Decentralized artificial intelligence infrastructure startup OpenGradient announced today that it has raised $8.5 million in new funding to build out its decentralized platform for sovereign, secure and open-source AI.

Founded in 2023 as Vanna Laboratories Inc., OpenGradient is developing a decentralized platform that aims to make AI more secure, transparent and accessible. With a focus on open-source AI, the company wants to help developers via an ecosystem that enables easier integration of AI models into decentralized applications without the traditional complexities of blockchain.

The OpenGradient platform leverages blockchain technology to ensure model verifiability, secure hosting and deployment at scale, according to the company, and also eliminates the need for cumbersome cryptographic or hardware solutions.

The company’s approach includes a multi-layer technology stack that features an earned value management-compatible blockchain and Heterogeneous AI Compute Architecture. The architecture allows for scalable AI compute on-chain, allowing developers to deploy AI models securely and instantaneously.

Through offering decentralized infrastructure, OpenGradient claims to enhance security and composability by providing developers with the tools they need to build intelligent applications with minimal effort.

“Developers today face significant hurdles when developing secure software for custom AI models, often grappling with developing a variety of complex cryptographic or hardware solutions into their stack,” said co-founder and Chief Executive Matthew Wang. “OpenGradient revolutionizes this approach, offering near-instantaneous model deployment and secure inference of AI models in mere seconds.”

The seed round included participation from a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator, SV Angel, Coinbase Ventures, SALT Fund LP, Symbolic Capital Partners LP, Foresight Ventures LP and angel investors. The angels include Balaji Srinivasan, former chief technology officer at Coinbase Inc., Illia Polosukhin, founder of NEAR, and Sandeep Nailwal, founder of Polygon Technology Pte. Ltd.

“OpenGradient is ushering in a new era for decentralized AI by developing infrastructure to support the next generation of intelligent applications,” said SV Angel Principal Mike Liu. “They’ve built a truly disruptive tech stack at the intersection of AI and blockchain.”

Image: OpenGradient