Amidst the resurgence of activity in the crypto sphere, funding for new startups is also picking up pace. One such beneficiary is 0G Labs, a web3 infrastructure firm that has secured an impressive $35 million in a pre-seed funding round, as revealed exclusively to TechCrunch by the team.
The substantial size of this pre-seed round, at $35 million, is noteworthy. “In order to build the basic technology, we wanted to raise $5 million, originally,” shared Michael Heinrich, co-founder of 0G.
0G, often referred to as ZeroGravity, is dedicated to developing a modular AI blockchain aimed at addressing the challenges faced by on-chain AI applications in the web3 ecosystem, such as speed and cost efficiency. Competitors in this space include Celestia and EigenLayer, both of which share a focus on modularity.
Modularity is key in enabling developers to select and configure the components they need to construct a blockchain system or application according to their specific requirements. Similar to customizing orders at a restaurant, developers have the flexibility to tailor the components to best suit their needs.
Our goal is we can now enable any blockchain to be as performant and inexpensive as a web2 application,” Heinrich emphasized. “That’s the benefit of having this modularity approach.
In contrast, Ethereum, for instance, operates as a monolithic blockchain, with a single data layer, consensus layer, and functionality. Its structure lacks the flexibility for customization, posing challenges for integrating centralized AI technologies. Heinrich pointed out the necessity of establishing this core infrastructure to facilitate on-chain AI capabilities.
Upon inception, co-founders Heinrich, Ming Wu, Fan Long, and Thomas Yao recognized the crucial importance of data availability and storage in scaling blockchain systems and enabling on-chain AI. “There was infrastructure that’s missing, and we had a strong commitment to build that,” Heinrich affirmed.
