Canadian Web3 infrastructure company ChainSafe has closed an $18.75 million funding round that was backed by prominent industry venture firms, putting the company on track to expand operations at a time when the demand for blockchain infrastructure and gaming services is on the rise.

The Series A round was led by venture firm Round13 with additional participation from NGC Ventures, HashKey Capital, Sfermion, Jsquare, ConsenSys, Digital Finance Group and Fenbushi Capital. ChainSafe said the funding would go toward supporting the growth and adoption of Web3 technology.

ChainSafe’s founding team met at an Ethereum meetup in Toronto in 2017. Later that year, ChainSafe was founded as a blockchain research and development firm. The company mainly focuses on multichain R&D and other Web3 umbrella technologies and has developed a software development kit connecting games built on the Unity platform to the blockchain.

'We're still early' — @CatheonGaming says blockchain games currently have a market share of just 5%, and is building an irresistible portfolio to attract players. [Sponsored] https://t.co/kwLaE3EFp8

— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) October 10, 2022

Following the launch of CryptoKitties in 2017, the marriage between gaming and blockchain technology has only grown stronger. As reported by Cointelegraph, the market capitalization of blockchain games was around $25 billion at the start of 2022. While crypto market capitalization has declined markedly over the past six months — which has impacted the blockchain gaming sector — venture capital continues to invest heavily in the space. According to DappRadar, blockchain games and metaverse projects raised $1.3 billion in venture financing in the third quarter alone.

While estimates vary, blockchain gaming, or GameFi as it is often called, could see high multibillion-dollar valuations in the coming years. Those close to the industry say that blockchain games will benefit from the roughly 1 billion online gaming streamers expected by 2025.