Irys has raised $10 million in Series A funding led by CoinFund, with backing from Hypersphere, Tykhe Ventures, Varrock Ventures, Breed VC, Echo Group, Amber Group, and WAGMI Ventures. The investment brings total funding to $20 million since 2024.
Irys is positioning itself as the world’s first programmable datachain. Unlike traditional blockchains that focus primarily on static storage or transactional throughput, Irys combines verifiable data with smart contract execution, creating a framework designed for storing, discovering, and monetizing information at scale.
The platform has already processed more than 600 million transactions, attracted over 80 strategic partners, and engaged 4 million daily active wallets.
Irys Tackling Inefficiencies in the $3 Trillion Data Economy
The company’s model is built around addressing inefficiencies within the $3 trillion global data market. Current structures fail to reward individuals or enterprises generating data, while AI companies and centralized platforms extract disproportionate value.
Irys enables data to carry embedded instructions for licensing, access control, and monetization, effectively transforming datasets into programmable economic assets.
Founder and CEO Josh Benaron mentioned that existing infrastructure denies value capture to creators and enterprises. “AI companies scrape trillions of dollars worth of content while creators see nothing,” Benaron said. “We’re building the infrastructure that allows data creators to finally monetize the value they generate.”
Institutional Adoption and AI Focus
The Series A round builds on traction with institutional partners already generating real revenues, particularly in AI-related use cases.
CoinFund partner Einar Braathen compared Irys’s trajectory to Amazon Web Services, calling it “the AWS moment for onchain data.” Braathen noted that where most blockchains require stitching together multiple solutions, Irys’s unified infrastructure makes data programmable.
This institutional interest is driven partly by Irys’s predictable cost model. Unlike networks whose fees fluctuate with token volatility, Irys anchors its pricing to physical storage costs, creating stability attractive to businesses managing large-scale data. The design also supports infinite capacity, making the platform suitable for enterprise and AI workloads requiring constant scalability.
Bridging Blockchain and AI Infrastructure
Irys’s programmable datachain introduces functionality absent in first-generation data solutions. Smart contracts can read, modify, and act directly on stored data, enabling applications such as automated licensing, verifiable AI training processes, and programmable intellectual property rights. For developers, the EVM-compatible architecture significantly reduces onboarding time compared with legacy alternatives, allowing implementation within hours instead of months.
Benaron framed the funding round as validation of the network’s market traction. “Infrastructure that handles real revenue from real companies deserves institutional attention,” he said, highlighting partnerships that generate permanent, compounding data volume across the network.
Irys is Preparing for Mainnet Launch
With more than 500,000 community members across eight countries and a roster of revenue-generating partners, Irys is preparing for its mainnet launch.
The new capital will accelerate infrastructure expansion, team growth, and strategic partnerships.
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