In 2023, the crypto industry saw a significant decline in venture capital investments compared to the previous year, with a 68% decrease according to PitchBook. Despite this downturn, crypto companies still managed to raise $9.5 billion, although this figure pales in comparison to the $30 billion raised in 2022.

Among the crypto startups, French company Kiln stands out, having successfully completed a $17 million funding round in December 2023. The round was led by 1kx and included participation from Crypto.com, IOSG, Wintermute Ventures, KXVC, LBank, and some returning investors.

Kiln, though not widely known, specializes in white-label, infrastructure-focused products and is a key technology provider for companies like Ledger, Crypto.com, and Coinbase, particularly for pooled staking services in non-custodial wallets.

Staking, a process of locking crypto assets in a blockchain to secure it and its transactions, is incentivized financially as it offers rewards over time. Kiln’s technology plays a pivotal role in this, especially for proof-of-stake blockchains like Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, and Avalanche. Ethereum, which transitioned to proof-of-stake in September 2022, is a notable client.

Kiln’s offerings include a suite of smart contracts that simplify the staking process. Through these contracts, users can easily join Kiln’s staking pools and begin earning rewards. The company also benefits from commissions, processed automatically by the smart contracts. Impressively, Kiln has managed to grow its managed staked assets fivefold over the past year, currently overseeing 1,168,288 staked ETH, equivalent to nearly $3 billion.

Kiln is also a significant player in operating Ethereum validator nodes, being the largest operator with over 4% market share. Their approach emphasizes security and financial performance and is supported by strategic partnerships, like with the Ethereum Foundation, as noted by their head of marketing, Marie Siegrist.

Besides on-chain products, Kiln offers SDKs and APIs for easy integration with its staking pools and operates a significant network of validators. Their services cater to those seeking to incorporate one-click staking into non-custodial wallets, with some clients requesting dedicated validators.

Kiln’s CEO, Laszlo Szabo, expressed enthusiasm about the company’s future, including expansion plans and the establishment of a new office in Singapore. Since its inception, Kiln has raised a total of $35 million, with its revenue growing alongside its total assets under management due to commission on staking rewards.

Google has recently launched a series of new tools for retailers, harnessing the power of generative artificial intelligence to enhance online shopping experiences and streamline various retail operations, as announced by its cloud business in a recent release.

This array of new offerings includes a generative AI-driven chatbot that retailers can integrate into their websites and mobile applications. These advanced virtual agents are capable of engaging in conversations with consumers, providing personalized product recommendations based on individual shopping preferences.

Carrie Tharp, Google Cloud’s Vice President of Strategic Industries, emphasized the rapid evolution of generative AI in her statement in the release. “In only a year, generative AI has transformed from an emerging concept into one of the most rapidly evolving technologies, becoming a crucial element in the strategies of numerous retailers,” she said.

The introduction of Google Cloud’s tools marks a significant milestone in the increasing influence of generative AI within the retail sector. This trend has been gaining momentum, as evident from Amazon’s introduction of an AI tool for sellers in September and the widespread adoption of this technology by retailers during the latest holiday shopping season, often behind the scenes.

Among the innovations announced by Google is a large language model feature designed to enhance the quality of product searches. This feature is currently accessible to a select group of stores, with plans for broader availability later in the year.

Google’s suite of AI products also includes tools aimed at improving customer service systems for retailers and streamlining their product cataloging processes.

The applications of these AI tools extend beyond online platforms to physical retail stores as well, with enhancements being added to Google Distributed Cloud Edge, an existing combination of hardware and software solutions.

This announcement from Google Cloud, revealing the latest advancements in AI tools for the retail industry, comes just before the National Retail Federation’s annual convention set to take place in New York City.

Seattle’s Charmed is gearing up to release a new AI-driven game design tool this month, aimed at enabling the swift creation of 3D character models from the ground up.

The startup recently secured over $500,000 in fresh funding, with Tacoma Venture Fund leading the round.

Under the leadership of founder Jeremy Tryba, Charmed’s ambitious vision is to develop “the first comprehensive 3D AI platform,” streamlining the game design process from initial concept to a working prototype.

“Charmed is crafting tools that enhance the efficiency of 3D artists, significantly cutting down development time,” Tryba explained in a communication with GeekWire.

Charmed’s latest innovation is a three-part tool: a Geometry Generator, a Texture Generator, and a Character Animator. Combined, these allow users to generate a character model through simple prompts, apply textures for clothing and detailing, and then animate the model with pre-set motions.

These generators add to Charmed’s growing suite of tools, which includes Dream Dungeon for quickly creating isometric mazes with customizable textures, a quest generator for easy mission creation, and an AI texture generator that adds vivid skins to 3D game objects.

In a July interview with GeekWire, Tryba emphasized that Charmed should be seen as a toolkit for rapidly producing game concepts, blueprints, and prototypes, rather than a complete solution for no-code game design.

“If you come with a solid idea and creativity, our tools can help amplify your ability to create more intricate and exciting projects faster than doing it solo,” Tryba noted. “However, the quality of output depends on what you input. If the input is poor, the output will reflect that.”

Tryba launched Charmed last year after it was spun out from Madrona Venture Labs, which also provided the initial funding for the venture.