Protocol Village: RW3, Blockchain-Focused VC Led by Pete Najarian, Raises $80M

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Feb. 15: RW3 Ventures raised $60 million for RW3 Ventures Fund I LP, according to the team: “The fund will target investments in early-stage blockchain and Web3 companies, with an emphasis on teams that seek to utilize blockchain technology to disrupt real-world industries and business models with sizable addressable markets. The round was led by The Raptor Group and Mubadala Capital, the wholly-owned asset management subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, a global sovereign investor headquartered in Abu Dhabi. RW3 is led by Pete Najarian and Joe Bruzzesi, two well-known figures in the digital asset space.”

Blueprint Finance Emerges With $7.5M of Funding, Concrete Protocol

Feb. 15: Blueprint Finance announced that it’s emerging from stealth with $7.5 million in funding from crypto-native investors including Tribe Capital, Hashed, Portal Ventures, SALT and others – to solve crypto’s liquidation problem. According to the team: Blueprint’s flagship product is the Concrete Protocol, an appchain purpose-built for on-chain debt and credit. Concrete powers higher yields, liquidation protection, and advanced predictions across all of DeFi, starting with money markets.”

QuickNode Adds Support for ZkSync Hyperchains

Feb. 15: QuickNode, a Web3 development platform, now supports zkSync hyperchains,” enhancing its custom chains offering for clients seeking fast and scalable ZK technology,” according to the team: “Hyperchains, powered by ZK Stack, ensure robust data privacy, ideal for enterprise use cases while maintaining compliance. They run parallel to zkSync mainnet, enabling seamless asset bridging and liquidity flow. With QuickNode handling infrastructure, businesses can focus on creating plug-and-play blockchain applications.”

Lava, Cosmos-Based Appchain, Raises $15M, Plans Mainnet Launch

Feb. 15: Lava, an application-specific proof-of-stake blockchain built using Cosmos SDK, has raised a $15 million seed round, led by Tribe, Jump and Hashkey Capital, according to the team: “Mainnet is launching end of Q1/early Q2. Lava’s vision is to build a modular data access layer for Web3, enabling developers to easily build apps on any chain or rollup. Lava has been uniquely designed for technical and non-technical users to contribute to scaling the network and is launching a points system to reward users.”

Injective Adds Mainnet Support for Solana Domain-Name Bridging With Wormhole

Feb. 15: Injective, a blockchain designed for finance built using Cosmos SDK, now supports “an interoperable domain name service (DNS) on mainnet: Solana domain-name bridging with Wormhole (previously available on testnet). The cross-chain integration further converges the Web3 and Web2 experience by letting users leverage single domain names like on Web2 when conducting transactions, and represents a major achievement in ecosystem collaboration, including Bonfida and Wormhole. More details from Injective and Bonfida. Injective’s infrastructure features a unique two-way cross-chain interaction facilitated by Wormhole. This results in a more efficient and streamlined domain service experience when SNS transactions are initiated. Adoption is simple: users can purchase .sol domains plus use both .sol and .inj domains across Injective dApps, further expanding the cross-chain domain experience.” (INJ)

Helika, Data Analytics Provider for Web3 Gaming, Raises $8M From Pantera, Animoca, Diagram, Sfermion

Feb. 15: Helika, a data analytics and infrastructure provider for traditional and Web3 gaming with customers like Animoca Brands and Yuga Labs, is announcing the completion of an $8 million Series A fundraising from Pantera, Animoca, Diagram and Sfermion. According to the team: “This funding will help Helika advance its AI-powered suite of products and services, which currently aggregates data across multiple chains, social media platforms, and games and synthesizes that data into actionable insights for gaming studios to leverage in user acquisition, retention, and engagement to ultimately drive profits.”

Protocol Village is a regular feature of The Protocol, our weekly newsletter exploring the tech behind crypto, one block at a time. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Wednesday. Project teams can submit updates here. For previous versions of Protocol Village, please go here. Also please check out our weekly The Protocol podcast.

Edited by Bradley Keoun.