Binance Labs Invests in DeFi Startup Mound

MOUND Secures $1.6 Million Seed Funding for Pancake Bunny Expansion

MOUND, a decentralized finance (DeFi) startup and the creator of the yield farming aggregator Pancake Bunny, has successfully completed a $1.6 million seed funding round. The investment was spearheaded by Binance Labs, the venture capital arm of the prominent cryptocurrency exchange.

Investment Participants

Alongside Binance Labs, the funding round saw participation from several other notable investors. These include IDEO CoLab, SparkLabs Korea, and Andrew Lee, the co-founder of Handshake.

Pancake Bunny's Growth and Performance

Pancake Bunny is constructed on Binance Smart Chain, a blockchain platform specifically designed for building high-performance DeFi applications. The platform currently boasts over 30,000 daily active users.

Since its inception in December 2020, Pancake Bunny has amassed a total value locked (TVL) exceeding $2.1 billion. This demonstrates significant user confidence and adoption.

Future Development Plans

The newly acquired funding will be strategically allocated to enhance Pancake Bunny and facilitate the development of innovative new products. MOUND recently introduced Smart Vaults.

Furthermore, the company anticipates launching Cross-Chain Collateralization within approximately one month. This expansion aims to broaden the startup’s scope to encompass a diverse array of DeFi applications, including farming, lending, and swapping.

Understanding Smart Vaults

Smart Vaults are designed for leveraged lending products, focusing on maximizing yields from single assets. The system incorporates automated checks to prevent leveraging costs from exceeding potential returns.

Additionally, Smart Vaults can proactively lend assets to support MOUND’s cross-chain farming initiatives.

The Benefits of Cross-Chain Collateralization

Cross-Chain Collateralization enables users to participate in cross-chain yield farming without the need for bridge tokens. Users can retain their original assets on their respective native blockchains.

The user’s native assets function as collateral when the Bunny protocol borrows assets on the Binance Smart Chain for yield farming. This provides liquidity for generating returns on Binance Smart Chain while maintaining asset ownership on their original blockchain.

Binance Labs' Perspective

Wei Zhou, Binance’s Chief Financial Officer and head of Binance Labs and M&A, stated that Pancake Bunny’s growth and MOUND’s dedication to execution are particularly noteworthy.

He emphasized that the MOUND team’s proficiency in live product design and service delivery was a crucial factor in the investment decision. Binance Labs anticipates collaborating with MOUND to further advance the boundaries of DeFi.