2023 Web3 Financing Data: Infrastructure Sector Leads with 5 Major Potential Projects to Follow

Data shows that there were a total of 1,178 financing events in 2023, with a total financing scale of $2.839 billion.

In terms of financing scale, the infrastructure sector ranks first. Top investment institutions such as a16z, a certain trading platform's laboratory, and Paradigm have all prioritized the infrastructure sector as a key focus area. Although different institutions have varying preferences for different sectors, the infrastructure sector occupies a significant proportion of their investment landscape. In addition, a16z places considerable emphasis on the gaming sector; Polychain, Coinbase Ventures, and a certain trading platform's laboratory focus on the DeFi sector, while Paradigm has fewer investments, with a more balanced number of investments in other sectors.

Here are a few potential projects in the infrastructure track:

B² Network

B² Network is an EVM-compatible Rollup based on Bitcoin zero-knowledge proof verification commitments. Its Rollup data and zk proof verification commitments are recorded on the Bitcoin network, ultimately confirmed through a challenge-response mechanism. The project participated in the Bitcoin ecosystem project roadshow held by ABCDE in 2023 and received investment. The core members of B² Network's technical team are active members of mainstream open-source communities such as Ethereum and Bitcoin. Recently, the project will upgrade from the Alpha testnet to the Haven Beta testnet, and its Odyssey tasks are also in progress.

Mind Network

Mind Network is a zero-trust layer aimed at bringing the next billion users and trillions of dollars to Web3. The project offers security and data privacy solutions to achieve true CrossFi scale while complying with regulatory requirements and adhering to Web3 principles of asset tokenization and personal data ownership. Mind Network was selected for the fifth season incubation program of a certain trading platform's lab and the Chainlink BUILD program. In June 2023, Mind Network announced the completion of a $2.5 million seed round financing, with investors including a certain trading platform's lab, Comma3 Ventures, SevenX Ventures, and HashKey Capital.

Omni Network

Omni is the interoperability layer for Ethereum, providing core infrastructure support for all modular applications on Ethereum. Developers can seamlessly build applications that exist throughout the Ethereum ecosystem while accessing all users and capital. Omni is the successor to the DeFi protocol Rift Finance, which provided financial services for Web3 projects. The project raised a total of $18 million in funding, with investment firms including Coinbase Ventures, Jump Capital, and Pantera Capital. In June 2023, the Omni testnet went live, and currently, there are no official announcements regarding any airdrop plans.

Wormhole

Wormhole is a decentralized universal messaging protocol that enables developers and users of cross-chain applications to leverage the advantages of multiple ecosystems. The project completed a $225 million funding round at a valuation of $2.5 billion, with investment firms including Coinbase Ventures, Folius Ventures, and Multicoin Capital, making it the largest funding round of 2023.

CESS

CESS is dedicated to building a blockchain-based distributed cloud storage system, effectively managing distributed resources through virtualization technology to provide customers with consistent and efficient distributed storage services. The CESS global content delivery network enables users to easily access their data anytime and anywhere. In December 2023, CESS completed a $8 million financing round, with investors including DWF Labs and Infinity Ventures Crypto. The CESS team won the Web3 Hackathon organized by the Web3 Foundation in 2021 and has passed all three milestones funded by W3F. According to the official roadmap, CESS plans to issue tokens in 2024. Currently, CESS has activities in the testnet phase available for participation on the task platform.