Compiled May 4, 2026. Funding amounts, dates, and investors from public news sources. Founder LinkedIn profiles are linked where verified; direct emails are rarely public — most outreach requires either company contact forms, LinkedIn InMail, or paid enrichment tools (Apollo, Hunter, Clay). Verified founder LinkedIn URLs are included; for unverified profiles a LinkedIn search link is provided.

Summary

[callout] 📊 18 Web3 / crypto / blockchain companies that closed funding rounds under $15M in the trailing 12 months. Sectors covered: DeFi, prediction markets, on-chain trading, asset tokenization, stablecoins, gaming, AI x Web3, privacy / FHE, and decentralized compute.

1. Ekiden

• Funding: $2M seed at $20M valuation
• Date: May 4, 2026
• Sector: On-chain derivatives trading infrastructure (built on Arbitrum)
• HQ: Lisbon, Portugal
• Investors: Unicorn Factory Ventures, P2 Ventures, plus angels from GSR, Pyth, Aptos, LayerZero, Cube Exchange, Avail, Chorus One
• Founder: Vitali Dervoed (ex-Neon EVM, RockawayX, Mango Markets)
• Company website: https://ekiden.io
• Founder LinkedIn (search): https://www.linkedin.com/search/results/people/?keywords=Vitali%20Dervoed%20Ekiden
• News coverage:
  • https://techfundingnews.com/ekiden-pitch-deck-2m-seed-20m-valuation-on-chain-derivatives-trading/
  • https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/05/ekiden-raises-e1-7-million-at-e17-million-valuation-for-blockchain-based-trading-platform-out-of-portugal/
  • https://www.kucoin.com/news/flash/ekiden-completes-2m-seed-round-at-20m-valuation

2. XO Market

• Funding: $6M seed (preceded by $500K pre-seed)
• Date: April 30, 2026
• Sector: User-generated prediction markets (Polymarket / Kalshi competitor)
• Investors: 20VC, Picus Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Venture Together; angels including Pat Cummins
• Co-founders: Ali Habbabeh, Walid Al Habboul