RWA and startup raises
Recent fundraising shows continued investor appetite for tokenization and AI‑crypto tooling: Pharos raised $44M for an L1 modular stack, Jozo took $2.2M for real‑estate tokenization, Oh closed $7.5M for AI‑crypto APIs, and Enhanced DeFi raised $1M for yield‑farming innovation. Those raises reflect capital flowing into core infra and RWA distribution plays. (x.com)
Crypto startups are still raising fresh money for tokenized assets and artificial-intelligence tooling, even after venture investors tightened standards in 2025. (theblock.co) Pharos is the largest of the recent deals in this cluster, but the last verified public round I could confirm was an $8 million seed announced on November 8, 2024. The company said it is building a Layer 1 blockchain for real-time payments and real-world assets, with Lightspeed Faction and Hack VC co-leading that round. (theblock.co) A Layer 1 blockchain is the base network that records transactions, like the main ledger under an app. Pharos says its system is “modular,” meaning it splits jobs such as data storage, transaction processing, and specialized computing into separate layers that can be mixed and scaled. (docs.pharosnetwork.xyz) Tokenization means turning ownership claims on something offchain — a building, a fund, a loan — into digital tokens that can move on a blockchain. Standard Chartered said in an October 30, 2025 report that tokenized real-world assets excluding stablecoins could grow from about $35 billion to $2 trillion by 2028. (theblock.co) Real estate keeps showing up in that push because property is expensive, slow to trade, and heavy on paperwork. The Block reported in July 2025 that Japan’s Gates Group planned to tokenize $75 million of real estate assets with Oasys, one example of property deals moving onchain. (theblock.co) Artificial-intelligence crypto tooling is a separate lane, but it is drawing capital for a similar reason: investors are backing picks-and-shovels software instead of only tokens. Cointelegraph reported on June 26, 2025 that artificial-intelligence agent projects had raised $1.39 billion that year, topping all of 2024, while related onchain activity had risen 86%. (cointelegraph.com) Yield products are another part of the same market. The Block’s latest news page listed an April 12, 2026 press release saying Enhanced secured $1 million in strategic pre-seed funding and confirmed a $15 million valuation to expand structured-yield products onchain. (theblock.co) I could not independently verify the specific April 2026 raises for Jozo or Oh, or a $44 million round for Pharos, from primary reporting or company materials available in search results today, April 13, 2026. What the public record does show is that investors are still funding blockchain base layers, tokenized-asset distribution, artificial-intelligence crypto software, and yield products — but the exact deal list in the prompt appears only partially confirmed from open sources. (theblock.co)
