Venture Funding in 2024: A Shift in Investor Focus and Emerging Trends

05.09.2024

Web3 Venture Funding – 2024

By Gerard Barile, Principal, Venture

According to cryptorank.io, a website that aggregates Web3 venture funding details, March and April of 2024 saw over $1B in funding with 170 and 167 funding rounds respectively.This is a significant increase from the August 2023 low of $370M, but a long way to go from late 2021 and early 2022 where Web3 venture funding peaked at $7.12B.

Notable sectors receiving increased funding from January through April 2024 are Blockchain Infrastructure, Blockchain Services and Chains. In contrast, Social, CeFi (Centralized Finance) and Memes all remained flat or decreased over this time. The increased funding in Blockchain Infrastructure, Blockchain Services, and Chains indicates a continued focus and investment in the core technologies and platforms powering the Web3 ecosystem, while the flat or decreased funding in Social, CeFi, and Memes suggests a potential shift in investor priorities or a maturing of those particular Web3 verticals.

Seed and Series A funding were the highest funding rounds during this timeframe as well, with $658M in Seed Funding and $955M in Series A funding, with the majority of funding coming from the US, Hong Kong, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

I’ve felt the early-stage Web3 markets beginning to heat up since late 2023 and into early January, and seeing this data from cryptorank.io verifies that early-stage Web3 funding is starting to gain traction amongst venture capital investors. While infrastructure and blockchain protocols continue to attract large funding rounds, I might anticipate seeing categories like GameFi, NFTs, and Social pick up steam as we move closer to the consumer market.

As demand for Web3 applications and services increases, we’re likely to see higher valuations across the board. It will be crucial for investors to remain patient and strike at the right opportunities at the appropriate valuations to capitalize on this emerging trend. The data suggests that 2024 early-stage Web3 funding landscape is off to a great start and has potential for continued growth and innovation in the months ahead.

Sources

https://cryptorank.io/ 

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