Jacquelyn Melinek

<div id="highlights-block_6226535075d81" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>The company will use the capital to grow the team and its products, including its Ethereum Virtual Machine application</li>
 <li>Espresso plans to create bridges between Ethereum and other major chains so the line between layer-1 and layer-2 can be “blurred,&#8221; its co-founder and CEO told Blockworks</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



A scaling and privacy solution for Web3 applications, Espresso Systems, is making its debut to the public with a $32 million funding round.



“Scaling and privacy solutions are both evolving at a rapid pace, and we are excited to contribute to the progress,” Ben Fisch, co-founder and CEO at Espresso Systems, said to Blockworks.&nbsp;



The investment was led by <a href="https://greylock.com" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Greylock Partners</a> and Electric Capital with participation from Sequoia Capital, Blockchain Capital and Slow Ventures. Other groups backing Espresso Systems include Polychain Capital, Alameda Research, Coinbase Ventures, Gemini Frontier Fund, Paxos and Terraform Labs.



Espresso is developing layer-1 blockchain infrastructure that will provide low-fee transactions through its integration of a proof-of-stake consensus protocol with a zero-knowledge (ZK) rollup mechanism, which can use ZK proofs to bundle transactions and lower resources to process them.



ZK-proof technology is among the leading candidates to scale the Ethereum blockchain through solutions such as StarkWare and zkSync. Espresso intends to keep interoperability at the core of its plans, for example, by creating bridges between Ethereum and other major chains so the line between layer-1 and layer-2 can be “blurred” and benefit from its scaling and privacy properties in the future, Fisch said.&nbsp;



The company will use the funding to grow the team and its products. Its first product to be released is an Ethereum Virtual Machine application, known as Configurable Asset Privacy for Ethereum (CAPE). It would enable creators of digital assets, such as ERC-20 tokens on Ethereum, to add a privacy-mode switch to their assets so transactions can be seen by select parties, Fisch said. 



“For example, a stablecoin provider could offer their users the option to hide their stablecoin transactions from public view in a way that still enables the provider to meet their reporting and risk management needs,” Fisch noted.



In general, scaling has already been a necessity for many Web3 applications as transaction demand has driven up prices on networks, Fisch said. But as traffic migrates to more scalable platforms that interoperate with ecosystems, such as Ethereum, fees for Web3 applications should drop, too, he added.&nbsp;



Separately, Electric Capital, one of the co-leads for Espresso’s funding round, raised a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/electric-capital-raises-1-billion-to-launch-crypto-venture-token-funds/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$1 billion fund</a> last week to invest in decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized finance (DeFi) and decentralized infrastructure and accessibility into Web3. This investment is symbolic of the venture capital firms’ commitment to the last point, as decentralized infrastructure ramps up across the crypto ecosystem. 



“Existing solutions make tradeoffs when it comes to decentralization, and we are excited to push the industry forward with an approach that achieves both low-fees as well as the properties of decentralization this industry is founded upon,” Fisch said.



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Espresso Systems Launches to Public Amid a $32M Raise

Morgan Chittum

<div id="highlights-block_621eabc4c01c6" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Led by Archetype, raise investors include Coinbase Ventures, Dragonfly Capital, Solana Ventures and ParaFi</li>
 <li>Parcl has 15 full-time employees but hopes to expand its staff to 25 by the end of the year</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Parcl, a startup that digitizes real estate investments via the Solana blockchain, raised a $4.1 million seed round Tuesday, earmarked for marketing and staffing.



The New York-based company has 15 full-time employees but aims to expand its staff to 25 by year-end, co-founder and CEO Trevor Bacon told Blockworks.



“It&#8217;s a tough hiring environment, but we&#8217;ve managed with our team and vision to have been able to attract some of the best talent,” Bacon said.



Parcl’s mission is to give everyone a chance to invest in real estate, a market which has historically high barriers to entry, but consistent returns.



Parcl’s protocol allows users to invest in a digital square foot of real-live property via its price index, which replicates the price per square foot in various neighborhoods. The platform has transaction fees, but no minimum investment requirement.



“[For example], Tribeca will have a price per square foot of like $2,000, and we&#8217;ll call that a ‘parcl,’” he added. “‘A parcl’ is one square foot of any given neighborhood, and the blockchain is what allows you to create those assets and trade them. It’s basically a way to gain exposure to real estate.”



Led by Archetype, raise investors include Coinbase Ventures, Dragonfly Capital, Solana Ventures, ParaFi, Shima Capital, Slow Ventures, Tribe Capital, Not Boring Capital and FJ Labs.



Parcl will launch a testnet, along with the release and sale of a non-fungible token (NFT) collection in the coming weeks. All of the proceeds, Bacon said, will go toward buying someone a house.



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Blockchain Real Estate Startup Raises Round To Expand Digitized Property Investments

<div id="highlights-block_621e76fb8de4a" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>“There is no longer any room for doubt regarding the impact crypto assets are having on our global financial system,&#8221; said Farzam Ehsani, VALR CEO and co-founder</li>
 <li>VALR has processed over $7.5 billion in trading volume since its 2019 launch</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



South African crypto exchange VALR raised a $50 million venture capital round in one of the largest fundraises for the continent on record.



The exchange raised $50 million — bringing the company’s valuation to $240 million — in a Series B round led by crypto asset manager Pantera Capital, VALR said Tuesday.



The round was oversubscribed with investors including Alameda Research, Cadenza, CMT Digital, Coinbase Ventures, Distributed Global, GSR, Third Prime and Avon Ventures, which is affiliated with Fidelity Investments. Existing investors Bittrex and 4Di Capital also wrote checks.



