Crypto Funding Pulse: AI Steals the Spotlight

Another week, another nine-figure vote of confidence in blockchain innovation. Between June 16-22, investors deployed $110 million across 16 deals—a notable dip from the previous week’s $195M, but with intriguing sector shifts worth examining through my fintech analyst lens.

The AI Gold Rush Accelerates

Cluely’s $15M raise (a16z-backed) epitomizes the trend: Their “undetectable AI assistant” for real-time meeting support proves enterprise buyers will pay premium for productivity hacks. More fascinating is PrismaX’s $11M seed round, addressing a niche but critical pain point—improving robotics vision data quality via decentralized incentives.

Meanwhile, Gradient Network secured $10M from heavyweights like Multicoin Capital to build decentralized AI protocols. As someone who’s tracked centralized AI’s data monopoly concerns, their approach—community-governed inference engines—could disrupt how we train next-gen models.

DeFi Adapts or Dies

The numbers don’t lie: Pure-play crypto projects accounted for just 4 of 16 deals. Standouts include:

• TAC’s $11.5M haul to bridge EVM dApps with Telegram’s ecosystem
• BitVault’s Bitcoin-backed stablecoin play (GSR/Gemini-backed)

My take? Infrastructure plays solving specific interoperability or yield problems still attract checks, while generic DeFi 1.0 loses luster.

Stablecoins Go Institutional

Watch Ubyx (ex-Citi team, \(10M raised) and **SaturnX** (\)3M): Both are building B2B payment rails combining stablecoins with legacy finance compliance. Having consulted for cross-border payment firms, I see this as the most viable near-term use case for mass adoption.

Data source: Odaily compiled filings

The Big Picture

While deal count rose week-over-week (14 → 16), average check sizes shrank—suggesting:

1. VCs are placing more calculated bets on differentiated tech stacks
2. Later-stage rounds remain cautious amid macro uncertainty

As always, track the smart money: a16z’s triple play (Cluely/PrismaX/PublicAI) signals where they’re doubling down.