#USA #New York #AI economy #Ornn AI #Compute Futures

Ornn Secures $5.7 Million Seed Round

Ornn AI Inc. has successfully closed a $5.7 million seed funding round aimed at launching the world's first compute futures exchange. This innovative platform aspires to revolutionize the financial landscape for artificial intelligence and computing resources. The funding round was spearheaded by Crucible Ventures and Vine Ventures and saw participation from Link Ventures, Box Group, and prominent angel investors from the finance, cloud infrastructure, and AI industries.

With the aim of establishing a new market for GPU compute as a tradable commodity, Ornn plans to offer standardized cash-settled futures and derivatives on GPU compute hours. This initiative will enable AI firms, data center operators, and lenders to protect themselves against price fluctuations and reduce depreciation risks. In essence, these financial instruments will help to introduce liquidity and price visibility to one of the fastest-growing sectors globally.

Kush Bavaria, Co-Founder and CEO of Ornn, emphasized the critical role of compute power in the AI economy. He stated, “Compute powers the AI economy, and until now, its price has been unhedged and unpredictable.” He further elaborated that Ornn’s mission is to render compute resources transparent, investable, and tradeable, thereby facilitating the development of advanced digital infrastructures for the future.

Meltem Demirors, Founder of Crucible Capital, highlighted the significance of this market evolution, noting, “The AI data center boom is the largest infrastructure build in human history, with $4 trillion projected to be spent by 2030.” That immense capital necessitates sophisticated financial mechanisms for pricing, managing, and transferring risk. Demirors noted her excitement in supporting Ornn's quest to create a new framework for the AI economy.

Similarly, Alex Moskowitz from Vine Ventures commented on Ornn’s potential. He said, “Ornn's team is tackling one of the biggest challenges in modern technology—how to introduce structure and liquidity to compute itself.” The initiative to standardize GPU capacity as a financial product promises to change how AI infrastructures are funded.

Ornn’s Compute Exchange aims to launch a U.S.-regulated venue focused on cash-settled traditional and perpetual futures regarding compute hours. The company’s GPU indices will facilitate compatibility across various regions and configurations, laying the groundwork for clear forward curves and pricing analytics.

By recognizing compute as a standardized asset class, Ornn will enable:

• - AI companies to secure prices for training and inference through long hedges.
• - Data center operators and cloud service providers to stabilize revenues by preselling capacity using short hedges.
• - Lenders and investors to mitigate collateral risk related to the depreciation of GPUs.
• - Speculators and market makers to explore the emerging macro-asset of compute power.

In accordance with U.S. policy objectives aimed at bolstering domestic AI infrastructure, Ornn is crafting its exchange and clearing mechanisms to align with CFTC standards. By utilizing USD cash collateral, ensuring transparent reporting, and centralizing clearing, Ornn aspires to enhance American leadership in the AI and digital infrastructure sectors.

The infrastructure being set up by Ornn is designed for sophisticated, cash-settled trading, offering accurate pricing, efficient clearing, and dependable execution among market participants.

As Ornn continues its development, it intends to introduce indices that track GPU compute costs spanning both cloud and on-premises settings. These indices are poised to become benchmarks for developers, infrastructure providers, and investors alike. Ornn’s mission is steadfast: to deliver liquidity and stability to one of the world’s rapidly expanding and vital resource markets. For those interested, further details can be found at www.ornn.trade.