Exciting Developments in Blockchain and AI: Upcoming Summit, Funding Wins, and Technological Innovations
The Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator is an internationally recognized, non-dilutive source of support for startups in the global blockchain ecosystem and now leads our 3rd pillar on community & entrepreneurship for the Berkeley Center for Responsible, Decentralized Intelligence (RDI).
Also, UC Berkeley has been ranked the #1 university for blockchain in the US for two years in a row!
RDI & BBX
Events
Join RDI in NYC for the Summit on Decentralization & AI
If you are in the NYC area next week, please join us at the Summit on Decentralization & AI on August 6, 2024, at the Verizon Center, Cornell Tech Campus, NYC. Organized by the Berkeley Center for Responsible Decentralized Intelligence (RDI), this event will feature discussions on the latest advancements in decentralized AI, inference models, and data ecosystems, including privacy-focused AI. With over 600 industry professionals already RSVP’d and 100+ speaking proposals and research paper submissions, this summit promises a rich lineup of speakers!
You can register and see a full schedule of speakers and events here.
Fundraising Success
Celebrating our alumni’s successful fundraising efforts.
Glacier Network Secures $8M on the Blockchain
One of our 2024 cohort teams, Glacier Network has secured $8 million, valuing the project at $100 million. Investors include Foresight Ventures, UOB Venture Management, Kucoin Ventures, and others. Glacier Network is developing a scalable blockchain infrastructure for storing, indexing, and querying data, enhancing AI capabilities. It leverages GlacierAI, GlacierDB, and GlacierDA for verifiable computing and seamless data handling on platforms like Arweave and Filecoin. With 10 billion queries, 10.5 million on-chain transactions, and 800k addresses created, Glacier ranks first on the BNB Greenfield layer. The funding, 10x oversubscribed, highlights strong confidence in Glacier’s vision to transform data management on the blockchain.
Read more about Glacier’s fundraising success in this article.
Learn more about Glacier at their website or contact them at info@glacier.io.
Left to right: Jörg Walden (Walden Holding), Susanne Fromm (Vanagon Ventures), Axel Roitzsch (Vanagon Ventures), Christian Adler (LoopID), Alexis Gamboa (LoopID), Sandro Stark (Vanagon Ventures)
Vanagon Ventures Invests in AI-Powered Circular Economy Leader LoopID
LoopID, a team from our 2024 cohort, recently closed their pre-seed fundraising round. Munich-based VC firm Vanagon Ventures, which focuses on sustainable technologies, invested in LoopID for their leading role in AI-powered circular economy solutions. LoopID’s platform creates and manages “digital twins” of physical products, helping brands develop circular business models, enhance customer engagement, and comply with EU Digital Product Passport regulations. Their features include take-back systems, “recommerce” platforms, and product interaction capabilities. With a focus on electronics, textiles, and real estate, LoopID collaborates with partners like Infineon. The funding includes significant contributions from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection.
For more information, please contact Christian Adler at christian.adler@loopid.com or check out their website at www.loopid.com.
Alumni
Announcements & Milestones
Eluvio Wins SEICon Grand Prize for Sports and Entertainment Innovation
Eluvio’s Content Fabric has won the SEICon Grand Prize for Sports and Entertainment Innovation. This next-generation content distribution and storage protocol transforms streaming, monetization, and authenticity of digital media for sports teams, leagues, brands, and content owners. It provides efficient, tamper-proof streaming and AI-powered discovery, facilitating seamless cross-border payments. SEICon, hosted by USA Today Sports, brings together global sports and entertainment leaders to foster innovation. Eluvio’s CEO, Michelle Munson, emphasized the technology’s impact on video infrastructure, reducing bandwidth and storage costs while enhancing content security. The protocol runs decentralized on a global network, eliminating the need for third-party CDNs.
Read more about Eluvio’s win here.
Vivendi Selects Nodle for Fast, Easy and Irrefutable Authentication of Digital Content via Web3 Tech
Vivendi is a global leader in culture, entertainment, media and communications and is the latest leading enterprise to adopt Nodle’s blockchain based content authentication solution. The product is called “Click Certify”. Vivendi will leverage Click Certify to authenticate business documents, including press releases issued by Vivendi.
Click Certify is a fast, reliable, and transparent method for publishing and certifying official communications. It ensures the integrity of press releases and consequently enhances the reliability of information shared and consumed. It’s a new addition to Nodle’s family of authentication tools–which already include the ContentSign SDK, and the Click Camera mobile app. Nodle was part of our 2019 cohort.
