This Week in Blockchain Funding: Avail Raises $43M, M^0 Secures $35M, The Sandbox Banks $20M, and More

The week of June 2 to June 8 saw an influx of funds into the blockchain space, with 21 startups raising a total of $399.7 million from venture capital firms and angel investors.

Venture capital firms and angel investors pumped a total of $399.7 million into 21 blockchain startups during the week of June 2 to June 8, according to data from Crypto Fundraising.

Five startups raised over $108 million in Series A funding, while seven startups raked in a combined $52.6 million from undisclosed funding rounds. Three startups raised a total of $19 million in seed funding, and one startup secured $10 million in a private funding round.

Here's a breakdown of the most notable funding rounds:

Avail secures $43 million in Series A funding

Avail, a data availability network, announced that it has closed a $43 million Series A funding round led by Founders Fund, Dragonfly, and Cyber Fund. SevenX, Figment, Nomad Capital, LocalGlobe, Altos Ventures, and Chapter One also participated in the round.

The latest funding follows Avail's $5 million pre-seed and $27 million seed rounds in March 2023, after it spun out of Polygon.

Avail plans to use the funds to develop its unification layer and fusion security layer, which aim to enhance modular blockchain scaling and security.

M^0 raises $35 million in Series A round

Decentralized stablecoin minting protocol M^0 has raised $35 million in a Series A funding round led by Bain Capital Crypto, a subsidiary of private equity firm Bain Capital.

Galaxy Ventures, Wintermute Ventures, GSR, Caladan, and SCB 10X also participated in the round.

The funding, which is structured as equity plus tokens, will support M^0's continued development of its stablecoin ecosystem.

So far, M^0's total funding amounts to $57.5 million. The company raised $22.5 million in seed funding from Pantera Capital in April 2023.

The Sandbox secures $20 million

Metaverse and web3 gaming company The Sandbox has secured $20 million from Kingsway Capital and Animoca Brands, boosting its valuation to $1 billion.

Our subsidiary @TheSandboxGame, a leading user-generated content (UGC) #metaverse platform, has announced that it has raised US$20 million of convertible promissory notes with a US$1 billion valuation cap. https://t.co/G0tljR5zb8

According to The Sandbox, the funding will enhance its creator economy, expand its decentralized mobile metaverse platform, and improve social features, avatar skills, and 3D editing tools on the platform.

Tether invests $18.75 million in XREX Group

Stablecoin issuer Tether has announced a $18.75 million investment in XREX Group, a regulated blockchain financial institution.

We are proud to share that @Tether_to has announced a strategic investment of $18.75M in XREX Group. This collaboration aims to drive innovation in the digital asset industry, facilitate USDT-based cross-border payments in emerging markets, and innovate regulatory technology. /1 pic.twitter.com/c9TtEOYzy4

According to a press release provided by XREX, this move aims to facilitate USDT-based cross-border payments in emerging markets.

It will also launch XAU1, a stablecoin pegged to Tether Gold (XAUt). Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino described the partnership as enhancing financial inclusion in emerging markets.

Glacier Labs, Mint Blockchain secure a combined $13 million

Glacier Labs, a layer-2 rollup network, and Mint Blockchain, an Ethereum L2 network for the NFT industry, have collectively raised $13 million. Glacier Labs secured $8 million in seed funding from Foresight X, UOB Venture Management, Laser Digital, KuCoin Ventures, and others.

Mint Blockchain, on the other hand, raised $5 million from Jsquare, SNZ Capital, Antalpha Ventures, and more.

The funds will support Glacier Network’s decentralized application (dapp) infrastructure and Mint's network expansion, which already supports over 80 applications and has 400,000 active users.

Everclear raises $5 million from Pantera Capital

Another beneficiary of the week’s VC action was Everclear.

The San Francisco-based company, previously known as Connext, raised $5 million through an over-the-counter (OTC) deal with Pantera Capital.

According to the company, the funds will develop Everclear's “clearing layer,” aimed at solving liquidity fragmentation for modular blockchains.

Stashh Labs, Halo Wallet raise $6.3 million

Closing up our roundup of crypto fundraising activities for the first week of June are Stashh Labs and Halo Web3, which collectively raised $6.3 million.

Stashh Labs secured over $3.3