Crypto Startup Funding Rises 2.5% in Q2 2024 Despite Fewer Deals: Report

• Pitchbook's Q2 2024 Crypto Report shows a 2.5% increase in venture capital funding for crypto startups, despite a 12.5% decrease in deal count.
• Infrastructure projects led Q2 funding, with notable deals including Monad's $225M Series A, BeraChain's $100M Series B, and Babylon's $70M early-stage round.
• Despite recent upticks, crypto startup funding has significantly decreased compared to 2021 and 2022, when $25.3B and $29.4B were raised, respectively.

Data, research, and insights entity, Pitchbook in its 9 August “Q2 2024 Crypto Report” stated that crypto startups secured a bit more venture capital funding in the second quarter compared to the first, even though there were fewer deals overall. 

The report shows a 2.5% rise in total invested capital, but a 12.5% drop in the number of deals from Q1. This might suggest that institutional investors see greater potential in the market.

Pitchbook reported that infrastructure projects led the way in Q2 funding. Notable deals include Monad, a layer-1 platform, raising $225 million in a Series A round, DeFi protocol BeraChain, which introduced a new Proof-of-Liquidity model, raising $100 million in a Series B round, and Bitcoin restaking platform Babylon securing $70 million in an early-stage round.

In addition, Pitchbook highlighted two “mega-rounds”: decentralized social media protocol Farcaster raised $150 million in a Series A round, reaching a $1 billion post-money valuation, and blockchain gaming platform Zentry raised $140 million in an early-stage round.

However, funding for crypto startups has slowed significantly over the past 18 months compared to 2021 and 2022, when $25.3 billion and $29.4 billion in new capital were raised, respectively.

Edited by Harshajit Sarmah