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DeFi Lending Attracts VC Backing Despite Sharp Drop in Crypto Fundraising

Blockchain

DeFi Lending Attracts VC Backing Despite Sharp Drop in Crypto Fundraising

Despite VC funding to crypto firms falling by nearly 60% during April, DeFi lending is attracting increasing investment month-over-month

A report published by venture capital research firm, Ana.vc, has revealed a 57% decline in crypto funding from VCs over the month of April.

Despite the decline in overall investment, the decentralized lending sector appears to still be flourishing — raising 150% of its March total.

Crypto fundraising plummets during April

The report excludes Bakkt’s raise, identifying 32 disclosed deals valued at nearly $50 million in total, down from $117 million last month.

“Crypto winter isn’t over and is not entirely immune to macro economic trends as [the] majority of the deals are done in equity,” the report asserts.

Ava.vc found that decentralized finance and fintech, or DeFi, continues to dominate overall funding, garnering almost 40% of the monthly total raised by the crypto sector for the second consecutive month.

The second-largest segment of the crypto sector by total raise was firms building blockchain infrastructure with 12.9%, followed by enterprise with 9.7%, and marketplace with 6.5%.

Investment activity increases around DeFi lending

While most sectors within crypto saw heavy losses in overall fundraising during April, DeFi lending startups saw a 56% increase capital raised — up to $4.84 million from $3.1 million in March.

The gain in equity deals despite the total raised across the DeFi sector falling nearly 60% from $46.21 million to $19.35 million.

Within DeFi, Payment firms were the hardest hit in terms of percentage — falling from 82.6% from $9.24 million in March to $1.61 million.

However, exchanges saw the largest total drop in fundraising, falling from the largest DeFi segment with $12.34 million to just 3.23% — a drop of 73.8%.

Despite media hype, blockchain games close no deals in April

Nearly half of the fundraising took place in the United States, with over 80% of deals closing in the U.S., U.K., and Europe.

The report notes that despite significant hype surrounding blockchain-based gaming platforms from crypto media, no blockchain gaming companies were able to close funding deals during April.

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