By George Ward
Lemniscap has backed a $4.6 million funding round which the blockchain infrastructure provider, Gateway.fm, raised recently. Other investors participating in the latest funding round include the LAO DAO, CMT Digital, Unstoppable Domain, and Fantom Foundation.
Funding For Decentralized Infrastructures
With the latest funding raise, Gateway.fm intends to build the next generation of decentralized blockchain tools. The $4.6 million funding round will see the startup build a decentralized, remote procedure call (RPC) solutions system.
The new platform will allow Web3 firms not to depend on centralized services like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud. The RPC nodes will enable decentralized applications to sync with blockchain protocols to access user data on their platforms easily.
Meanwhile, the seed funding round saw the likes of CMT Digital, Fantom Foundation, the LAO DAO, Unstoppable Domain Ventures, and Veryt early ventures as participants, as revealed by the company’s press release. Furthermore, Gateway.fm offers three primary services to clients in the blockchain industry, which enable companies to accelerate the launch of their mainnet.
Cuautemoc Weber, CEO of Gateway.fm stated in the company’s release that decentralization had been hindered by limited access to scalable facilities for too long. Gateway.fm aims to provide a reliable node infrastructure for validators and developers to help scale the pace of Web3 projects, Weber added.
The CEO noted that the company also aims to attract financial institutions and other entities looking to explore blockchain technology in their operations. Meanwhile, the firm will utilize the funding to accelerate its product development, marketing, and hiring departments.
According to the company’s official website, firms that use Gateway.fm’s infrastructure includes Near, Gnosis, Near, and 1inch. Commenting on the fundraiser, Roderik Van der Graaf, Lemniscap’s founder, explained that Gateway’s set of elite-grade and next-generation tools would expand the inclusion and reliability of blockchain protocols and networks.
Financing Infrastructure
On-chain data revealed that much of the venture funding round is focused on infrastructure. The data further highlighted past funding cycles for the infrastructure category and how it has garnered interest and investment from active investors looking to partner with foundational projects and firms.
According to the lead data analyst, John Dantoni, in the last six months, infrastructure project funding accounted for nearly 20% of all the seed funding raised. Towards the end of last month, crypto infrastructure firms recorded significant funding, notably, Blockstream, which secured $125 million from the London-based Kingsway Capital.
In addition, QuickNode closed a $60 million Series B funding raise led by 1OT Holdings with Tiger Global, Protocol Labs, Seven Seven Six, and QED as partners. Despite the broader crypto market correction for most of last year and the series of bankruptcies in the industry, funding for crypto and blockchain-related projects have continued this new year.
Industry observers believe that the next few months will be significant in the crypto market’s revival, given last year’s tumultuous period.