The Sentient Foundation announced a $42 million grant to advance funding and investment in open-source general artificial intelligence.
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Tether makes a $20 million strategic investment in Mercado Bitcoin to accelerate on-chain infrastructure development in Latin America.
Mars Finance reports that stablecoin issuer Tether has announced a $20 million strategic funding round for Latin American on-chain financial services platform Mercado Bitcoin. This funding will support Mercado Bitcoin's development in asset tokenization, payments, lending, capital markets, and compliant digital financial services. Founded in 2013, Mercado Bitcoin has expanded from a digital asset trading platform into a comprehensive on-chain financial infrastructure platform, covering trading services, tokenized investment products, lending, stablecoin payments, banking infrastructure, and cross-border financial services. The funds raised will primarily be used to expand payment infrastructure, increase the scale of tokenized products for institutional and retail investors, develop lending business, advance on-chain capital markets, seek strategic partnerships, and drive international expansion.
Shenzhen-based smart glasses company Ewen Technology has completed a $150 million funding round, valuing the company at over $1 billion post-investment.
Mars Finance reported on July 7th that Shenzhen-based smart glasses company Even Realities announced the completion of a $150 million Pre-B round of financing, valuing the company at over $1 billion post-money and officially joining the ranks of unicorns. This round was led by Meituan Dragon Ball and Meituan Strategic Investment, with existing shareholders Yuan Yi Capital and Tencent oversubscribing. Earlier this year, Even Realities also completed an A++ round of financing, co-led by Guanghe Venture Capital and Yuan Yi Capital, with existing shareholders including Dachen Capital oversubscribing. (Venture Capitalist CLUB)
UK-based GEO company geoSurge raises $12 million in seed funding.
Mars Finance reports that London-based AI company geoSurge has announced the completion of a $12 million oversubscribed seed round of funding. The company will use the funds to advance its novel approach to AI visibility, helping brands shape how they are presented in generative AI systems such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. The round was led by AlbionVC, with participation from Play Ventures, Octopus Ventures, Celero Ventures, and Boost Capital. Existing investors Passion Capital and Tuesday Capital also participated, and the round received support from angel investors from Google DeepMind, Microsoft AI, and Signal AI.
Google and RWE back Proxima Fusion in a €411 million funding round
Munich-based magnetic confinement fusion startup Proxima Fusion announced on Tuesday that it has raised €411 million ($469.69 million) in a funding round from investors including Alphabet's Google and German utility RWE. The company stated that the round was led by XTX Ventures and East X Ventures, with RWE and Google participating as strategic investors. The company added that this funding round values Proxima Fusion at €2.4 billion ($2.7 billion). (Sina Finance)
KOR Protocol raises $7.5 million in Series A funding, valuing the company at $100 million.
According to ChainCatcher, KOR Protocol, an on-chain clearinghouse in the entertainment sector, has announced the completion of a $7.5 million Series A funding round, valuing the company at $100 million. Investors include 1kx, Blockchain Capital, and previous investors such as Republic Crypto, Sfermion, Alumni Ventures, and SevenX.
Hengdian Capital makes a strategic investment of 200 million yuan in Tianbing Technology
Mars Finance reported on July 7th that Hengdian Capital, a subsidiary of Hengdian Group, recently announced the completion of a 200 million yuan strategic investment in Tianbing Technology, a private commercial rocket company. Tianbing Technology's existing shareholders include national-level capital firms such as CICC Capital and China Orient Capital. Hengdian Capital stated that this investment reflects its confidence in the long-term development of commercial aerospace and the company's technological barriers. It will subsequently leverage Hengdian Group's internal industrial resources to empower rocket R&D and mass production, as well as the group's overall industrial upgrading. Hengdian Capital focuses on Hengdian Group's four major industries: electrical and electronic engineering, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, film and television tourism, and modern services. This investment is also an important step in its strategic positioning of key companies in the commercial aerospace industry chain. (Venture Capitalist CLUB)