AI lab Fetch.ai nabbed $40M in a funding round led by DWF Labs to support its platform for developers to build and deploy machine-to-machine apps that use AI agents to perform tasks, such as booking car rides or hotels.
The company aims to offer an autonomous peer-to-peer ecosystem for apps with AI systems that operate autonomously and interact across a distributed blockchain.
The ecosystem would effectively enable intelligent agents to work together and negotiate interactions without human intervention.
- These "autonomous economic agents" are bits of code that connect between networks.
- They "not only learn and predict but also take action to execute meaningful tasks in the real world," said DWF managing partner Andrei Grachev told VentureBeat.
- According to Fetch.ai, the agents would aim to "generate economic value for its owner," such as making trades or gaining knowledge.
- Fetch.ai also has a native Ethereum cryptocurrency, FET, with a $400M market cap. The transactions between AI agents are recorded on Fetch's blockchain using the FET token.
Incorporated in England and Singapore, Fetch says the $40M in new funding is a combination of equity and FET tokens at a combined valuation of $250M.
