Author: Zen, PANews
In the first half of 2024, driven by the AI boom, the US stock market has been booming, and the S&P 500 index has set 31 record closing highs. Nvidia, the "first AI stock", has been frequently reported in the newspapers, with its stock price soaring 149%, entering the $3 trillion club.
The trend is just right, and today's technology startups almost always talk about AI. Even if they are not focused on the AI field, they will emphasize which AI technologies they use. Well-known investment institutions such as a16z no longer set up AI-related funds, because artificial intelligence now plays an important role in almost all startups. As another "hot spot" that the technology industry cannot avoid in recent years, the intersection of Web3 and AI is undoubtedly a direction worth exploring. The concept of "AI improves productivity, Web3 changes production relations" brings people unlimited reverie.
Referring to the "Financing Weekly" column, PANews has counted the "Web3+AI projects" that received financing in the first half of this year. These projects apply artificial intelligence technology to varying degrees, involving computing power and algorithm infrastructure, data and privacy, DeFi, entertainment products such as games, and applications that provide content creation tools, AI Agent/bot and other services. The following will also review a total of 64 "Web3+AI projects" that completed financing in the first half of 2024 according to this classification.
Sentient
An AI research organization dedicated to building open source AI models through community contributions, allowing users to access and contribute models, and providing rewards based on contributions. One of Sentient's core contributors is Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal. It will be built on Polygon and may also create its own chain through the Polygon Chain Development Kit (CDK), and plans to launch a testnet in the third quarter of this year. Sentient raised $85 million in a seed round of financing co-led by Founders Fund, Pantera Capital and Framework Ventures.
io.net
Solana Ecosystem DePIN Protocol aims to aggregate GPU resources for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) companies, aiming to build its decentralized GPU network and solve the AI computing shortage problem. io.net has completed a $30 million Series A financing round, led by Hack VC, with participation from Multicoin Capital, Web3.com Ventures, etc.
Allora Labs
A decentralized artificial intelligence network, it is an L1 blockchain built on the Cosmos stack. It changed its name from Upshot to Allora in February this year, and shifted from an NFT evaluation platform to a decentralized artificial intelligence network. Allora's total financing reached $35 million.
Ritual
A decentralized AI network project, Ritual received millions of dollars in additional investment from venture capital firm Polychain Capital this year, the specific amount has not yet been disclosed. It had previously completed a $25 million financing in November 2023, led by Archetype, with participation from Accomplice and Robot Ventures.
Ora
An AI-driven blockchain project that aims to integrate AI into decentralized applications through its "on-chain AI oracle". Ora has completed a $20 million financing, with participation from Polychain, SevenX Ventures, HF0 and Hashkey Capital.
Airstack
An AI-powered Web3 developer platform that allows developers to access and utilize on-chain data using AI-powered natural language requests. Airstack has raised a total of $11 million, with investors including Superscrypt and Red Beard Ventures.
GaiaNet
A decentralized network of AI tools. By allowing individuals around the world to host and manage AI models on edge computing nodes, GaiaNet aims to address issues such as privacy protection, technology accessibility, and democratization of AI technology. GaiaNet has completed a $10 million seed round of financing, with investors including EVM Capital, Mirana Ventures, and Mantle EcoFund.
ChainML
A Web3-enabled AI R&D company that aims to decentralize AI access, it has launched an agent base layer called Theoriq, a framework for autonomous AI agents to complete complex tasks. ChainML raised $6.2 million in seed round extension financing, led by Hack VC and participated by Foresight Ventures.
REVOX.ai
A modular on-chain AI network. REVOX.ai is committed to combining AI technology with decentralized architecture, aiming to provide safer and more efficient AI solutions. REVOX.ai has raised $6 million from investors including SevenX Ventures, Arweave SCP Ventures, Cointelegraph Acceleration, and 7upDAO.
Prime Intellect
A decentralized AI development platform that aims to democratize AI technology. Prime Intellect has raised $5.5 million, led by Distributed Global and Coinfund. The funds and resources will be used to advance its global computing aggregation, distributed training framework development, and open AI model collaborative training.
