Crunch Lab Raises $5M to Build the Intelligence Layer for Decentralized AI

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Oct 07, 2025, 11:36 ET

NEW YORK, Oct. 7, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Crunch Lab, the core contributor to CrunchDAO, has raised $5 million in a strategic funding round co-led by Galaxy Ventures and Road Capital, with participation from VanEck and Multicoin in June. This brings total funding to $10 million following its $3.5 million seed round in 2024.

Crunch Lab Raises $5M to Build the Intelligence Layer for Decentralized AI

Crunch Lab's decentralized network has already delivered double-digit accuracy improvements for top institutions including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) Research Lab and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Instead of spending $100M+ to secure elite AI talent, enterprises can now tap into CrunchDAO's network of 10,000+ machine learning engineers and 1,200+ PhDs through structured modeling challenges called Crunches.

Proven in Production

Crunch's crowdsourced approach is not theoretical—it's driving measurable gains in real-world environments:

ADIA Lab: 17% improvement in cross-sectional asset pricing predictions.
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard: Breakthrough results in cancer gene research using computer vision.
FX OTC: Live deployment of Mid+One, a crowdsourced mid-market pricing engine, now used by a global investment bank.

"AI today is constrained by hiring bottlenecks, siloed teams and an inability to scale effectively," said Jean Herelle, CEO of Crunch Lab and CrunchDAO. "We've flipped that model. Instead of competing for scarce talent, we give enterprises secure access to all of it through a decentralized network."

A Collective Intelligence Advantage

Crunch transforms enterprise forecasting problems into encrypted modeling challenges, with contributors competing to build the best models. Rewards are distributed purely on performance, ensuring a meritocratic and continuously improving system.

"This isn't theoretical hype—it's proven," added Herelle. "When thousands of practitioners compete, you uncover solutions even the best internal teams miss."

Investors see this as the next layer of decentralized infrastructure:

"Crunch Lab is building an intelligence layer for global enterprises," said Will Nuelle, General Partner at Galaxy Ventures. "Whether predicting asset prices, optimizing energy demand, or advancing healthcare diagnostics, CrunchDAO's crowdsourced models unlock smarter, faster decision-making."

"We believe Crunch Lab represents one of the most compelling attempts to connect global quants with enterprises at scale," added Thomas Bailey of Road Capital. "AI is a trillion-dollar market, and open protocols like Crunch are positioned to capture it."

Expanding Access

With this round, Crunch Lab will accelerate platform development and expand into new industries beyond finance and biomedical research. Earlier this year, CrunchDAO was also selected for the Solana Incubator's second cohort, further validating its technical approach and market potential.

About Crunch Lab

Crunch Lab stands at the forefront of AI research, uniting Nobel laureates, best in class data scientists, and leading ML experts. Its work explores the frontier of collective intelligence, enabling enterprises to harness real-time predictive capabilities without compromising data security or intellectual property.

About CrunchDAO

CrunchDAO connects over 10,000+ data scientists and AI engineers worldwide, including 1,200+ PhDs, through structured Crunches built on Solana. The protocol enables secure crowdsourcing of models that consistently outperform traditional in-house teams across industries.

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