VC Funding Spotlight: DeFi, AI, and Hybrid Exfuels Drive Crypto Investment Despite Market Headwinds

The crypto venture capital landscape continues to demonstrate resilience amid broader economic constraints, with DeFi, artificial intelligence, and hybrid exchange solutions emerging as key investment magnets in June. While certain market segments face fundraising challenges, industry leaders report sustained interest in blockchain infrastructure, tokenization, and real-world asset (RWA) projects.

Notable funding rounds include:

1. Rails' $20M raise for its hybrid exchange model combining CEX speed with DEX custody, backed by Kraken and Slow Ventures.
2. Beam's $7M stablecoin payment expansion across emerging markets, supported by Castle Ventures.
3. Frachtis' launch of a $20M fund targeting decentralized AI and DeFi startups, founded by former Chorus One executive Xavier Meegan.
4. Inference Labs' $6.3M round to develop zero-knowledge proof verification for AI outputs.
5. Gradient Network securing $10M from Multicoin and Pantera for Solana-based decentralized AI infrastructure.

Major ecosystem developments include:
- OKX and Story's $10M Web3 IP innovation fund
- Yupp's $33M seed round from a16z Crypto for AI model evaluation
- Blueprint Finance's $9.5M DeFi expansion led by Polychain
- Units Network's $10M scalability solution on Waves protocol

The investment trends underscore growing VC confidence in infrastructure-focused projects and AI-blockchain convergence, with tier-1 firms like a16z, Pantera and Multicoin actively deploying capital. This reflects maturing industry focus on practical decentralized applications and verifiable computation solutions.