NodeOps
A blockchain node management platform. NodeOps provides AI infrastructure for node operators and developers, aiming to simplify the development process and operation of Web3 protocols. NodeOps has completed a $5 million seed round of financing, led by L1D.
Tensorplex Labs
Infrastructure for decentralized AI networks, aimed at accelerating the development of open, decentralized artificial intelligence networks such as Bittensor. Tensorplex Labs has completed a $3 million seed round of financing, led by Canonical Crypto and Collaboration+Currency, with participation from Amber Group and others.
Hemera
Web3 infrastructure startup, whose Hemera protocol is a Web3 large language model (LLM) operating system built for developers, of which SocialScan is a community-owned AI based on the protocol. Hemera has completed a $2.6 million seed round of financing, led by LIF Capital and Nomad Capital.
PrivateAI
Decentralized AI protocol. PrivateAI has launched an AI native distributed data platform, aiming to build the world's first domain-specific large language model (LLM) for the longevity industry. PrivateAI has completed a strategic round of financing, with participation from DAO Maker and others, and the specific amount of financing has not yet been disclosed.
Optopia.ai
AI Layer2 network. Optopia.ai launched its mainnet in May, aiming to simplify Web3 operations through AI agents, lower the entry barrier for users, and empower AI agents through a token economic model. Optopia.ai has completed its seed round of financing, with participation from G Ventures and Kucoin Ventures.
KIP Protocol
A Web3 underlying protocol focused on AI, the goal is to develop a secure and efficient decentralized Web3 underlying protocol that enables AI creators (data owners, model makers, AI application developers) to deploy their work on Web3, thereby retaining full digital property rights. KIP Protocol's strategic round of financing was led by Animoca Ventures, with an undisclosed amount.
AINN Layer2
A Bitcoin second-layer network project that supports large-scale applications of decentralized AI, AINN Layer2 has received investment from institutions such as Amber Group.
NavyAI
Solana on-chain AI model training platform, dedicated to AI model training and self-learning, provides cost-effective solutions to reduce AI bias, and allows users to access and train virtual AI models through decentralized GPU resources to improve artificial intelligence accessibility and fair innovation. NavyAI has completed its seed round of financing, with X Ventures and others participating, and the amount is not disclosed.
Meson Network
Decentralized physical network. Meson Network claims to focus on DePIN+AI, and its "DePIN" nodes are developed with user-friendly technology to accommodate a variety of hardware, such as personal laptops, servers, IoT devices, etc. Meson Network is valued at $1 billion in a new round of strategic financing led by Presto Labs, and the specific amount of financing has not been disclosed.
Compute Labs
RWA tokenization protocol based on computing assets. Compute Labs, incubated by NVIDIA Inception VC Alliance, provides investors with AI computing power returns by developing enterprise-level AI computing power tokenization protocol CTP and GPU Restaking solutions. CTP is currently available on the Solana testnet, and the mainnet is expected to be launched in the third quarter, and TGE will be completed before the end of the year.
OpenLedger
Decentralized and permissionless data infrastructure enables builders to create smarter and more efficient models with verifiable data. OpenLedger raised $8 million in a seed round led by Polychain Capital and Borderless Capital. It is expected to be launched on the mainnet at the end of the year.
FLock
A native Web3 data privacy solution for AI, its "Federated Learning Blocks" (FLocks for short) research program uses blockchain as a coordination platform between data holders to perform machine learning while keeping data local and private. FLock raised $6 million in seed round, led by Lightspeed Faction and Tagus Capital, with participation from OKX Ventures and others.
Hyperline
Web3 native data lake development company, mainly building shared storage and computing engines for Web3 developers who build AI products and analytical applications to support data applications and service functions. Hyperline completed a $5.2 million seed round, led by Slow Ventures.
Cookie3
MarketingFi and AI data layer for Web3 enterprises, creators and users. Cookie3 announced that it has received $5.5 million in token financing, with investors including The Spartan Group, Animoca Brands, etc.
Privasea
AI-driven data security solution, integrating FHEML into the distributed computing power crowdfunding network, and combined with the self-developed Depin mining machine to form an FHE computing power network that supports all L1 and L2. Privasea's strategic private placement financing was participated by OKX Ventures, Laser Digital under Nomura Group and Tanelabs, an incubator backed by SoftBank. It also completed a $5 million seed round.