Read more about it in this article.
Visit Nodle’s website to learn more about them.
Coinrule Launches New AI Product to Help Treasury & Portfolio Managers
Coinrule, from our 2021 cohort, has introduced a new product designed to assist funds, treasury and portfolio managers with automation. The platform aids funds and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) in managing ‘dust’ balances and executing Time-Weighted Average Price/Volume-Weighted Average Price (TWAP/VWAP) orders on exchanges. Until today, Coinrule has onboarded over 300,000 traders and transacted over $3 billion in volume on its retail platform. For the funds and treasury offering, Coinrule has integrated with Fireblocks and SAFE, further enhancing its capabilities. This launch aims to streamline financial operations, making it easier for managers to optimize their strategies and manage assets effectively. Coinrule’s innovative solution is set to revolutionize the way treasury and portfolio management is conducted, providing advanced tools for efficient and effective asset management.
To learn more about Coinrule visit their website.
Lulubit is part of MasterCard’s Crypto Credential Program
From our 2024 cohort, Lulubit is now part of MasterCard’s Crypto Credential Program, enabling seamless cross-border payments for remittance users. By using a Crypto Credential alias, users can send funds to participating exchanges without the need for complex blockchain wallet addresses. Exchanges will handle the routing to the corresponding wallets, simplifying the process. This innovation is set to significantly boost the use of cryptocurrency for remittances in Central America, a region with a high demand for efficient and accessible financial solutions. Lulubit’s involvement in this program as MasterCard’s partner for Central America underscores its commitment to enhancing financial inclusion through cutting-edge technology.
Check out Lulubit’s website to learn more about them.
Ava Protocol Launches Mainnet on Ethereum as EigenLayer AVS for Automated Web3 Transactions
Ava Protocol, previously known as OAK Network from our 2022 cohort, has launched its mainnet on Ethereum as an EigenLayer Actively Validated Service (AVS). As one of the first 15 AVSs and one of the largest on EigenLayer, Ava Protocol provides advanced web3 automation infrastructure, introducing innovative super-transactions to EVM-based chains. Developers can automate smart contracts based on predefined conditions using event-based execution, with improved privacy, composability, and cost-efficiency. Leveraging pooled security from Ethereum validators through EigenLayer, Ava Protocol addresses web3 automation challenges and opens new use cases for autonomous transactions. Its launch marks a substantial step forward in blockchain automation technology.
Read more about the Mainnet Launch here.
Visit their website to learn more about Ava Protocol and their launch.
Leo Wallet Reaches 250,000 Users, Prepares for Mainnet
Leo Wallet, the leading non-custodial wallet on the Aleo blockchain, has achieved 250,000 users on its browser and mobile platforms. Its rapid growth comes as Aleo prepares for its mainnet launch in August. Developed by one of our 2021 cohort teams, Demox Labs, Leo Wallet supports zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs directly in the browser, facilitating interaction with Aleo’s ZK-based applications. While Aleo is currently in its testnet phase, the upcoming mainnet launch later this year is expected to further boost the wallet’s adoption and usage.
Learn more about the Leo wallet visit their website.
Automata leads TEE efforts for Web3
Automata Network, a modular attestation layer that extends machine trust to Ethereum, is driving Trusted Execution Environments (TEE) efforts in Web3 from applications on the blockchain to comprehensive tooling. TEE Coprocessors, as they are known, provide strong execution integrity and rapid prototyping. Chiefly, Automata Network has launched its Multi-Prover AVS on EigenLayer, drawing upon a TEE Prover that functions as a secondary proving mechanism for decentralized systems. More recently, the project has also worked with RISC Zero on attestation aggregation, having also brought Intel SGX PCCS on-chain for a complete DCAP-based attestation framework for TEEs in Web3.
Read more about it in this article and visit their website to learn more about Automata Network.
Blockchain Innovation Forum Now on YouTube!
The Blockchain Innovation Forum is now available on our RDI YouTube channel! The insights from leaders at Protocol Labs, Aptos, Circle, Visa, Electric Capital, Paradigm and more are definitely worth a listen! Whether you missed the event or want to revisit some of the panel discussions, you can watch all the sessions at your convenience.
Find the panels, keynotes, startup pitches and lightning talks by researchers here.
Berkeley Blockchain Xcelerator Newsletter
August 2024
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