Now back with Boardroom’s bi-weekly (or semi-regular) Web3 and Tech VC Roundup.
Google made another big bet on artificial intelligence with an investment in generative AI startup Runway, driving the company’s valuation up to around $1.5 billion. Runway’s AI tech allows users to generate videos from text descriptions. The big tech giant participated in Runway’s $100 million funding round, and the generative AI startup inked a deal to make Google its preferred cloud provider. This comes after Runway initially entered into a partnership with Amazon Web Services as its preferred cloud provider in March — things appear to have changed swiftly on this front.
Google is not shy about its investments in this burgeoning space. The tech leader invested $300 million in generative AI startup Anthropic in February and also inked a deal to be the company’s cloud provider.
Let’s dive deeper into the other recent, notable Web3 and tech venture capital deals shaking up the landscape.
US Black Web3 founders only raised $60 million out of the $11.9 billion invested in Web3 startups in 2022, TechCrunch reported.
This shows an increase in funding compared to 2021, but Black Web3 leaders are still raising far less venture capital compared to their white counterparts. If I did the math correctly, Black founders only received roughly 0.5% of Web3 venture capital last year. That is a stark data point when you factor in the countless VC funds making promises to invest in minority founders.
Switching gears. Let’s take a look at some of the recent funding deals in Boardroom’s latest Web3 & Tech VC Roundup.
dao5: $125M Crypto Fund to Launch DAO: Tekin Salimi, a former partner at Polychain Capital, launched a $125 million crypto fund that he eventually wants to turn into a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) by 2025.
The fund will raise $125 million over the next two years, with promising investments already rolling in. Once the $125 million threshold is met, the fund will be dissolved. The funding will then be returned to investors, and the fund will be converted into a DAO.
Anthropic AI x Google: AI startup Anthropic inked a big partnership with Google this week that came with $300 to $400 million in funding from the big tech company. Anthropic is developing an AI-powered platform that could go head-to-head with OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Now, the company is getting a boost from Google Cloud to make that happen.
Anthropic will use Google’s cloud computing services. While their partnership is public, Google and Anthropic haven’t officially confirmed the investment number. News broke when people close to the deal shared the details.
Illuvium: $10M to Expand Blockchain Gaming Universe
Blockchain game developer Illuvium secured a $10 million investment from Framework Ventures. The Web3 startup will use the capital to accelerate the development of its core gaming products and support its contributors. Illuvium Co-founder Kieran Warwick shared the news on Discord as the company prepares for its open beta test of three interconnected games. Illuvium: Zero is a city builder game, Illuvium: Overworld is an expansive open-world monster-hunting adventure, and Illuvium: Arena is an auto battler strategy game.
Illuvium is on a mission to build out an entire blockchain gaming universe on the Immutable X blockchain network. This latest investment from Framework Ventures comes after the VC firm led Illuvium’s $5 million Series A funding round in March 2021.
Magic: $52M for Web3 Wallet: Crypto wallet-as-a-service provider Magic closed a $52 million strategic investment round led by PayPal Ventures with participation from Cherubic, Synchrony, KX, Northzone, and Volt Capital. The San Francisco-based company has raised over $80 million in venture capital since launching in 2018.
Magic’s product has been used to create 20 million unique crypto wallets in the last five years. The company will use its investment from PayPal Ventures to expand the functionality of its flagship product. – source: https://boardroom.tv
READ MORE:
NFT Games You Should Check Out Ethereum NFTs Offered a One-Way Ticket to the Bitcoin Network
Ethereum NFTs Offered a One-Way Ticket to the Bitcoin Network