The funds will be used to expand across Africa and into other emerging markets like India, as well as bringing new products and services onboard and hiring.&nbsp;



In July 2020, VALR raised $3.4 million in a Series A. Its valuation has grown tenfold since.



“There is no longer any room for doubt regarding the impact crypto assets are having on our global financial system,&#8221; Farzam Ehsani, VALR CEO and co-founder, said in a statement.



VALR users can trade and custody more than 60 cryptocurrencies with relatively low fees. Since its 2019 launch, the startup has processed more than $7.5 billion in trades between 250,000 retail customers and 500 institutional clients.



Crypto has grown in Africa as funds have deployed capital to the continent. From July 2020 to June 2021, crypto adoption in Africa increased 1,200%, according to <a href="https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/africas-grassroots-cryptocurrency-adoption/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Chainalysis</a>. Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania are considered regional crypto hubs.



“In addition to being the third-fastest growing cryptocurrency economy, Africa also has a bigger share of its overall transaction volume made up of retail-sized transfers than any other region at just over 7%, versus the global average of 5.5%,” the report says.&nbsp;



Last year, rapper Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey, current CEO of <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/jack-dorseys-square-to-change-its-name-to-block/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Block</a>, formerly known as Square, created <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/?s=africa#:~:text=Jack%20Dorsey%20and%20Jay%2DZ%20Created%20%E2%82%BFtrust%3B%20Here%E2%80%99s%20How%20its%20Board%20Plans%20to%20Deploy%20the%20500%20Bitcoins" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">₿trust</a>, a new endowment of 500 bitcoins for development across Africa and India. Three of the four ₿trust board members are in Nigeria, with one based in South Africa. 



&#8220;The world is on the precipice of huge financial change,” Ehsani said. “Crypto assets will become more and more pivotal to all our lives.”



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In One of Africa’s Largest Crypto Raises, South African Exchange Takes In $50M

Sebastian Sinclair

<div id="highlights-block_621514f852b17" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Amber Group has raised a total of $328 million to date with a company valuation of $3 billion</li>
 <li>The firm has over $5 billion in assets under management</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



In yet another sign of burgeoning industry investments, crypto startup Amber Group announced Tuesday it has raised a further $200 million in an extended Series B funding round led by Singaporean state holding company Temasek.



Funding will go toward hiring efforts as the company eyes off institutional business in the EU and the Americas, as well as the expansion of its UK-based crypto subsidiary WhaleFin, Amber Group&#8217;s global head, Michael Wu, said in a statement.



&#8220;We will cast our sights beyond business expansion and strategic acquisitions too,&#8221; said Wu. &#8220;We will continue to broaden our support of sustainability initiatives, with our recent partnership with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation being only the start of this journey.”



It marks yet another instance of large money being thrown at DeFi crypto companies as the industry continues to expand. Earlier this month, Web3 blockchain startup <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/web3-startup-alchemy-raises-200m-to-fuel-blockchain-development/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Alchemy</a> closed a $200 million round intended for Web3 developers. A week later blockchain-focused venture capital firm Woodstock announced the raise of $100 million for its fund.



Since inception, Amber Group’s cumulative transaction volume has surpassed $1 trillion, and the company has over $5 billion in assets under management.



The latest funding is the largest for the Singapore-headquartered startup whose valuation now stands at $3 billion. A total of $328 million in venture capital has been raised since its founding in 2018 by Morgan Stanley alumni. The company offers digital asset tech infrastructure and research in a bid to assist institutional clients in their purchase of crypto-related products as well as providing access to liquidity.



Participation in the extended round also came from existing shareholders including Sequoia China, Pantera Capital, Tiger Global Management, Tru Arrow Partners, and Coinbase Ventures, among others who were exercising their pro-rata rights.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-default is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;With investment in Amber Group’s previous round, we are impressed by the professionalism of Michael and his team, as well as their ability to execute, their growth and focus on compliance,&#8221; said Steven Ji, Partner of Sequoia China. &#8220;We continue to invest this round and believe Amber Group has the potential to become a leading digital asset platform in the Asian market.” </blockquote>



The latest raise follows on from the startup&#8217;s recent Series B in June 2021 which saw the closure of a <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/amber-group-raises-100-million-series-b-as-defi-booms/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">$100 million round</a> led by China Renaissance and a post-money valuation of $1 billion. The company also raised $28 million of Series A funding led by Paradigm and Pantera Capital in December 2019, <a href="https://my.pitchbook.com/profile/231107-59/company/profile#insights" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">data by Pitchbook</a> shows.



When asked why Amber felt the need to extend the funding for its Series B, Wu told Blockworks the decision was driven by a strategic angle for Temasek to join on as an investor.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;With Singapore being our new HQ, having an endorsement in the form of an investment from the state-owned fund is something we are very excited about,&#8221; said Wu. &#8220;This round was not planned but came as a result of mutual interest to bring in a very strategic investor.&#8221;</blockquote>



Global&nbsp;investment&nbsp;company Temasek is headquartered in Singapore and is government-owned. The state holding company manages a net portfolio worth an estimated <a href="https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/temaseks-net-portfolio-value-rebounds-record-high-2022356" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">S$381 billion</a> (US$282.9 billion).



&#8220;From radically transforming the concept of ownership and value in the global economy, digital assets are redefining the way we live outside of the financial ecosystem,” Wu said. “We want to help create a digital future where digital assets empower people with the opportunity and agency to shape a better world for all.”



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