Footprint Analytics:  Where Did the Influx of Capital to Blockchain Go? | Annual Report 2021 PlatoBlockchain Data Intelligence. Vertical Search. Ai.

Footprint Analytics:  Where Did the Influx of Capital to Blockchain Go? | Annual Report 2021


Overview of 2021 Blockchain Funding

  • Number and Amount of Funding

Capital flowed into the blockchain sector at an unprecedented rate in 2021, especially after March.

According to Footprint Analytics, there were 1,045 funding rounds last year, compared to 167 in 2020, an increase of 525%. In total, this generated $30.27 billion, up 790% compared to $3.4 billion in 2020.

Footprint Analytics - Monthly Investment Trend in 2021
Footprint Analytics – Monthly Investment Trend in 2021
  • Which Industries Got Funding?

DeFi remained a key investment area for 2021, garnering over 30% of total investment rounds, followed by NFT with 19% in and blockchain infrastructure at 17%. In addition, several other industries also emerged as viable investments.

Footprint Analytics - Funding Categories by TVL in 2021
Footprint Analytics – Funding Categories by TVL in 2021

The largest shift from 2020 is the decreased prominence of CeFi funding rounds (however, the few rounds that CeFi did get were especially large.)

Footprint Analytics - Funding Categories by TVL in 2020
Footprint Analytics – Funding Categories by TVL in 2020
  • Breakdown of Funding Rounds

According to Footprint Analytics, More than half of 2021’s financing came from seed rounds, followed by Series A and strategic funding.

Footprint Analytics - Funding Rounds in 2021
Footprint Analytics – Funding Rounds in 2021

This indicates that blockchain is still in an early stage, with various new projects frequently gaining VC attention. Unlike in the traditional world of venture capital, where a single round can take years, rounds in the blockchain industry usually take several months.

Only a few projects managed to reach Round B or above. Most of these, including FTX, are in DeFi or CeFi.

  • Who Provided Funding for Blockchain?

Among the funding institutions, AU21 was the top in the number of rounds funded, with 119 total investments in 2021. Coinbase Ventures and NGC Ventures followed with 102 and 91, respectively.

Footprint Analytics - Ranking of the project number by investment institutions
Footprint Analytics – Ranking of the project number by investment institutions

AU21 Capital is a San Francisco-based blockchain VC firm that invests in high-growth blockchain and AI companies, with its portfolio mainly focused on DeFi and also NFT. Its investments were mostly seed rounds.

Coinbase Ventures is one of the most active VCs in the crypto world, and it invested in over 100 rounds in 2021, mostly infrastructure and DeFi.

NGC Ventures, a funding platform launched by key members of the NEO community and veteran investors in traditional capital markets, also has a portfolio focused on DeFi and infrastructure.

Blockchain Funding Analysis by Categories in 2021

To see the associated charts, click here.

  • Fundraising in CeFi

Whereas CeFi’s number of rounds decreased, it garnered the most funding by the amount of money raised. As centralized projects, CeFi projects usually have relatively well-established systems and a strong capital background.

Footprint Analytics - CeFi Fundraising Amount
Footprint Analytics – CeFi Fundraising Amount

In 2021, the total investment in CeFi was $14.6 billion, absolutely crushing other categories. The best month was October, which saw $2.5 billion in deals for CeFi companies and startups.

Footprint Analytics - CeFi Fundraising Rounds
Footprint Analytics – CeFi Fundraising Rounds

CeFi is also one of the only blockchain categories to see a handful of startups get past the seed round.

Footprint Analytics - Amount of Funding for Each Project in CeFi
Footprint Analytics – Amount of Funding for Each Project in CeFi

The top CeFi startups by funding amount are trading app Robinhood, exchange FTX and application service platform Revolut.

  • Fundraising in DeFi

DeFi is the central area of blockchain development and embodies the industry’s open, equal and decentralized spirit.

Footprint Analytics - DeFi Fundraising Amount
Footprint Analytics – DeFi Fundraising Amount

In 2021, the total investment in DeFi was $2.64 billion, with the amount reaching over 100 million for 11 out of 12 months, with the most money flowing in March, June and December.

Footprint Analytics - DeFi Fundraising Rounds
Footprint Analytics – DeFi Fundraising Rounds

The number of funding rounds is still dominated by seed rounds, which is inseparable from the frequency of innovative projects in the DeFi field and the rapid iteration of technology updates.

Footprint Analytics - Amount of Funding for Each Project in DeFi
Footprint Analytics – Amount of Funding for Each Project in DeFi

The top three DeFi projects by funding amount are BitDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization, FalconX, an asset trading platform, and 1inch, a decentralized aggregation exchange.

