Crunch Lab Raises $3.5 Million in Seed Funding

Crunch Lab raised $3.5 million in seed funding, led by the crypto-focused investment firm Multicoin Capital.

Factor Capital, Fabric VC, and Elixir Capital also supported this funding round, bringing the startup’s total funding to $5.3 million.

Crunch Lab is the core contributor behind CrunchDAO, a platform allowing AI researchers to participate in distributed machine learning competitions. As part of their involvement, CrunchDAO members can earn CRNCH tokens, which grant governance rights and other benefits.

Founder and CEO Jean Herelle informed The Block that Crunch Lab has entered the prototyping phase with two financial institutions to provide live data feeds. This collaboration is anticipated to generate an additional $2 million in ARR for Crunch Lab this year.

Previously, Crunch Lab closed its pre-seed round in 2021, obtaining support from angel investors experienced in quantitative finance and technology, according to Herelle.