Crunch Lab Secures $5 Million to Enhance Decentralized AI Network

According to Cointelegraph, Crunch Lab, a key contributor to CrunchDAO, has successfully raised $5 million in a strategic funding round aimed at advancing its decentralized artificial intelligence predictions network. This innovative system has been instrumental in achieving breakthroughs in cancer research at prestigious institutions such as Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The recent influx of capital elevates the protocol's total funding to $10 million, which Crunch Lab plans to utilize in developing an institutional 'intelligence layer' for decentralized AI, as announced on Tuesday. The funding round, which took place in June, was co-led by Galaxy Ventures and Road Capital, with additional participation from VanEck and Multicoin. Crunch Lab's mission is to revolutionize enterprise forecasting challenges by transforming them into 'encrypted modeling competitions,' rewarding participants who develop the most accurate predictive models. Jean Herelle, co-founder and CEO of Crunch Lab, emphasized the value of this approach, stating that when thousands of practitioners compete, solutions emerge that even the best internal teams might overlook. This decentralized network offers enterprises secure access to a vast pool of talent, eliminating the need to compete for scarce resources. Crunch Lab's strategy employs blockchain-based incentives to decentralize the AI intelligence-building process, allowing data scientists to compete anonymously while ensuring data privacy. Will Nuelle, general partner at Galaxy, highlighted the potential of the new decentralized AI network to serve as an 'intelligence layer for global enterprises.' He noted that CrunchDAO's crowdsourced models facilitate smarter and faster decision-making across various sectors, including asset price prediction, energy demand optimization, and healthcare diagnostics. The network intends to leverage the funding to expand its reach into real-world industries beyond finance and biomedical research. Crunch Lab's crowdsourced AI solution is already yielding significant results for leading global institutions. The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard has achieved breakthrough results in cancer gene research therapy using Crunch Lab's computer vision technology. Herelle pointed out that the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Center has utilized the network to train improved computer vision models for cancer detection from cell images. Additionally, Nobel Prize-winning economist Guido Imbens employed Crunch Lab's platform to develop one of the first algorithms capable of uncovering causal relationships between economic variables. The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) Research Lab also reported 'double-digit accuracy improvements' using Crunch Lab's technology. Furthermore, CrunchDAO was selected for the Solana Incubator's second cohort in early 2025, aiming to support projects that drive mainstream adoption of the Solana network.