Binance Labs and Polychain Capital led the round with Animoca Brands and dao5 participating.

Crypto infrastructure provider Polyhedra Network has raised $10 million in a strategic funding round co-led by Binance Labs and blockchain-focused investment firm Polychain Capital.

The funding will be used to develop Web3 infrastructure backed by zero-knowledge (zk) proofs, a cryptographic method where one party can prove that a statement is true to another party without providing other information.

Berkeley, California-based Polyhedra Network was also backed by Animoca Brands and dao5. The new capital will fuel ecosystem growth initiatives, hiring engineers and zk proof protocol research. The funding comes as crypto winter continues to cool the venture capital landscape, though infrastructure projects remain relatively strong.

The startup is building a full suite of solutions focusing on blockchain interoperability, scalability and privacy. Protocols and offerings have included a zkBridge that supports cross-chain asset and data transfers, a decentralized identity solution for zero-knowledge credential verification, and the paraPlonk scalability solution that accelerates zk-rollups, which bundle transactions for better speed and lower fees.

On the near-term roadmap, Polyhedra Network plans to integrate its bridge and decentralized identity infrastructure with additional blockchain networks, and to launch application programming interfaces (APIs) and software development kits (SDKs) for developers. The company will also continue to develop its paraPlonk solution.

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Binance Labs announced a new $500 million fund in June to invest in Web3 and blockchain projects.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has appointed co-founder Yi He to oversee its venture capital arm, Binance Labs, two months after it raised $500 million for a new fund focused on Web3 and blockchain investments.

Binance Labs, which focuses on early-stage investments, manages $7.5 billion in total assets across more than 200 portfolio projects, according to a press release. Portfolio companies include Ethereum sidechain Polygon, crypto exchange FTX and security firm CertiK.

Yi, who joined Binance just before its launch in 2017, will oversee global strategy and day-to-day operations of Binance Labs with a particular focus on supporting infrastructure projects and improving utility in crypto and blockchain projects.

She will continue her work with the parent company, including institutional businesses, marketing, Binance P2P and Earn.

During a CNN appearance on Wednesday, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said Yi is “very aggressive” and that Binance would be making “quite a lot of investments” in the near term. He also said Binance as a whole plans to continue hiring, with a target of expanding headcount from the current 6,000 to 8,000 by the end of the year.

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Despite the rally, CAKE is still 36% below the $7.46 level from a month ago on the back of a challenging May for the crypto markets.

The venture capital arm of cryptocurrency exchange Binance has made an investment in PancakeSwap, a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on the BNB Chain.

CAKE, the native token of the exchange, was up nearly 10% on Monday following the announcement.

At press time, CAKE was trading at $4.77. Despite the rally, the token is still down 36% from the $7.46 level from a month ago on the back of a challenging May for the crypto markets.

Binance Labs intends for the investment to further develop PancakeSwap’s technology, marketing and community support as well as drive Web 3-based services.

PancakeSwap, which was launched in September 2020, provides an automated market maker (AMM) allowing users to trade and swap decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens. It is is now the biggest decentralized app (dApp) on Binance’s blockchain network BNB Chain with over 400,000 users.

Binance was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CoinDesk for more detail on the size of the investment.

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Bill Qian is set to leave Binance Labs a few days after the VC raised a $500 million fund.

The head of Binance Labs, the venture capital arm of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, is about to leave the firm, according to a report.

Bill Qian is set to leave the firm soon, the Block reported, citing several people familiar with the matter. The firm’s executive director, Nicole Zhang, also left the firm last month, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Earlier this week, Binance Labs raised a $500 million fund to invest in upcoming web 3 and blockchain firms.

The fund received investment from DST Global Partners, Breyer Capital, Whampoa Group and other private equity funds.

Binance did not respond to request for comment, at press time.

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