0xScope
Web3 knowledge graph protocol, has released 0xScope V2, and the future focus is to provide data support for Web3 AI applications through a proprietary Web3 data layer, and connect AI with Web3 in the process. 0xScope has completed a $5 million Pre-Series A round of financing, led by HashKey Capital, with participation from OKX Ventures, GSR Markets and others.
Ta-da
Ta-da, an AI data market with the "gamified Web3" application model as its core, has completed $3.5 million in financing, with investors including Morningstar Ventures, the first-layer blockchain protocol MultiversX, GBV Capital and others.
Inference Labs
Web3 AI startup, dedicated to making AI more accessible, and focusing on decentralized and privacy-centric technologies. Inference Labs has completed a $2.3 million Pre-Seed round of financing, led by Digital Asset Capital Management, Delphi Ventures, and Mechanism Capital.
PublicAI
Web3 decentralized AI training network, designed to use blockchain technology to generate massive amounts of high-quality training data on a large scale, and enable anyone to earn rewards by providing data works. PublicAI has completed a $2 million seed round of financing, with participation from Solana Foundation and Everstate Capital.
AIT Protocol
AI data infrastructure, Web3 data infrastructure built on blockchain is mainly used for data annotation and AI model training, allowing crypto users to earn rewards while participating in tasks and contributing to AI model development and training. Participants in AIT Protocol's new round of financing include Animoca Brands and others.
Aperture Finance
AI-driven DeFi platform, which simplifies DeFi operations through an innovative intent-driven approach, allowing users to specify the desired results. Aperture Finance has raised a total of $12 million, with supporters including Skyland Ventures, Blockchain Founders Fund and Krypital Group.
onaji
A machine learning platform for smart contract blockchains, it has established a platform for training and deploying AI models that can autonomously participate in DeFi on Ethereum and Layer 2.
onaji
A $2.5 million Pre-Seed round of financing, led by Stratos, with participation from Maven11, Uniswap Labs, IOSG Ventures and others.
XRADERS
Al-driven transaction management and social platform on BNB Chain. XRADERS has completed $2.1 million in Pre-Seed and Seed rounds, with participation from FBG Capital and others.
0xGen
AI-driven DeFi platform. 0xGen has completed strategic financing, with participation from Principle68, Bella Protocol, Phoenix Chain and others.
AgentFi
Blast ecosystem AI-driven DeFi protocol. AgentFi's first product uses the ERC-6551 standard to provide on-chain trading services and automated services that can generate income through wallet accounts bound to NFTs. AgentFi has completed its first round of financing, led by Generative Ventures.
Sharpe
AI-driven crypto application designed for professional traders, providing a unified platform for smart, investment and automated digital assets. Sharpe has completed seed round financing, with participation from Animoca Brands, GBV Capital and others, and the specific amount has not been disclosed.
MetaCene
Web3 MMO game platform, which adopts PVE and PVP gameplay, supports guild DAO governance, sustainable economic system and in-game AIGC editing and other functions. MetaCene has completed a $10 million private round A financing, led by Folius Ventures and SevenX Ventures.
Raiinmaker
Raiinmaker is building decentralized artificial intelligence tools and Web3 infrastructure to support sports, games and entertainment projects. Users can train artificial intelligence through iOS or Android phones and receive rewards proportional to their impact on the artificial intelligence model. Raiinmaker has raised a total of $10 million, of which the $7.5 million seed round was jointly led by Jump Capital and Cypher Capital.
DeepLink
A decentralized AI cloud gaming protocol that provides ultra-low latency game rendering solutions for 3A games and cloud Internet cafes. It supports ultra-low latency of 1ms and 8K high-resolution gaming experience through AI, blockchain and streaming technology. DeepLink has completed a total of $8 million in angel and A rounds of financing, with a valuation of $100 million. Investors include Gobi Ventures, Hycons, DBC, ROCK Ventures, etc.
