Weekly Funding Roundup | 9 Projects Secure Funding, Total Amount Reaches $160 Million (3.09-3.15)
- Core View: From March 9 to 15, 2025, the number and total amount of global blockchain funding events declined compared to the previous period. However, sectors such as stablecoin payments, privacy finance, and Bitcoin infrastructure still attracted significant capital, indicating continued investor bets on specific application scenarios.
- Key Elements:
- This period saw 9 disclosed funding rounds totaling $160 million, a decrease in both count and amount compared to the previous week (8 rounds, $223 million).
- Stablecoin payment company KAST led the round with an $80 million raise, achieving a valuation of approximately $600 million. Funds will be used for global market expansion.
- Zcash Open Development Lab (ZODL), part of the Zcash ecosystem, secured over $25 million in funding with backing from top-tier institutions like Paradigm and a16z crypto, aiming to mainstream privacy finance.
- Funding focus areas included payments (KAST, MetaComp), privacy (ZODL), Bitcoin infrastructure (Ark Labs, OP_NET), and AI-integrated applications (NEXST, VeryAI).
- Singapore-licensed payment service provider MetaComp completed two funding rounds within three months, totaling $35 million, with plans to accelerate expansion in emerging markets across Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
According to incomplete statistics from Odaily, from March 9 to March 15, 2025, a total of 9 financing events were disclosed in the global blockchain sector, showing a slight decrease from the 8 events in the previous week. However, the total financing amount reached $160 million, a significant drop from the $223 million recorded the week before.
The project with the largest single financing amount in this period was the stablecoin payment company KAST, which completed an $80 million funding round. Following that, the Zcash Open Development Lab, founded by former Electric Coin Company CEO Josh Swihart, has secured over $25 million in funding.
The following are the specific financing events (Note: 1. Sorted by the announced amount; 2. Excluding fund raises and M&A events; 3. * denotes "traditional" companies with some blockchain-related business):
On March 9, stablecoin payment company KAST completed an $80 million financing round co-led by QED Investors and Left Lane Capital. The funds will be used for expansion in North America, Latin America, and the Middle East, as well as for hiring, license applications, and product development. The new round values the company at approximately $600 million. Informed sources stated that the terms of this round were finalized in October, and the company's annualized revenue is expected to rise to $100 million this year.
On March 9, according to official news, the Zcash Open Development Lab, founded by former Electric Coin Company CEO Josh Swihart, has completed a financing round exceeding $25 million. This round saw participation from Paradigm, a16z crypto, Winklevoss Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Cypherpunk Technologies, Maelstrom, Chapter One, Balaji Srinivasan, David Friedberg, Haseeb Qureshi, James Nicholas, and others.
The core mission of the Zcash Open Development Lab is to develop an open, self-custodial private financial platform, aiming to expand ecosystem interoperability through collaboration and bring protected ZEC transactions to the global mainstream market. Zcash protocol development remains a core focus for ZODL.
On March 12, the yield-generating stablecoin protocol Unitas Labs completed a $13.33 million seed round with participation from Amber Group, Blockchain Builders Fund, Taisu Ventures, Bixin Ventures, and SevenX Ventures. The funds will primarily be used to expand strategic development, strengthen infrastructure and risk systems, support compliant institutional access, and promote integration within the DeFi ecosystem.
On March 13, Singapore-based licensed stablecoin cross-border payment and fund management service provider MetaComp announced the completion of a Pre-A+ round of financing. The round was led by venture capital institutions including Alibaba and Spark Venture, with existing shareholders also participating in co-investment. 100Summit Partners served as the exclusive financial advisor. The cumulative total of the two financing rounds completed by the company within three months has reached $35 million (a $22 million Pre-A round was completed in December last year). The new funds will accelerate the expansion of its StableX network in high-growth regions such as Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, and advance the development of its AI strategy, specifically the Agent-Skills-MCP (Model Context Protocol) architecture, to support agent-based Web 2.5 payment and wealth management services.
VeryAI Completes $10 Million Seed Round, Led by Polychain Capital
On March 12, identity verification startup VeryAI completed a $10 million seed round led by Polychain Capital, with participation from Berggruen Institute, Anagram, and several angel investors in the crypto space. VeryAI currently focuses on serving crypto platforms, providing a mobile camera-based palm print scanning SDK. Partners can integrate it within existing applications to combat bot accounts and multi-factor authentication fatigue.
Ark Labs Completes $5.2 Million Seed Round, with Participation from Tether
On March 12, Bitcoin-based programmable financial application infrastructure provider Ark Labs announced the completion of a $5.2 million seed round. Participants included Tether, Ego Death Capital, Epoch VC, Lion26, Sats Ventures, and Contribution Capital, along with Anchorage Digital, former PayPal VP of Finance Ralph Ho, and other digital asset and fintech investors. Ark Labs did not disclose the specific structure, opening and closing times of this round, or the post-financing valuation. It is reported that the funds will be used to expand the infrastructure for programmable financial applications on Bitcoin (BTC).
Bitcoin L1 Smart Contract Platform OP_NET Completes $5 Million Financing, Led by Further
On March 12, the Bitcoin L1 native smart contract platform OP_NET announced the completion of a $5 million financing round led by Further, with participation from ANAGRAM, Arcanum Capital, Humla Ventures, Morningstar Ventures, G20 Ventures, UTXO Management, and others.
General Tensor Completes $5 Million Seed and Pre-seed Rounds, Led by Good Morning Holdings
On March 12, Bittensor ecosystem infrastructure startup General Tensor announced the completion of an oversubscribed $5 million seed and pre-seed financing round. The seed round was led by Goldman Sachs-backed venture capital firm Good Morning Holdings; the pre-seed round in December 2024 was led by Lvna Capital, with participation from DCG, X Ventures, Proof of Talk, and Outliers Fund.
On March 11, Japanese AI-integrated entertainment platform NEXST announced the completion of a strategic financing round exceeding $3 million. Participants included Castrum Capital, TBV, M2M Capital, Becker Ventures, and other institutions, raising approximately $3 million in seed funding.
It is reported that NEXST integrates artificial intelligence, RWA, and blockchain technology, aiming to allow global fans to more easily enjoy entertainment and gain a more immersive experience. It is committed to reshaping the global entertainment industry landscape through innovative models that leverage cutting-edge technology.
