Polygon Spearheads EMC Funding Round: A New Era for Blockchain Innovation?

2024-09-11, 02:59

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## [TL; DR] 
<a href="/price/polygon-matic" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Polygon</a> and Amber Group led the funding round for EMC where $20 million was raised.

EMC will develop a blockchain that will offer DePIN services.

Polygon’s strategic investment in EMC enables it to expand into the AI sector.

## Introduction 
The blockchain sector is evolving as many crypto projects are forming partnerships and collaborations. Some of these firms use such strategies to diversify their operations into lucrative sectors such as artificial intelligence. One reason why crypto firms diversify is the stiff competition in the sector. Recently, Polygon has shown much interest in diversifying its business interests into the AI sector.

## Polygon’s Quest for Diversification Evident as it leads the EMC Funding Round
Polygon Ventures and Amber Group led the Edge Matric Chain (EMC) funding round. The $20 million EMC funding round will enable Edge Matric Chain to develop a layer-1 blockchain for AI to expand its GPU computing business. Edge Matric Chain, popularly known as EMC, focuses on decentralized AI applications that integrate the blockchain with computing power.

Several investors that include One Comma, Cyberrock Venture Fund, Candaq Fintech Group, Kapley Judge, Associated Corporations and Hameem Raees Chowdhury took part in the funding round. The funds will enable EMC to expand its presence and contribution in the Decentralised Physical Infrastructure Networks sector. As a fact, the growth of the AI and DePIN sectors is expected to contribute more than $20 trillion to the global GDP by 2030. As of now, <a href="/price/render-rndr" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Render</a> and Bittensor are examples of crypto firms that are leading in offering DePIN services.

## Edge Matric Chain (EMC) to Expand DePIN Services: Its Vision and Mission
Edge Matric Chain is a key player in the DePIN space as it focuses on merging decentralised AI solutions with computing networks. The firm aims to boost the GPU computing for artificial intelligence projects through integrating decentralized applications with computing power networks. Therefore, through its GPU computing services AI projects will access the computing power they require. As a result, they will be able to integrate various AI frameworks and language models.

The computing power will make it easier for developers to build decentralized AI applications more easily than on any existing blockchain. For instance, they will be able to build and deploy compute-intensive AI applications such as generative AI chatbot. EMC blockchain will be able to tokenize compute assets which will allow for fractional ownership of GPU resources. The combination of real-world assets and liquidity will make the project different from the ones on the market. [Posting on its blog EMC said](https://earn.emc.network/ "Posting on its blog EMC said"), “These tokenized compute assets, backed by physical GPUs, are poised to see a 160% increase in demand due to the rapid acceleration of AI applications.”

It added, “The EMC ecosystem will introduce a brand new DeFi asset class that leverages tokenized H100 Tensor Core GPUs developed by Nvidia. These real-world assets (RWAs) will be tokenized and made available for fractional ownership, allowing users to invest in and benefit from returns generated by outsourcing on-chain GPU resources.”

EMC’s blockchain will complement its <a href="/web3" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">web3</a> infrastructure that offers GPU cloud services, data storage and oracle services. EMC clarified, “By providing a full-stack solution, EMC empowers developers to build and deploy AI applications seamlessly, leveraging the benefits of decentralization and blockchain technology.

*“Additionally, the EMC network will support cross-chain capabilities with other major blockchains like Arbitrum, TON, and <a href="/price/solana-sol" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Solana</a>, ensuring interoperability and tapping into the liquidity and user bases of these established networks.”*

It is also important to note that the blockchain will enable users to rent their extra computing power to generate income. On the other hand, the DePIN services will drive many aspects of the blockchain in the future. Tom Trowbridge, Fluence Co-Founder, talked about the [contribution of DePIN in the crypto sector](https://www.gate.io/learn/articles/depin-track-analysis-the-future-of-decentralized-physical-infrastructure-networks/1344 "contribution of DePIN in the crypto sector"). He said, “DePIN is set to drive the next wave of crypto adoption. Its services are easy to understand, allowing millions of people to get involved, and several prominent DePIN projects are on the verge of securing major customers and substantial revenue…”

Read also: <a href="/price/polygon-matic" target="_blank" class="blog_inner_link">Polygon price</a> predictions [from Gate.io experts](https://www.gate.io/price-prediction/polygon-matic "from Gate.io experts")

##  Launch of Testnet and Mainnet 
EMC launched its testnet to assess its blockchain innovation in August. It had a $5 million prize pool that attracted many people to participate. That testnet managed to show its industry impact and the future of blockchain. Currently, the team is working to complete the mainnet which will be launched later in the year. After the launch of the blockchain developers will be able to deploy their AI applications there.

## Polygon Strategic Investment in EMC: The Benefits Derived
Polygon strategic investment in EMC shows its interest to expand in the AI and DePIN sectors through tech collaborations. Based on current investment trends the move by [Polygon crypto](https://www.gate.io/learn/articles/what-is-polygon-matic/865 "Polygon crypto") allows it to grow and diversify in blockchain technology related businesses which will boost its revenue as well. Probably, the other benefit that the Polygon network will derive from the strategic investment is the opportunity to manage rewards and tokens for DePIN applications. Polygon will function alongside EMC as part of the financial technology or general-purpose blockchain.

## Polygon’s Expansion and Blockchain Development  
Polygon’s involvement in the EMC funding round was not the first fundraising initiative. Sandeep Nailwal, the Polygon founder alongside Pantera Capital and Hashkey took part in raising $85 million for Sentient Labs. Sentient, which will be [built on Polygon](https://www.gate.io/learn/articles/what-is-polygon/73 "built on Polygon"), is an artificial intelligence development platform. It will be an open-source protocol where the community will contribute to.

## Conclusion 
Polygon took part in raising $20 million for EMC for developing a blockchain that will focus on AI and DePIN. Previously, Nailwal, the Polygon founder, participated in fundraising for Sentient, an open source protocol for developing AI models and applications. The two initiatives show that Polygon is working hard to expand into the AI sector.

<div class="blog-details-info">
<div>Author: Mashell C., Gate.io Researcher
<div class="info-tips">\*This article represents only the views of the researcher and does not constitute any investment suggestions.
<div>\*Gate.io reserves all rights to this article. Reposting of the article will be permitted provided Gate.io is referenced. In all cases, legal action will be taken due to copyright infringement.
</div>

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