2023 Web3 Financing Report: Infrastructure Leads, Five Potential Projects Emerge

In 2023, the data shows that a total of 1,178 financing events occurred, with a total financing scale of 2.839 billion USD.

In terms of financing scale, the infrastructure sector ranks first. Several top investment institutions, such as a well-known venture capital firm, a trading platform lab, and an investment company, have all prioritized the infrastructure sector as a key focus area.

Although different investment institutions have varying preferences for each sector, the infrastructure sector invariably occupies a significant proportion in their investment landscape. In addition, a well-known venture capital firm places more emphasis on the gaming field; a certain investment company, a trading platform, and a venture capital firm pay more attention to the DeFi sector. A certain investment company has relatively fewer investment transactions, with the number of investments in other fields being more evenly distributed.

Here are several potential projects worth paying attention to in the infrastructure sector:

B² Network

B² Network is an EVM-compatible Rollup based on Bitcoin's zero-knowledge proof verification commitment. Its Rollup data and zk proof verification commitments are recorded on the Bitcoin network and ultimately confirmed through a challenge-response mechanism.

The project participated in a Bitcoin ecosystem project roadshow organized by a certain institution in 2023 and successfully secured investment. It is reported that the core members of the B² Network technical team are active members of mainstream open-source communities such as Ethereum and Bitcoin.

Recently, B² Network has upgraded from the Alpha testnet to the Haven Beta testnet. Currently, their Odyssey mission is underway, and users can participate through the official website.

Mind Network

Mind Network, as a zero-trust layer, is dedicated to bringing the next billion users and trillions of dollars in market value to Web3. It offers security and data privacy solutions that can achieve true CrossFi scale while meeting regulatory requirements and adhering to Web3 principles of asset tokenization and personal data ownership. The project was previously selected for the fifth season incubation program of a certain exchange platform's laboratory and the BUILD program of a certain project.

On June 29, 2023, Mind Network announced the completion of a $2.5 million seed round financing, with investors including several well-known institutions and investment firms.

Omni Network

Omni is the interoperability layer of Ethereum, serving as core infrastructure to support all modular applications on Ethereum. With Omni, developers can break through the limitations of a single Rollup or execution environment, building applications that can exist widely within the Ethereum ecosystem while accessing all users and capital. Omni's predecessor is the DeFi protocol Rift Finance, which provided financial services for Web3 projects.

The project has received $18 million in funding support, with investment institutions including several well-known venture capital and investment firms.

In June 2023, the Omni test network went live. Currently, the official has not announced any airdrop plans, and it is recommended to pay attention to subsequent updates.

Wormhole

Wormhole is a decentralized universal messaging protocol that enables developers and users of cross-chain applications to leverage the advantages of multiple ecosystems.

The project completed a $225 million financing at a valuation of $2.5 billion, with investment firms including several well-known venture capital and private equity companies. This is the largest financing amount in 2023.

CESS

CESS is committed to building a blockchain-based distributed cloud storage system. By effectively managing distributed resources using virtualization technology, it provides customers with consistent and efficient distributed storage services. CESS's global content delivery network enables users to easily access their data anytime and anywhere.

In December 2023, CESS completed a financing of $8 million, with investors including several well-known laboratories and venture capital firms.

The CESS team won the championship of a Web3 hackathon organized by a certain foundation in 2021 and has passed all three milestones funded by the foundation. According to the officially published roadmap, CESS plans to issue tokens in 2024. Currently, CESS has activities on a certain task platform, where users can participate in the testnet phase.