Olas Secures $13.8M to Build the App Store for AI Agents | HackerNoon

Olas has secured $13.8 million in funding to launch Pearl, the world’s first decentralized AI agent marketplace. The investment round has attracted an impressive roster of strategic partners, including Tioga Capital, Sigil Fund, Zee Prime Capital, and Spaceship DAO. Notable angel investors, including ML Tech co-founder Leonid Mindyuk, have also joined the round, signaling strong institutional confidence in Olas’s vision for democratized AI ownership.

Since its inception in 2021, Olas has emerged as a leader in the crypto-AI intersection, processing an impressive 700,000 transactions monthly across nine different blockchains. What’s more remarkable is that over 2 million of these transactions occur autonomously between AI agents themselves, demonstrating the platform’s sophisticated infrastructure and real-world utility.

“Pearl’s agent app store represents a significant step forward in democratizing access to AI agents,” says David Minarsch, CEO of Olas’s core contributor. “By giving everyone AI agents they can not only use, but fully own and customize, we’re turning the status quo on its head. At a time when advances in AI can seem increasingly daunting, Olas is uniquely giving control of AI back to the user.”

Revolutionizing AI Access Through Pearl

At the heart of Olas’s innovation is Pearl, a desktop application that functions like an app store for AI agents. Unlike traditional AI services where agents are hosted on centralized platforms, Pearl enables true ownership of AI agents, allowing users to control their actions on-chain. This breakthrough approach means users can select pre-built agents or customize them to their specific needs, then let them work autonomously.

“With Pearl becoming the ‘agent app store,’ users can finally approach a future where they don’t have to sit glued to technology,” Minarsch explains. “users can now simply select their preferred agents or customize them further, then sit back and watch the agents work on their behalf.”

Olas’s utility extends across various use cases, from DeFAI through Modius to social influencer agents via Agents.Fun and prediction markets through Olas Predict. This versatility has contributed to Olas’s consistent 30% month-over-month growth rate.

Accelerating Developer Innovation

To fuel ecosystem growth, Olas is launching an ambitious accelerator program offering up to $1 million in grants. Individual developer teams can receive up to $100,000, plus OLAS tokens, for creating agents available through Pearl. This initiative is supported by the platform’s comprehensive technology stack, including the Olas Stack for developer support and the Olas Protocol for incentivizing agent creation and co-ownership.

The recently launched Olas Staking feature, which introduces an innovative Proof of Active Agent mechanism, has been particularly successful in encouraging network participation by rewarding users when their agents perform useful tasks.

With the introduction of Pearl as the agent app store, along with the new financial backing, Olas strengthens its position as the leader in AI agent ownership.

For more information about Olas and to experience Pearl firsthand, interested users can visit olas.network.