When Indian tech veterans turn crypto-AI pioneers, Silicon Valley takes notice! Yupp just secured $33M from a16z crypto, proving that Indian entrepreneurs are defining the future intersection of AI and blockchain.
What is the news?
- Pankaj Gupta (ex-Google Pay & Coinbase) co-founded Yupp (Ber Sarai Labs) has raised $33M seed funding led by a16z crypto to build an AI model evaluation platform with crypto incentives
- Platform allows users to compare 500+ AI models (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek) and earn crypto rewards for feedback
- Launched beta version of “Yupp VIBE leaderboard”, ranking AI models based on user feedback
- Star-studded investor lineup: Google’s Jeff Dean, Twitter’s Biz Stone, Pinterest’s Evan Sharp, Perplexity’s Aravind Srinivas, Cred’s Kunal Shah and Coinbase Ventures.
Why is it interesting?
- Yupp addresses a foundational challenge in AI – every AI builder wants to know how good their models are and for which use cases. The platform crowdsources assessment and uses blockchain technology to provide transparency and an immutable record of evaluations. Users get free access to latest AI models while earning rewards based on feedback quality.
- The aggregated feedback from millions of users creates powerful signals for AI model builders to improve their systems. This combination of crypto incentives, blockchain transparency, and practical AI evaluation represents exactly the kind of innovation that bridges emerging technologies for real-world impact.
Read more: Yupp launches with $33M to build crypto-incentivized AI evaluation platform