Bitcoin

The funding success of Neural Drive, a non-crypto startup, highlights the robust appetite for deep tech among early-stage VCs, which often correlates with a healthy risk-on environment for emerging technologies, including blockchain and Web3. However, with Bitcoin dominance high and altcoins underperforming, capital is currently concentrating in established crypto assets rather than speculative niches.

Raymond Loong Ng, 21, deferred college to build Neural Drive, a startup that raised $250,000 from Afore Capital and later $1 million total, and is awaiting O-1 visas in Singapore.