The fundraising activity witnessed a notable shift in July. RootData shows 113 publicly disclosed crypto venture capital investments, a 12% increase from June’s 99.

Total investment value hit surpassed $1 billion, significantly exceeding June’s $735 million.

Crypto VC Investments Increase in July

Venture capital activity is often used to gauge major investors’ interest in the crypto market. Recent data maintains a positive growth trajectory when viewed year over year.

As mentioned, publicly disclosed crypto VC projects marked a 12% increase compared to the previous month. This makes July the third-highest month for crypto funding rounds this year, trailing only March and May, which had 190 and 155 rounds, respectively.

The total fundraising amount in July was $1.01 billion, reflecting a 26.5% increase from the $735 million raised in June 2024.

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Crypto Fundraising Trend. Source: RootData

The rise in funding volume shows mirrors the strong confidence in the crypto sector, even with economic uncertainties. Additionally, the way funds are spread across different sectors is changing, pointing to new priorities and trends in the industry.

The blockchain infrastructure sector, including Layer-1 and Layer-2 solutions, secured almost 20% of total July investments, followed by DeFi at 5.8%. CeFi saw the lowest at about 2.2%.

It is important to note that these figures do not include merger and acquisition deals.

Mining and AI Take Center Stage

The most notable event in July was Iris Energy raising $413 million through stock offerings. The company also secured $257 million in Q1 and another $44.8 million between March 31 and May 15. These funds will support the company’s growth and expansion plans after the Bitcoin halving event, which affected mining profitability.

Following Iris, Block Mining secured a $92.5 million M&A deal. Riot Platforms bought a Kentucky-based Bitcoin miner for $18.5 million in cash and $74 million in Riot stock. Block Mining can earn up to $32.5 million more by adding power capacity through 2025.

This deal boosts Riot’s hash rate, expands their geographic reach, and gives them access to new energy markets.

“In assessing potential acquisition partners, it became evident that Riot Platforms not only shares our vision for an energy-efficient Bitcoin miner, but also a complementary culture that values teamwork, creativity, and a relentless pursuit of excellence. Together, we are excited to leverage our collective strengths and expertise to build Bitcoin-first data centers that will propel us to the forefront of the industry,” said Michael Stoltzner, CEO and Co-founder of Block Mining.

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Most Funded Crypto Projects of July 2024. Source: RootData

Artificial intelligence (AI) protocol Sentient secured $85 million in a round led by Pantera Capital and Framework Ventures, making it the most successful round among blockchain infrastructure projects. Sentient Labs will use the capital to speed up the development of its open-source AI platform. The startup also plans to expand its team by hiring experts in AI research and blockchain engineering, and aims to establish partnerships with top academic institutions and industry leaders.

Other major investments included blockchain payment network Partior, which raised $60 million from traditional banking giants JPMorgan and Standard Chartered. Smaller rounds were seen across various sectors, such as DeFi and GameFi. Gaming projects like B3, Allium, and Bitcoin restaking protocol Lombard secured $21 million, $16.5 million, and $16 million, respectively.