Protocol Village: Credbull Raises $5.2M, Aave Comes to ZKSync Era

Yonsei University’s AI researchers will use Theta EdgeCloud to accelerate AI model training and inference for research in machine reasoning and data mining, according to the team: “Led by Professor Dongha Lee, the lab will develop advanced tools like a table reasoner and summarizer to extract implicit knowledge from tabular data. By utilizing Theta’s scalable platform, the lab can reduce costs by more than 50% compared to traditional cloud services.”

PROTOCOL VILLAGE EXCLUSIVE: Credbull, which in April launched what it described as the “first licensed on-chain private credit fund” on the Polygon PoS blockchain, announced a $5.2M funding round led by GnosisVC, with strategic participation from Outlier Ventures, HODL Ventures, XBTO, LucidBlue Ventures, CryptoHedge, Marcello Mari (SingularityDAO) and others. According to the team, “Credbull aims to democratize private credit RWA investments by connecting traditional finance with Web3.”

The founders of VitaDAO, a Web3 community devoted to longevity health research and products, launched BIO, a “new protocol enabling global communities of patients, scientists and biotech builders to collectively fund and commercialize new therapeutics,” according to the team: “Revenue from new therapeutics flow back into the BIO Network, creating value for network participants. BIO completed the first round of its TGE, raising $6.2 in a public sale, with participation from VCs like Zee Prime, 1kx ID Theory. Details on the second round of BIO’s TGE will be announced soon.” According to the project documentation: “BioDAOs raise funding via token sales, and use their treasuries to back and develop biotech projects related to their mission, creating shared IP ownership between their members. BioDAOs use Molecule’s onchain IP framework to own, license, and transact in intellectual property generated from the projects they support.”

Myco.io, a Web3 streaming platform, announced a strategic partnership with Aptos Foundation to ship content on the Aptos blockchain. According to the team: “The collaboration will focus around technical integration, developing builder resources and a mutual commitment to advancing Web3 technologies and delivering next-generation, decentralized digital streaming experiences.” (APT)

Aave, the biggest DeFi lending protocol with a total value locked of $11.9 billion, announced the launch of Aave V3 on Era Mainnet, powered by ZKsync. According to the team, “Aave can access advanced ZK tech with low-cost transactions while deriving security from ETH with cryptographic validity proofs.” Chainlink, the blockchain oracle project, “will provide secure and reliable price feeds.” Aave founder Stani Kulechov said in a statement relayed by a spokesperson for the project: “Era Mainnet offers the highest level of scalability and performance and with zero knowledge proofs, the opportunity to add privacy capabilities and additional security for users and institutions. Additionally, the Elastic Chain ecosystem can expand to accommodate various institutional use cases while ensuring scalability.” (AAVE) ZK

Aave, which had already deployed on the Ethereum layer-2 network Metis, has integrated METIS as collateral, “enhancing capital efficiency for users,” according to the team: “With a 30% LTV ratio, users can borrow assets based on their METIS holdings. This offers liquidity without selling METIS, access to various financial tools and benefits from faster, cheaper transactions on Metis compared to Ethereum mainnet.”

Mira, a decentralized AI infrastructure platform, hired Ninad Naik, a former Uber executive, as chief product officer. According to the team: “In his new role, Ninad will spearhead product innovation, playing a crucial role in Mira’s mission to expand global AI access through decentralization. Ninad joins Mira from Uber, where he led the core marketplace product for Uber’s food and grocery delivery business globally. Prior to Uber, Ninad has held multiple GM and product leadership roles at Amazon across its AI, hardware, and marketplace businesses.”

Protocol Village is a regular feature of The Protocol, our weekly newsletter exploring the tech behind crypto, one block at a time. Sign up here to get it in your inbox every Wednesday. Project teams can submit updates here. For previous versions of Protocol Village, please go here.