for institutional clients that allow them to borrow USD or USDC at a fixed annual percentage rate of 6% using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ether as collateral, with a loan-to-value of 90%.As of April 2024, Compound had a total value locked (TVL) of USD 2.3 billion. The protocol is governed by its native-token COMP, which along with a variety of other digital assets that are a part of the Compound ecosystem, are supported by Coinbase Custody, a crypto asset custodian. In August 2022, Compound launched a version of its protocol named “Compound III” which features a single borrowable asset. Users can supply collateral that can never be withdrawn by other users (except during liquidation) and borrow USDC.In May 2022, Compound<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10267"> received a B- credit rating from S&amp;P Global Ratings</a> on its enterprise credit facility which offers 4% annually on deposits of the stablecoin USDC. Notably, Compound claims that this is the first time an "institutional DeFi" product has been scored by a major credit rating agency.Funding and financialsCompound’s last funding round was in November 2019 where it raised USD 25 million in a Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z crypto fund to help the company further decentralize the protocol by enabling crypto exchanges and custodians such as Coinbase to maintain the protocol going forward.

Compound

Organizations and protocols that allow individuals to lend their crypto assets and take out collateralized or uncollateralized loans from to/from these projects

Organizations that allow individuals to invest in tokenized financial and real assets

Organizations that provide fully decentralized insurance products

Organizations that apply NFTs across areas of finance such as documentation and non-fractionalized ownership records for assets

Decentralized exchanges that help connect buyers and sellers of DeFi tokens without the need to rely on an intermediary

Organizations that provide digital wallets for users to take custody of DeFi tokens

Blockchains and related protocols that allow developers to build DeFi apps

All companies within this industry are either blockchain-based platforms or offer blockchain-centric services

Promotes financial inclusivity, allowing those that won't traditionally have access to credit to raise funds

Companies with the infrastructure segment offer solutions for users to build decentralized applications

ZeroLend

About EDGE

Contact Us

Resources

Area of Focus

Technology Research Made Effortless