Crypto Startup Funding Rises For Second Straight Quarter

Hi NoRamp Community,

Daily News:

1) NodeOps Raises $5 Million to Transform Node Infrastructure

2) Crypto Startup Funding Rises For Second Straight Quarter 

3) Nomura & Laser Digital Partner With GMO to Explore Stablecoin Issuance

4) M&T Bank Taps Rich Data Co for AI Decisioning Platform

5) Former Stripe Exec Gang Wang Joins Nuvei As CTO

NodeOps Raises $5 Million to Transform Node Infrastructure:

• NodeOps secured $5 million in seed funding to simplify blockchain node deployment and management. The funding round was led by L1D, with participation from Blockchain Founders Fund, Finality Capital, Oakgrave Ventures, Douple Peak Group, Momentum6, and Bitscale Capital, among others.

• The investment will support NodeOps' mission to enhance accessibility and efficiency in reliable infrastructure, fostering innovation and growth in the Ethereum ecosystem. Ray Hindi, Managing Partner at L1D, expressed support for NodeOps' goal of providing essential tools to developers and node operators.

• NodeOps plans to use the funds to create a permissionless Node Orchestration Layer Enabling Value Capture Engine for the on-chain ecosystem and expand operations to support more protocols. As the first permissionless infrastructure marketplace on EigenLayer, NodeOps aims to revolutionize AI, DePIN, and DeFi protocol infrastructure. Co-founder Naman Kabra highlighted the company's dedication to making node infrastructure more efficient and sustainable.

Crypto Startup Funding Rises For Second Straight Quarter:

• Q1 2024 Crypto Startup Funding Surge: Crypto startup funding hit $2.4 billion in Q1 2024, marking a 40% increase from the previous quarter. PitchBook analysts expect continued growth in investment volume and pace throughout the year, barring significant market downturns.

• Major Funding Rounds: Web3 social media platform Farcaster raised $150 million in a Series A round led by Paradigm, with a16z crypto, Haun Ventures, Variant, and Standard Crypto participating. Farcaster has seen significant growth, with 350,000 paid sign-ups and a 50x increase in network activity. EVM layer-2 Plume secured $10 million in seed funding led by Haun Ventures, focusing on bringing real-world assets on-chain.

• Other Notable Funding News: Blockless raised $8 million in pre-seed and seed funding for its decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN). Fantom Foundation announced a $10 million strategic funding round led by Korean fund Hashed. Crypto firm New Form Capital is raising a $100 million fund amid the recent crypto fundraising boom.

  

  Source: The Block

Nomura & Laser Digital Partner With GMO:

• Japanese banking giant Nomura and its digital asset arm, Laser Digital, have partnered with Japan-headquartered GMO Internet Group to explore stablecoin issuance in the country. They plan to explore the issuance, redemption, and circulation of Japanese yen- and U.S. dollar-denominated stablecoins.

• The partnership will offer "stablecoin-as-a-service" products to help companies issue stablecoins, including regulatory compliance management, blockchain integration, and backend transaction management.

• Nomura and Laser Digital will focus on crypto trading, asset management, and venture investment, while GMO will contribute more on the technology side. Steve Ashley, executive chairman of Laser Digital, emphasized that developing a stablecoin for the Japanese market will be key to expanding the accessibility and adoption of digital assets in Japan and beyond.

• Previously, GMO-Z.com Trust, GMO’s U.S. subsidiary, issued stablecoins, including GYEN and ZUSD, on various blockchains.

M&T Bank Taps Rich Data Co for AI Decisioning Platform:

• Rich Data Co. (RDC) has signed its first U.S. customer, M&T Bank Corp., to expand its AI decisioning platform for business and commercial lenders. This partnership highlights AI's transformative power in the financial services sector, according to RDC CEO and co-founder Ada Guan.

• M&T Bank, the sixth-largest commercial bank in North America, will use RDC's AI platform to gain insights into cash flow health, credit risk, and lending opportunities. The platform will also help detect early warning signs, enhance decision-making, and improve risk management and lending strategies.

• The deal was facilitated by RDC’s reseller partner, cloud banking firm nCino, whose Continuous Credit Monitoring solution leverages the RDC platform. This partnership, announced in February 2023, aims to enhance the lending process, provide deeper client insights, and automate workflow and monitoring for financial institutions. Traditional SMB lending is shifting towards AI-driven decision frameworks, enabling better access to working capital and improving risk models and consumer interactions.

Former Stripe Exec Gang Wang Joins Nuvei As CTO:

• Canadian payments processor Nuvei has appointed Gang Wang, Stripe’s former head of payment methods, as its new CTO. Wang will lead Nuvei’s global technology team alongside Max Attias, who transitions to CIO after almost six years as CTO. They will work together to scale Nuvei’s technology and build a strong foundation for future growth.

• Wang brings extensive knowledge of the payments and software sectors, supporting Nuvei’s technology strategy, research, and architecture development. Before joining Stripe in 2021, Wang spent over 13 years at US financial software provider Intuit, eventually becoming VP engineering fellow.

• CEO Philip Fayer expressed confidence in Wang’s ability to enable the broader technology team to thrive. Nuvei recently secured a major payment institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore, allowing it to provide merchant acquisition services and money transfers in a critical region for its growth strategy.

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