Web3 & Tech VC Roundup: OpenAI-powered NFT Marketplace Jungle Secures $16M

Boardroom’s latest roundup of Web3 and tech venture capital deals includes Telegram, Sound, Fututeverse, Delabs Games, and more.

AI-powered NFT marketplace Jungle raised $16 million to disrupt the NFT trading model by adding an AI tool to traders’ decision-making process.

The company recently launched its JungleAI tech, which encompasses an NFT analysis tool powered by OpenAI. JungleAI operates as a chatbot, similar to ChatGPT, and offers traders insights into NFT listings, including information on floor prices and blue-chip NFTs up for grabs. Jungle will use its recent investment to build out its AI search tool and market it to NFT collectors.

Telegram: $210M To Reach Profitability

Global messaging app creator Telegram raised $210 million through bond sales from a portfolio of investors, including its founder and CEO, Pavel Durov. TechCrunch reported that Telegram is still not profitable, but the app is being used by over 800 million users each month. Durov admitted that he’s spent hundreds of millions of his personal money to keep the app operational over the last decade.

Telegram’s subscription service and debt financing have pushed it closer to profitability, and Durov believes the company will cross that line soon.

Sound.xyz: $20M for Music NFT Platform

Blockchain-based music startup Sound.xyz closed a $20 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Snoop Dogg, Ryan Tedder, Tay Keith, Sound Ventures, Collab + Currency, and more.

Sound’s platform allows artists to upload their music when they want and set their own prices. The platform has paid out $5.5 million to 500 artists in the past year, all of whom released roughly 1,600 songs as music NFTs. Sound will use its latest round of funding to continue building out its offerings for artists as its platform nears significant milestones.

Futureverse: $54M for Metaverse Infrastructure

AI and metaverse tech company Futureverse closed a $54 million Series A funding round led by 10T Holdings with participation from Ripple. Futureverse builds technology to power AI and metaverse apps, games, and experiences. This is the company’s first major funding round as it continues to build out a tech platform that features a robust suite of proprietary AI content generation tools.

Futureverse also operates as a holding company, with 11 metaverse infrastructure and content companies working under its umbrella. Futureverse is most known for developing and launching an AI-powered mobile game called AI League in collaboration with FIFA.

More Notable Investments

• Delabs Games raised $4.7 million in seed funding to develop blockchain games on the Polygon network.
• SoftBank led a $65 million Series E investment round for Tractable AI, a company running AI-powered car and home appraisals.
• Aktivate raised $3.7 million to digitize scholastic sports management using a communications software platform.
• Fintech company Solaris raised $42 million at a $1.6 billion valuation to scale its banking-as-a-service business.
• Web3 data security and privacy platform Mind Network closed a $2.5 million seed round with investments from Binance Labs, SevenX Ventures, Comma3 Ventures, Mandala Capital, and other investors.
• Celestial AI, the creator of the Photonic Fabric tech platform, closed a $100 million Series B led by IAG Capital Partners, Koch Disruptive Technologies, and Temasek’s Xora Innovation Fund.
• New Zealand-based Oritain raised $57 million to develop forensic traceability tech that can track back a food product’s origin.
• Spreadsheet software developer Sourcetable raised $3 million in seed funding in a round led by led by Michael Berolzheimer of Bee Partners.
• Wildfire detection startup Pano AI extends its $20M Series A round with an additional $17 million in funding.