  • Fundraising in NFT

NFTs are one-of-a-kind digital assets minted on the blockchain. Collins Dictionary named NFT the word of the year and the metaverse became known to the general public.

Footprint Analytics - NFT Fundraising Amount
Footprint Analytics – NFT Fundraising Amount

Seed rounds accounted for the majority of financing, which is expected considering the category’s newness.

Footprint Analytics - NFT Fundraising Rounds
Footprint Analytics – NFT Fundraising Rounds
Footprint Analytics - Amount of Funding for Each Project in NFT
Footprint Analytics – Amount of Funding for Each Project in NFT

NFT platform Sorare, blockchain gaming company Dapper Labs, and NFT game Zepeto received the most fundraising.

  • Fundraising in Infrastructure

Infrastructure is a top priority in the blockchain space. With the many security breaches of 2021, this category received more attention than ever before.

Footprint Analytics - Infrastructure Fundraising Amount
Footprint Analytics – Infrastructure Fundraising Amount

In the infrastructure sector, the total amount of funding was $7.49 billion, with the highest monthly amount of $1.3 billion reached in June.

Footprint Analytics - Infrastructure Fundraising Rounds
Footprint Analytics – Infrastructure Fundraising Rounds

The funding rounds are still dominated by seed rounds and Series A. At present, blockchain infrastructure is in the stage of scale deployment and is in great need of capital support.

Footprint Analytics - Amount of Funding for Each Project in Infrastructure
Footprint Analytics – Amount of Funding for Each Project in Infrastructure

The projects with the highest amounts were self-service miner GRIID, mining company Genesis Digital Assets, and crypto hardware wallet Ledger.

  • Fundraising in Web 3

Web 3 is the idea of a new version of the decentralized internet based on the blockchain. The concept of Web 3 was coined by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood in 2014 but started to catch on in a big way in 2021.

Footprint Analytics - Web 3 Fundraising Amount
Footprint Analytics – Web 3 Fundraising Amount

Web 3 funding totaled $2.2 billion, with an explosion of nearly $1 billion in a single month in November.

 

Footprint Analytics - Web 3 Fundraising Rounds
Footprint Analytics – Web 3 Fundraising Rounds

Web 3’s funding rounds are also predominantly seed rounds, which is because Web 3 applications are still very much in their infancy.

Footprint Analytics - Amount of Funding for Each Project in Web 3
Footprint Analytics – Amount of Funding for Each Project in Web 3

Forte, a leading company, providing blockchain solutions for game publishers, Mythical Games, a blockchain game, and Daml, a smart contract programming language, received the most funding.

3 Takeaways from 2021’s Blockchain Financing

  1. Significantly more funding rounds

Blockchain, being secure and decentralized, has many potential uses in finance and other industries, and institutional investors began to warm up to the industry in 2021 as research and applications matured.

Compared to 2020, the number of funding rounds in 2021 increased by 525% and the amount of funding has increased by 790%.

  1. Numerous fields and diversified application scenarios

In 2021, concepts such as metaverse and NFT exploded, which led to the emergence of many sub-sectors in the blockchain world. NFT, DAO, SocialFi, and GameFi projects emerged and got noticed by investors willing to place a bet on the future of the internet being decentralized.

  1. Early funding rounds

Most funding stages for blockchain projects are still early, which shows that despite the headlines, the industry has yet to get close to full maturity. Many projects are eliminated in the rapid iteration and fierce competition in this field.

Future of Blockchain Funding

The outlook for blockchain financing in 2022 is promising. CeFi and DeFi are still the main investment areas, but infrastructure, NFT, and Web 3 have also attracted more and more attention as they go mainstream.

Benefits for CryptoSlate Readers

Footprint Analytics:  Where Did the Influx of Capital to Blockchain Go? | Annual Report 2021 PlatoBlockchain Data Intelligence. Vertical Search. Ai.From 11 to 25 January 2022, click this hyperlink on CryptoSlate to get a free 7-day trial of Footprint Analytics! New users only!

Date and Author: Jan 13th 2022, Lesley

Data Source: Footprint Analytics 

This article is part of our Year in Review series.

What is Footprint Analytics

Footprint Analytics is an all-in-one analysis platform to visualize blockchain data and discover insights. It cleans and integrates on-chain data so users of any experience level can quickly start researching tokens, projects and protocols. With over a thousand dashboard templates plus a drag-and-drop interface, anyone can build their own customized charts in minutes. Uncover blockchain data and invest smarter with Footprint.

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