ArenaX Labs
Developer of AI Arena, an AI-driven Web3 competitive game. AI Arena allows users to train their own AI characters to fight. The outcome of each battle depends on the player's skills in training, aiming to help users understand the operation and learning process of artificial intelligence. ArenaX Labs has completed a new round of financing of $6 million, led by Framework Ventures and participated by SevenX Ventures.
Today
Web3 social simulation game, is developing intelligent NPCs and code-free creator tools based on generative AI. Today completed a $5 million seed round of financing, led by Sfermion and Big Brain Holdings.
Studio 369
The developer of the blockchain video game "MetalCore", which is developing a dynamic mission system that uses AI to generate unique tasks and goals, is expected to open game testing at the end of 2024. Studio 369 completed a new round of financing of $5 million this year, with investors including Delphi Digital, Bitkraft Ventures and Sanctor Capital.
Play AI
A provider of AI and blockchain solutions focusing on games and virtual reality, the platform includes Play Markets for data collection, Play Dojo for AI improvement, and Play Hub for seamless AI agent integration. Play AI has completed a $4.3 million first round of financing, with participation from P2 Ventures, Jump Crypto and others.
Sortium
A Web3 game studio focusing on generative AI, the technology it provides integrates artificial intelligence tools into the existing game production ecosystem to automate challenging content creation tasks. Sortium has completed over $4 million in financing, led by Signum Growth, with participation from Cathie Wood's ARK Investment Management LLC.
GOALAI
Web3 football fantasy game, dedicated to using blockchain NFTs to integrate with real-world football communities, clubs, fans and competitions, and applying AI artificial intelligence to bring potential and commercial value to Web3 football enthusiasts. GOALAI has completed $3 million in financing, led by IDG Capital, with participation from KuCoin Ventures.
Stage
Web3 music platform. Stage aims to enable artists and fans to receive fair compensation and participate deeply by integrating Web3, introducing a play-and-earn model, RWA and AI music. Stage has completed $2.4 million in financing, with participation from the Solana Foundation.
Cellula
Full-chain AI game, using virtual proof-of-work (vPOW) asset distribution to provide continuous incentives for games within the ecosystem. Cellula has completed a $2 million Pre-Seed round of financing, led by SevenX Ventures and OKX Ventures; previously, Cellula also received strategic investment from Binance Labs Pre-Seed through the Binance Incubator project.
EventCHI
Dutch blockchain ticketing platform. By seamlessly integrating artificial intelligence and blockchain, EventCHI provides a unified platform for cashless payments, NFT ticketing and intelligence. EventCHI has completed a seed round of financing of over 1.6 million euros.
Saltwater Games
A game studio and publisher headquartered in the UK, it consists of three game studios: Nexus Labs, Maze Theory, and Saltwater Labs. Saltwater Labs is an innovative studio focusing on the development of emerging technologies in Web3 and AI. It has received investment from Animoca Brands.
CARV
A modular data layer focusing on the game and AI industries. As the sole author of ERC7231, CARV built the CARV Protocol, which has been integrated with more than 40 chains, Google Cloud, and other identity, storage, infrastructure, and AI ecosystems. It has received support from Temasek's Vertex Ventures, ConsenSys, Tribe Capital, IOSG Ventures, HashKey Capital, Animoca Brands, etc.
Sleepless AI
Web3+AI gaming platform, which has completed a new round of financing led by Folius Ventures, and the specific amount has not been disclosed. According to its introduction, Sleepless AI is the winner of the Binance MVB V accelerator and has previously completed investments from Binance Labs and Foresight Ventures.
MediConCen
Hong Kong blockchain insurance technology company, mainly using the latest artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology to digitize paper and manual claims processes. MediConCen has completed a US$6.85 million (approximately HK$53.43 million) Series A financing, led by HSBC Investment Management and participated by Gaomei Capital, bringing its total financing to US$12.7 million.
MyShell
A Web3 AI platform focused on creators, it is mainly aimed at content creators and consumers, allowing the generation of AI agents or robots. MyShell raised US$11 million in a round of financing led by Dragonfly.
Bluwhale
AI Web3 startup, Bluwhale takes a new approach that gives control and revenue rights to wallet holders and enables them to decide whether they are willing to interact with marketers and monetize their information. Bluwhale has completed a US$7 million seed round of financing, led by SBI.
