The Program Will Provide Grants to Help Verifiable AI Startups Address Development Bottlenecks
SAN FRANCISCO, May 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Polyhedra, the zero-knowledge infrastructure company behind EXPchain, and Aethir, the leading provider of decentralized GPU cloud compute, today announced the launch of a joint incubator program designed to fast-track the development of verifiable AI applications. Combining scalable compute access with transparent infrastructure, the initiative aims to support early-stage teams building production-ready AI applications across enterprise, research, and open-source domains.
As AI development accelerates, the incubator's startup activity has surged, with 20 new AI companies joining the global unicorn list since 2023. In 2024, global AI-related startup funding soared to $110 billion, marking a 62% year-over-year increase. Despite this influx of capital, many startups continue to face persistent bottlenecks: limited access to compute and a lack of verifiable infrastructure for model training and deployment. Polyhedra and Aethir's joint incubator is designed to address both challenges head-on, offering a structured, end-to-end pathway from proof of concept to production.
Projects begin with zero-knowledge toolkits and on-chain verification infrastructure from Polyhedra, then scale using Aethir's decentralized GPU cloud for inference, fine-tuning, and launch. Within this unified environment, startups can build, test, and deploy within the same infrastructure they'll operate on long-term, eliminating common scaling hurdles while accelerating progress on high-integrity use cases where compliance, trust, and model integrity matter most.
"AI developers face real challenges today in accessing scalable compute and reliable infrastructure," said Bart Meyer, chief ecosystem officer of Polyhedra. "By joining forces with Aethir, we're offering a full-stack solution, from high-performance GPU compute to verifiable AI tooling, so teams can go from idea to enterprise-ready frictionlessly."
Participants will receive non-dilutive grants from Polyhedra ranging from $10,000 to $100,000, alongside technical integration and developer tooling on EXPchain, a Layer 1 chain purpose-built for AI-native applications and verifiable compute. Additionally, through Aethir's $100 million Ecosystem Fund, teams will gain subsidized access to GPU compute credits valued at up to $100,000 per team, allowing developers to scale AI workloads in testnet or mainnet environments without centralized dependencies.
"Our mission has always been to decentralize and democratize access to compute," said Mark Rydon, CSO of Aethir. "Partnering with Polyhedra brings a crucial layer of verifiability and interoperability to the Aethir ecosystem, where together, we're enabling the future of provable AI."
Applications are now open and can be submitted through each partner's website. Submissions will undergo a multi-step selection process, including an initial assessment, interviews, a joint grant proposal, and final approval. Evaluation will focus on technical feasibility, infrastructure requirements - particularly for compute and zero-knowledge - and alignment with ecosystem goals. For more information, visit polyhedra.network/ecosystem/playground/.
About Polyhedra
Polyhedra is building foundational infrastructure for trust and scalability in AI and blockchain systems, enabling secure, verifiable, and high-performance applications. Led by a world-class team of engineers, researchers, and business leaders from institutions including UC Berkeley, Stanford, and Tsinghua University, Polyhedra's deep expertise in zero-knowledge proofs and distributed systems underpins the development of our technical solutions that will help form the AI infrastructure of the future.
About Aethir
Aethir is the world's largest decentralized cloud GPU network, with over 425,000 enterprise-grade GPUs across 95 countries. The platform provides scalable, cost-efficient cloud GPU services for AI, machine learning, gaming, and rendering applications, connecting users to distributed resources through a Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN). By making high-performance computing more accessible and efficient, Aethir is transforming how AI and enterprise applications are powered. To learn more, visit aethir.com.
Press & Media Inquiries:
Polyhedra
Gordon Evans
gevans@hoffman.com
651-262-7862
Aethir
aethir@hokkupr.com
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