GAIB Raises $5 Million in Pre-Seed Funding

GAIB, a crypto-AI startup focused on tokenizing GPUs, has raised $5 million in a pre-seed funding round.

Hack VC led the round, with co-leads Faction VC and Hashed, as reported by GAIB on Tuesday. Other participating investors included Spartan, Animoca Brands, MH Ventures, Aethir, Near Foundation, Chris Yin of Plume Network, and Lucas Kozinski of Renzo Protocol.

GAIB was founded in June 2023, began raising funds the same month, and closed the round in July, according to co-founder and CEO Kony Kwong. Kwong also serves as a venture partner at L2 Iterative Ventures and has a background as an investment analyst for Huobi Global’s strategic mergers and acquisitions team.

GAIB’s pre-seed funding round utilized a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) with token warrants. He did not disclose post-round valuation or whether investors have taken advisory or directorial roles.

What is GAIB?

GAIB is a crypto-AI platform under development that aims to tokenize GPUs, making AI computing more accessible. AI computing is typically provided by GPUs and other hardware, and GAIB intends to unlock the liquidity of these traditionally illiquid assets.

Kwong mentioned, “The idea for GAIB originates from the growing demand for accessible, scalable AI compute resources and the need to unlock the liquidity of traditionally illiquid GPU assets.”

The name GAIB is derived from the movie Dune, which translates to “the unseen” or “the future.” Just as spice is central in Dune, GPUs are emerging as essential assets; compute is becoming the new currency in the AI era. The name reflects the startup’s focus on three core areas: GPU, AI, and financialization.

GAIB’s platform will allow AI cloud companies to stake their GPUs. These GPUs will be tokenized, enabling investors to purchase them as fungible tokens. Investors can hold these tokenized GPU assets for yields and rewards or use them in various DeFi applications, such as lending, borrowing, options, futures, structured products, and even GPU-backed stablecoins.

Tokenizing GPUs reduces investment barriers, enabling participation in the GPU economy without the burden of managing physical hardware or complex infrastructure.

GAIB’s Launch Timeline

GAIB has completed its prototype and is preparing for a pilot launch later this month, with an alpha product launch planned within the next two months. The GAIB token is also set to launch following the product release.

The GAIB platform will be deployed across multiple blockchains, including Ethereum, Base, BNB Chain, Plume, Monad, Movement, Berachain, Optimism, Arbitrum, Mantle, Avalanche Zircuit, and Polygon.

Currently, 19 people work for Singapore-based GAIB, and Kwong plans to expand the team in marketing, operations, and research and development.

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