- Venice AI secured $65 million in Series A funding.
- The company is now valued at $1 billion.
- Funds will expand AI infrastructure and data centers.
- Venice remains committed to its VVV token strategy.
Privacy-focused AI platform Venice AI has raised $65 million in its first institutional funding round, reaching a $1 billion valuation.
The round was led by Dragonfly with participation from Coinbase Ventures, North Island Ventures, Morgan Creek, Archetype, F-Prime, and several other investors. Rather than selling treasury tokens, Venice chose to raise capital through equity while also granting investors future access to VVV tokens through long-term vesting schedules and warrants.
Founded by crypto entrepreneur Erik Voorhees, Venice positions itself as a privacy-first alternative to mainstream AI platforms by avoiding prompt storage and offering encrypted access to hundreds of AI models.
The company says it has already surpassed 3 million users, generates more than $70 million in annualized revenue, and has become profitable while continuing to prioritize user privacy.
The new funding will help Venice build its own AI compute infrastructure, including its first data center, reducing reliance on rented GPU capacity while improving long-term margins. The company also plans to expand internationally, hire additional staff, pursue acquisitions, and continue growing its consumer AI platform.
Venice emphasized that its long-term token strategy remains unchanged, with plans to continue buying back and burning VVV tokens using platform revenue.
