23 projects raised $190 million last week, led by EigenLabs ($70M) and PrismaX ($11M), while Gradient Network, Ubyx, and PublicAI advanced crypto-AI convergence. Yolo Investments launched a $115 million fund targeting blockchain, fintech, and iGaming, and Rob Hadick, Salvador Gala, and Austin Adams shared theses on stablecoins, decentralized adtech, and capital formation. Here’s a breakdown of the week’s top deals and insights.
VC CT: Rob Hadickoutlines how stablecoins could disintermediate the legacy payments stack; Salvador Galaexplores blockchain’s potential to redesign digital advertising infrastructure; and Austin Adamsproposes crypto-inspired auction models to improve IPO price discovery and capital access.
Notable Deals
23 projects collectively raised $190 million last week. Here are ten that stood out:
The Pitch: A decentralized human layer for AI by incentivizing a global network of verified contributors to generate, validate, and guide AI outputs in real time
Yolo Investmentsclosed its €100 million ($115 million) Fund II, equally split between external capital and a commitment from Yolo Group, to support early-stage companies across iGaming, fintech, and blockchain. Fund II has already invested in 12 companies, including Kraken, Syfe, Mesh, and BoomFi, and plans to make 10 additional investments over the next year. The fund brings together 23 strategic LPs and builds on Yolo’s prior track record of backing sector-specific disruptors.
Argued that stablecoins will not just modernize existing payment systems, but collapse the traditional payments stack by enabling direct, programmable money movement through stablecoin-native infrastructure.
Published a crypto x adtech thesis exploring how blockchain concepts like mempools, proposer-builder separation, and cross-chain MEV can help re-architect digital advertising infrastructure to be more transparent, efficient, and interoperable.
Shared a capital formation thesis highlighting how crypto-native auction models could improve price discovery, reduce IPO underpricing, and modernize the way new companies access public markets.
Quick Recap
Total Deals: 23
Total Raised: $190M
Acquisitions: 0
New Funds: Yolo Investments Fund II – $115M
That’s a wrap for this week’s Crypto Venture Weekly. Thanks for tuning in, and see you next week!
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Jake is a Research Analyst on the Protocol Research team. He previously worked as an Investment Analyst at an AI-driven crypto research platform and as a Venture Analyst at a digital assets venture fund. He advised multiple RWA tokenization projects on tokenomics. Jake graduated from the University of Southern California, where he studied Philosophy and Finance.
Alice is a Research Analyst on the Protocol Services team. She previously worked as a Research Analyst at The Block and was an Investment Intern at Variant Fund. Alice graduated from Northwestern University, where she studied Economics.
Jake is a Research Analyst on the Protocol Research team. He previously worked as an Investment Analyst at an AI-driven crypto research platform and as a Venture Analyst at a digital assets venture fund. He advised multiple RWA tokenization projects on tokenomics. Jake graduated from the University of Southern California, where he studied Philosophy and Finance.
Alice is a Research Analyst on the Protocol Services team. She previously worked as a Research Analyst at The Block and was an Investment Intern at Variant Fund. Alice graduated from Northwestern University, where she studied Economics.
