Funding Roundup: Crypto companies raised $823M in September

$823 million.

That’s the amount raised by crypto companies in September alone. The sum is broken up across 200 different companies that raised last month, with Celestia’s ecosystem fundraise of $100 million topping that list.

Infinex was a close second, raising $65 million through public token sales.

Strategic funding, like Celestia, topped the amount of funding done last month, in part helped by TON Foundation’s raises for its ecosystem funds. But seed rounds are topping the charts, per TIE data. 41 companies raised seed rounds last month.

Last month, DeFi companies raked in the funding money, with 33 companies announcing raises.

But that group didn’t raise the most money. Instead, it was Protocol Development, which raised a total of $192 million, per the data.

So far, October is looking quiet — aside from some token unlocks coming later this month. A reaction to the spooky season or are we just taking a collective breath? It’s too soon to tell.

Now onto a funding announcement…

Humanode exclusively told Blockworks that it was launching an Ecosystem Funding Program. The $10 million program aims to “support and nurture the next generation of Sybil-resistant projects on its chain.”

It’s unclear who participated in the raise, however, with the team noting that it was supported by “funds and angels.”

The program will initially focus on “consumer dapps with the potential to reach one million users. To many, that goal may seem small, however, the key here is that this will be on the Humanode EVM, utilizing crypto biometrics for Sybil resistance.”

Humanode plans to collaborate with the projects selected for the program, offering not only funding but also technical, media and community-building support. Both the founders and other members of the Humanode Core Team will assist these projects throughout the process.

They clarified in this case, “users” refers to unique individuals, not accounts.

“I know it sounds cliche, but we are investing in people and projects that have the drive and potential to hoist their flag, mark their place in the industry and understand the value of Sybil-resistance in their dapps,” Dato Kavazi, the co-founder of Humanode, said.

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