Crypto-AI startup Exabits reaches $150 million valuation with $15 million seed round
Quick Take Exabits has raised $15 million in a seed round led by Hack VC. The round brought the crypto-AI startup’s valuation to $150 million.
Exabits, a crypto-AI startup focused on tokenizing GPUs, has raised $15 million in a seed funding round at a $150 million valuation.
Hack VC led the round, with several other investors also participating, Exabits said Tuesday, declining to name them. Exabits began fundraising in July of this year and closed the round in October, co-founder Dr. Hoansoo Lee told The Block. He declined to comment on the structure of the funding round but said a token will be launched in the future.
The seed round brings Exabits' total funding to $20 million, Lee said. Earlier this year, the company raised an undisclosed pre-seed round followed by an undisclosed strategic funding round led by Portal Ventures, Lee added, suggesting both rounds totaled around $5 million.
What is Exabits?
Exabits tokenizes GPUs with the goal of decentralizing computing, which it calls "the currency of the digital age." Lee said GPU compute performance has far outpaced traditional assets like bitcoin and gold, highlighting the potential for further growth.
"AI's impact on the world is only scratching the surface, and we are excited to be at the forefront of this evolution, driving growth and market traction through the development of our advanced infrastructure and unique GPU tokenization model," Lee said.
Exabits' tokenization model offers direct exposure to GPU compute assets, creating a liquid market, generating revenue and rewarding token holders, Lee said. While its token is yet to launch, Exabits has already achieved significant revenue growth, according to Lee. Over the past year, Exabits' revenue has surged by an average of 300% per quarter, reaching $10 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), he noted.
Competitive landscape
Exabits' closest competitors are Compute Labs and GAIB, which have recently raised $3 million and $5 million in pre-seed funding, respectively. Earlier today, Hyperbolic, a crypto-AI startup that has launched a GPU marketplace, raised $12 million in a strategic funding round led by Variant and Polychain Capital.
Interest in crypto-AI startups continues to grow, driven by the convergence of AI's disruptive potential and crypto's decentralized ethos, as The Block reported recently. However, skepticism persists. Erick Zhang, managing partner at Nomad Capital and a former Binance executive, recently warned that many such startups are chasing trends without clear value propositions.
"Most of these startups will fail," Zhang said at the time. Last week at The Block and Foresight Ventures' inaugural Emergence conference, investors pointed to a lack of expertise and substance behind many projects.
"Almost everyone will lose a lot of money," Dragonfly General Partner Rob Hadick said . David Pakman, managing director at CoinFund, noted that attempts to decentralize core components of the AI stack are unlikely to disrupt dominant centralized players in the near term.
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Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
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