Weekly Funding Signal
Asia-linked capital concentrated on AI infrastructure and DeFi derivatives, with privacy-focused models and cross-chain trading engines leading a week of selective, high-conviction checks.
Key Deals
| Project | Sector | Amount | Investors | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venice AI | Web3+AI | $65M | Dragonfly (lead), Coinbase Ventures | Privacy-first AI with $70M revenue and 3M users lands major Asian crypto VC backing. |
| Extended | DeFi | $12.5M | eToro (lead), Jump Crypto, Alber Blanc | Perps engine with $245B volume gets strategic integration into eToro’s wallet, signaling Asian retail reach. |
| THEA | Web3+AI | $8M | Maven 11 Capital, Spartan Group, HackVC, Manifold Trading, Fisher8 Capital | Predictive behavior AI on Solana, co-led by Asian-heavy Spartan Group, targeting risk markets. |
| PT Nusantara Bumi Sangkara | CeFi | Up to $12M | Lion Group (via Meili Capital) | Indonesian rupiah stablecoin developer nears regulatory greenlight, a rare Asian CeFi bet. |
Builder to Watch
- Venice AI: Venice AI is building a privacy-preserving AI platform with access to over 200 open and closed-source models, emphasizing client-side encryption and no data retention. Its $70M annualized revenue and 3 million monthly active users prove strong product-market fit. The round, led by Dragonfly—a major Asia-focused crypto fund—and supported by Coinbase Ventures, signals deep Asian venture appetite for compliant, revenue-generating AI infrastructure at scale.
Also Noted
- Arcus: dYdX team’s DEX launched on Robinhood Chain with zero-fee tokenized stocks, backed by Robinhood Crypto—an indirect Asian link via Robinhood’s growing Asia-focused crypto arm.
- Kled AI: Solana-based AI data marketplace raised $3M from The Data Foundation; while Solana has strong Asian developer communities, the deal lacks direct Asia investor or market focus.
- Adjacent: Prediction market index provider raised $2.5M with VanEck and DCG participating; VanEck’s Asia fund distribution offers a peripheral Asia connection.
Capital Flow
- AI and DeFi captured the bulk of capital, with privacy AI and on-chain derivatives attracting the largest rounds.
- Investors favored revenue-stage platforms with clear monetization paths, as seen in Venice AI’s $65M round and Extended’s strategic integration deal.
- Southeast Asia emerged as a concrete stablecoin frontier, with the Indonesia rupiah stablecoin deal highlighting regulatory-pioneer bets.
PANews View
This week’s deals underscore a bifurcation: mega-rounds are flowing to revenue-generating AI platforms that promise censorship-resistant inference, while DeFi bets are consolidating around battle-tested perps engines with distribution muscle. The Indonesian stablecoin play hints that sovereign digital currency ambitions are shifting from central bank trials to private-sector, asset-backed models—a space to watch as Asian regulators warm to compliant frameworks.
