London-based AI company Gensyn has closed a $6.5m (£4.92m) seed round of funding led by Web3 infrastructure VC Eden Block.
The funding will go towards the launch of Gensyn’s decentralised computer network for training AI models.
Gensyn harvests the computing power of idle GPUs by connecting them to a larger network, while providing a financial return to the hardware owners.
Gensyn’s model seeks to offer a cost-effective alternative for those looking to use deep learning AI technology without paying the prohibitively expensive computing power and server costs to cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS).
The company estimates that over half of the world’s potential computing power, which exists in personal computers and data centres, is being wasted by idle hardware.
Crypto mining has similarly been used to harness the capabilities of idle hardware. However, Gensyn claims its model doesn’t have the same environmentally harmful factors.
“Deep learning has revolutionised diverse areas from facial recognition to spy plane radar operation,” said Gensyn co-founder Harry Grieve.
“Ballooning demand for hardware – and fat margins – is why the usual names like AWS and Azure have fought to command such high market share. The result is a market which is more expensive and places control of who-gets-what in the hands of centralised entities.”
Grieve added: “We’ve spoken to a number of companies with staggering cloud compute bills who struggle to purchase outright the hardware that they need; so we designed a better way – superior on price, with unlimited scalability, and no gatekeepers”.
Lior Messika, managing partner at Eden Block said: “Gensyn’s goal of truly democratising compute with decentralised technology is perhaps the most ambitious endeavour we’ve come across.”
Other participants in the seed round include Galaxy Digital, Maven 11, Coinfund, Hypersphere and Zee Prime.
The company previously raised a pre-seed investment of $1.1m in 2021 led by 7percent Ventures and Counterview Capital.
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