Adot
Decentralized artificial intelligence search engine. Adot (a.xyz) has raised a total of $6 million, with Hash Global, SevenX Ventures, Mask Network and others participating.
Sahara
A decentralized AI network that is trustless, permissionless and privacy-centric, it can create customized autonomous knowledge agents (Sahara KA) for individuals and enterprises, allowing everyone to use their knowledge capital to explore monetization and automation opportunities through AI. Sahara has completed a $6 million seed round of financing, led by Polychain Capital and participated by Samsung Next and others.
YogaPetz
A decentralized mind-body ecosystem combined with AI, YogaPetz has raised more than $5 million in total from seed round financing and NFT sales, with seed round financing led by Animoca Brands, Newman group and Soul Capital Partners.
SOAI
AI social platform, aims to focus on reshaping the virtual companion industry ecosystem through advanced AI technology, and creating customized AI soulmates for billions of people around the world. SOAI has completed $5 million in institutional angel round financing, of which Archer Capital invested $3 million and XForce Capital invested $2 million.
Bythen
Human-computer interaction AI protocol, which is building an artificial intelligence product protocol to create AI-driven 3D avatar agents with autonomous capabilities. Bythen has completed $3 million in seed round financing, with investors including East Ventures, BEENEXT, etc.
Talus Network
A blockchain platform focusing on decentralized artificial intelligence, the network aims to leverage the power of Move, emphasizing security, speed, and enhanced developer experience to cultivate a diverse intelligent agent ecosystem for decentralized applications. Talus Network has completed a $3 million financing round, led by Polychain Capital and participated by dao5 and others.
SmartLoC
Blockchain and AI-based B2B payment solution, focusing on using technologies such as the Internet of Things, blockchain and artificial intelligence to optimize the way companies conduct financial transactions around the world. SmartLoC has completed 1.8 million euros in financing, led by High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF).
imgnAI
Crypto AI platform, the image generation robot platform was launched at the end of 2022. The imgnAI crypto tokens on its website are used to unlock advanced features and directly cast images as NFTs. Crypto AI platform imgnAI has completed a $1.6 million seed round of financing, led by Hack VC.
LinkTo
Web3 traffic aggregation marketing platform, by introducing advanced flow casting technology and AI algorithms, LinkTo aims to provide brands and advertisers with a platform that can accurately locate and effectively reach target audiences while ensuring data security and user privacy. LinkTo has completed its seed round of financing, with participation from Adaverse and others.
Creator.bid
Based on blockchain and AI-driven digital content monetization and ownership platform, it supports content creators to build AI-driven digital assets to monetize content and manage writing, and also provides tools to enhance creators' autonomy in managing their work and income. Creator.bid's financing amount was not disclosed, and investors include Mechanism Capital and others.
The AI x Web3 fusion brings a promising future filled with innovation and potential. By leveraging the unique strengths of each technology, we can solve a variety of challenges and open up new technological paths.
JinseFinanceRepresentative projects in the three major application types of current AI agents in cryptocurrency, and the two major challenges currently faced.
JinseFinanceWhen Huang Renxun gave a speech at WGS in Dubai, he proposed the term "sovereign AI". So, which sovereign AI can meet the interests and demands of the Crypto community?
JinseFinanceArtificial Intelligence, Web 3.0, NEAR: Why does AI need Web3? What kind of disruptive progress will Web3 bring to AI? Golden Finance, Why does artificial intelligence need to be open?
JinseFinanceSora is an artificial intelligence model developed by OpenAI that can generate realistic and imaginative video scenes based on user-entered text instructions.
JinseFinanceAI Agent, artificial intelligence, AIGC, decoding Web3 AI: next generation technology stack Golden Finance, Web2 AI and Web3 AI technology stack and track projects
JinseFinanceJinseFinanceAI and Web3 have the potential to reshape industries. But challenges like data privacy, interoperability, and ethical AI usage must be addressed as these technologies converge.
CatherineThe collapse of algorithmic Terra USD has created many setbacks and distortion in the broader crypto space. The outcome could ...
BitcoinistProject Galaxy is the world's largest Web3 credential data network.
Ftftx