Carv Secures $10 Million in Series A Funding to Enable Gamers to Profit from Their Data

Carv, the forefront platform for data intermediation, specifically catering to web3 gaming, AI enterprises, and gaming enthusiasts to administer and profit from their data assets, has successfully secured a $10 million Series A funding, with Tribe Capital and IOSG Ventures at the helm.

This financial milestone for Carv arrives merely five months following a strategic boost from HashKey Capital. While details on the company’s valuation and the cumulative funding remain undisclosed, Carv’s valuation was poised at an estimated $40 million following a seed funding round, with Vertex Ventures, linked to Temasek, as the leading participant.

Focusing predominantly on the gaming and AI sectors, Carv envisions a significant opportunity to aid users in reclaiming the sovereignty of their data and capitalizing on it. Carv facilitates users to share their data with corporate clients in a privacy-preserving, regulation-compliant manner, thereby enabling its utilization for AI training, market analyses, among various other applications.

“In an era where user data underpins substantial economic advancements, the individuals providing such data rarely benefit from the wealth generated from their contributions,” explained Victor Yu, Carv’s co-founder and COO, in a conversation with TechCrunch.

Carv introduces three pivotal offerings: CARV Protocol, offering a modular cross-chain data layer that marries web2 identities to web3 tokens; CARV Play, a unified credentialing and game distribution framework; and the CARV AI Agent, CARA, a tailor-made gaming concierge that seamlessly integrates with web3 wallets to suggest games and projects.

“Carv stands out by empowering users to own and monetize their data directly. Profits generated from this data are channelled back to the creators, enriching them in the process,” Yu elaborated. “Moreover, our initiative to devise a unified user ID standard (ERC-7231) aims to bridge the gap between web2 and web3, streamlining data mobility against the backdrop of current compartmentalized approaches.”

Acknowledged for achieving profitability since December 2023, Carv reports a monthly recurring revenue exceeding $1 million, with noteworthy growth month-over-month, as per Yu’s communications.

Presently, Carv takes pride in its 2.5 million-strong user base and partnerships with over 350 gaming and AI corporations.

The inflow of new funds is earmarked for augmenting the capabilities of the CARV Portal, ensuring its scalability and adaptability for a wider range of scenarios. Notably, Carv aims to introduce CARV Link to bolster on-chain identification and data verification processes, alongside CARV Database for the efficient management of diverse user data.

Prominent participants in the Series A include Arweave, Consensys (behind MetaMask and Linea), Draper Dragon, Fenbushi Capital, LiquidX, MARBLEX, (representing the web3 endeavors of Korean gaming giant Netmarble), No Limit Holdings, and OKX Ventures.

Carv commands a $40M valuation as the chase heats up for web3 identity pioneers