Archetype is thrilled to lead Ritual’s $25M round and unlock the emerging synergies between AI/ML and crypto.

Earlier this year, ChatGPT became the fastest growing platform ever when it reached 100M active users just a few months after launching. It has since catalyzed a frenzy of adoption and investment around the world.

Our belief is that Ritual is positioned to accelerate a similar phenomenon in web3 by bringing AI onchain and into the hands of crypto’s developers and users.

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The Foundation for Open AI Infrastructure

Ritual is building the foundation for open AI infrastructure in the form of an incentivized network, connecting distributed computing devices. Ritual will be starting with GPUs, serving compute, inference, and model fine-tuning needs, alongside a proof layer with both deterministic and probabilistic proofs to ensure computational integrity.

The incentivized network will permit users to run inference and fine-tuning against a suite of models, ranging from classical to foundation models. These can be built by anyone and will all be hosted on Ritual.

Ritual’s network opens up the supply side for models, compute, and onchain ML services, and entrenches them deep within a critical flow of discourse and shared innovation while also rewarding model creators for bringing innovative and new models across different architectures to the Ritual ecosystem.

Ritual’s overarching mission is to advance collective collaboration and the integration of AI onchain, empowering developers to bring to life more compelling and expressive user experiences all while staying true to crypto’s ethos of being open, permissionless, and gatekeeper free.

AI can enable efficient workflows, transparent governance for existing use cases, as well as a new wave of scenarios where agents, models, and AI-powered smart contracts can operate onchain.

We have high conviction the result will materially advance the overall web3 ecosystem and invite a new – and much larger – audience to find value onchain.

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An Industry-Leading Team

Ritual is constructing a team to streamline the emerging design space of AI and blockchains, with a deep bench that brings world class experience across both crypto and AI.

Led by Niraj Pant (ex-GP / Head of Investments at Polychain) and Akilesh Potti (ex-Partner at Polychain, ML @ Palantir) alongside a 20-strong team, Ritual is composed of some of the most widely respected professionals in the fields of crypto and AI/ML respectively.

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Market Opportunity & Looking Ahead

Ritual’s emerging platform is built for crypto-natives looking for AI models and services comparable to OpenAI and HuggingFace. Its SDK allows for both web2 and web3 developers and teams to enter the fray in a seamless yet powerful way.

Because Ritual is purpose-built to sit at the intersection of web2 and web3 infrastructure and users, its market opportunity is a function of growth across both worlds.

Traditional enterprises are increasingly incorporating web3 into their business strategies, and our belief is that they will look to build or partner with ML-powered systems using inputs from existing markets as well as the nascent domain of blockchains in order to streamline the end user experience.

Ritual is planning to launch its alpha platform in early 2024 with an initial SDK in the coming weeks, and intends to use its fresh funding to develop critical network infrastructure, hire world-class talent, and expand its ecosystem of model creators, compute providers, and end users.

Learn more about Ritual at ritual.global and follow them on X/Twitter at @ritualnet.

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Disclaimer:

This post is for general information purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell any investment and should not be used in the evaluation of the merits of making any investment decision. It should not be relied upon for accounting, legal or tax advice or investment recommendations. You should consult your own advisers as to legal, business, tax, and other related matters concerning any investment or legal matters. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by Archetype. This post reflects the current opinions of the authors and is not made on behalf of Archetype or its affiliates and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Archetype, its affiliates or individuals associated with Archetype. The opinions reflected herein are subject to change without being updated.