Tezos Ignites DeFi Innovation Amid Surging Interest From Venture Capitalists

Tezos is making significant strides in expanding its DeFi ecosystem with the launch of the DeFi Catalyst Accelerator (DCA) in Singapore.

This six-week program nurtures early-stage startups building innovative decentralized finance (DeFi) applications on the Tezos blockchain and its Etherlink Layer-2 rollup.

Tezos Launches DCA as Venture Capitalist Interest in DeFi Is Back

Tezos and Etherlink claim they offer distinct advantages for DeFi development, i.e., speed, security, low fees, and compatibility with Ethereum-based tools. Etherlink’s emphasis on decentralization and MEV protection further enhances its appeal for DeFi builders.

The inaugural DCA cohort includes five teams, i.e., Plend, Hanji, SaveX, Hashleap, and Rivo. These startups aim to address diverse challenges within the DeFi sector. They focus on stablecoin design, on-chain exchanges, cross-border remittances, payment solutions, and simplified DeFi investing.

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Moreover, DCA participants benefit from the expertise of StableTech members, who have extensive experience building core components within the Tezos DeFi toolkit. StableTech itself is a consortium of contributors to the Tezos ecosystem.

The launch of the DCA coincides with renewed venture capitalist interest in the DeFi sector. On April 12, 2024, Berachain, an EVM-equivalent L1 built on the Cosmos SDK and powered by Proof of Liquidity, secured $100 million in Series B funding. This funding was co-led by Brevan Howard (BH) Digital Assets and Framework Ventures.

Furthermore, Galaxy Digital, a prominent player in the crypto sector, has also recently declared its plans to expand its investment horizon. The company plans to broaden its investment focus by launching a new Galaxy Ventures Fund I, LP fund. This $100 million fund aims to provide support and resources to promising startups.

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This renewed interest builds upon a strong January 2024. Using RootData’s statistics, journalist Colin Wu noted 113 publicly disclosed investment projects in the crypto venture capital space in January. This represents a month-on-month increase of 10.8% from 102 projects in December 2023.

DeFi Received Approximately 19% of Crypto Venture Capital Funding in January 2024. Source: Wu Blockchain

“Among the various industries in the crypto market in January, the financing proportion of infrastructure projects was approximately 12%, DeFi approximately 19%, CeFi approximately 6%, NFT/GameFi approximately 12%, and L1/L2 approximately 4%,” noted journalist Colin Wu in his report.