Crypto funding steady as African expansion and DePIN projects take centre stage

Last week saw $76.4 million invested in crypto startups, led by Yellow Card’s $40 million series B, with a focus on expansion in Africa and innovative infrastructure projects like Vangrid’s DePIN.

Crypto venture funding remained active last week, with $76.4 million flowing into deals across the sector, according to CryptoRank. Yellow Card led the field, followed by InvestiFi and Vangrid, while JPYC, Yooldo, Global Ledger and ZIGChain also drew attention as investors continued to back payments, trading, infrastructure and Web3 gaming projects.

Yellow Card accounted for the largest single round, raising $40 million in a Series B led by Polychain Capital. The Pan-African exchange said the capital will support its push across the continent, product development and new partnerships. The company, which offers stablecoin-based payment services, says it now operates in 20 African markets and has raised $57 million in total, making it one of the best-capitalised crypto firms on the continent, according to its funding announcement.

InvestiFi followed with $20 million in fresh funding. The company, which works with credit unions and community banks in the United States, said the round was led by Vibe Credit Union with support from a group that included BankTech Ventures and several credit unions. According to the company, the money will be used to expand its platform and help local institutions keep deposits that might otherwise move to large investment apps.

Elsewhere in the week’s tally, Vangrid raised $9 million for a decentralised physical infrastructure network, or DePIN, that turns smartphones into sources of spatial data for artificial intelligence systems. JPYC raised $6.35 million, taking its Series B total to nearly $38 million, while Yooldo brought in $1 million. Global Ledger and ZIGChain also featured in the weekly list, although the amounts for those rounds were not disclosed.