io.net Raises $30M to Solve the AI Compute Shortage By Building “The Internet of GPUs”
Novel DePIN Democratizes GPU Compute Resources Network At A Fraction of The Cost of Traditional Cloud Providers
NEW YORK, MARCH 5, 2024 — IO Research, the makers of io.net, the largest open network of GPU-accelerated compute resources, today announced a $30million Series A round led by Hack VC with participation from Multicoin Capital, 6th Man Ventures, M13, Delphi Digital, Solana Labs, Aptos Labs, Foresight Ventures, Longhash, SevenX, ArkStream, Animoca Brands, Continue Capital, MH Ventures and OKX, as well as prominent industry leaders including Solana founder Anatoly Yakovenk, Aptos founders Mo Shaikh and Avery Ching, Yat Siu of Animoca Brands and Jin Kang of Perlone Capital. The capital will be used to grow the team from 50 to 100 people by the end of the year, to service overwhelming customer demand, and continue building out io.net.
io.net is a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) that aggregates underutilized GPU resources into scalable virtual clusters for AI and ML companies. IO Cloud is an AI cloud platform built on the network that makes it easy to instantly deploy and manage GPU clusters at enterprise security and scale — including their type, host, location, GPU types and security level — with unmatched availability in just a few seconds
“AI is not just here to stay, and it’s accelerating at a blistering pace. Demand for compute is outpacing supply, increasing costs and reducing choice for engineers. We’re clustering GPUs from geo-distributed sources and democratizing access to them at a fraction of the cost of centralized cloud services,” said Ahmad Shahid, io.net Founder and CEO. “This funding will help us grow the team, decentralize the network, and march toward our mission of making AI a ubiquitous resource to the world.”
In March 2023, io.net was selected as one of the winners of the Solana Grizzlython Hackathon, which spanned more than 7,000 participants and 907 final projects. Four months later, the company unveiled io.net at Breakpoint, Solana’s annual community summit, in Amsterdam. In the short time since launch, the network has grown to over 25,000 GPUs and has processed over forty thousand compute hours for AI and ML companies.
“io.net saves customers up to 90% on their cloud AI costs,” said Ed Roman, Managing Partner at Hack VC. “In an age where GPU chips are in high-demand with global shortages, that is simply an incredible accomplishment. The team hustles harder than just about any team we’ve seen in web3, and their drive and resolve will serve them well in the coming years. We’re grateful to be partnering with them.”
As a permissionless network, the io.net has a structural cost advantage over traditional hyperscalers or specialized cloud providers. Rather than buying scarce and expensive GPUs or repackaging AWS, io.net incentivizes un- and under-utilized resource providers around the world — such as independent data centers, crypto miners, or consumer GPUs — to supply their resources to io.net using tokenomic incentives. io.net then virtualizes those resources, giving developers nearly-infinite scalability and control over their clusters for a fraction of the price.
“io.net has the potential to democratize GPU compute at a time when GPUs are the scarcest commodity in the world,” said Shayon Sengupta, Investment Partner, Multicoin Capital. “Industry analysts are still radically underestimating how much compute power will be needed to fuel the next generation of AI apps. io.net is the only credible solution to onboarding new GPU capacity next to building a new fab manufacturing center from the ground up.”
In December last year, io.net announced major partnerships with Render Network and Filecoin to supply their hardware to io.net. Businesses like Krea.ai are already using io.net’s decentralized cloud services, IO Cloud, for powering their AI model inferences.
In February this year, io.net announced The Ignition Rewards Program to incentivize network and community members who provide GPU capacity, use IO Cloud compute for their applications, or engage with the project on social media and in Discord.
To learn more about io.net, become a GPU supplier, or to access compute resources for a fraction of the cost, please visit https://www.io.net.
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About IO Research
IO Research is an AI development company that commercializes state-of-the-art solutions on top of io.net, the largest open network of GPU-accelerated compute resources in the world. IO Research is a core contributor to the io.net and helps maintain the network and foster growth. Access compute capacity for a fraction of the cost or become a capacity supplier at https://www.io.net.
About io.net
io.net is the largest open network of GPU-accelerated compute resources in the world. Hundreds of thousands of GPUs are accessible today through IO Cloud, an AI cloud platform that allows developers to spin up infinitely scalable and configurable clusters on demand. The platform is specifically architected for low-latency, high-processing-demand use cases, like AI/ML operations and cloud gaming. io.net democratizes access to GPU compute capacity while reducing costs, expediting lead times, and expanding choice for engineers and businesses. Access compute capacity for a fraction of the cost or become a capacity supplier at https://www.io.net.
