Binance Labs: 25 investments in the Web3 landscape in 2023

Binance Labs, Binance’s venture capital and incubation subsidiary, which aims to identify and support founders with innovative ideas who develop projects that shape the future of the Web3 industry, has completed 25 investments in 2023.

Crypto VC funding has struggled in 2023, with Q3 reporting a 36% drop in capitalization and number of transactions compared to the previous year. According to Messari, Binance Labs was the most active VC in Q2 and Q3 of 2023, especially in the DeFi and Web3 Gaming sector.

Highlights of Binance Labs Investment in 2023: Infrastructure

• $10 million investment in Neutron, cross-chain smart contract platform on Cosmos, which was the first chain to launch Replicated Security.
• Investment in AltLayer through the MVB Program 6. AltLayer is a system of execution layers dedicated to highly scalable applications, deriving from the security of an underlying L1/L2. Defiant
• Investment in Radiant Capital, a lending and lending protocol that bridges the fragmented liquidity of DeFi.
• Investment of USD 5 million in Curve DAO token (CRV), which supports Curve and its implementation on BNB Chain.
• $10 million investment in the Protocolul Helio, a decentralized stablecoin lending and borrowing protocol on the BNB Chain that provides StaaS and LS across multiple chains Web Games3
• $15 million investment in Xterio, a Web3 gaming platform and publisher built by gaming experts, bridging free-to-play and on-chain gaming.
• Seed funding for GOMBLE, a South Korean developer of blockchain-based casual games and affiliate of game publisher, 111Percent.
• Investments in Sleepless AI through the MVB program 6. Sleepless AI is a blockchain-based AI virtual character game that uses AIGC and LLMs to create a rich story-based game and interactions that evolve organically with the characters. instruments
• Early stage investment in Delphinus Lab, an infrastructure provider that implemented the first known open source zkWASM virtual machine.
• Invest in Arkham Token (ARKM), Arkham’s native token that powers its Intel-to-Earn information economy. Investment thesis Binance Labs continues to support projects that lay the foundation for a sustainable ecosystem and foster scalability, while exploring application layers that facilitate the mass adoption of blockchain applications. Investments in 2023 focused on infrastructure and tools supported by Zero-Knowledge Proof techniques, Web3 Gaming catalyzing mass adoption, and DeFi innovations making major advances for Web3.

Binance Labs’ investments are chain-agnostic and stage-agnostic, with a primary focus on supporting the success of early-stage projects through its incubation programs. As of 2018, Binance Labs’ portfolio includes 250 projects from 25 countries with a 14X ROI.

Binance Labs’ investments in Web3 have led to the support of notable companies such as: Optimism, LayerZero, Celestia, Aptos, Mysten Labs, Trust Wallet. More than 50 portfolio companies were Binance Labs incubations, including Dune Analytics, Injective Labs, Polygon, and SafePal.