From theblock by James Hunt
Talus Network, a high-throughput blockchain protocol designed for decentralized AI agents, has raised $6 million in a strategic funding round led by Polychain Capital at a $150 million valuation.
Foresight Ventures, Animoca, Geek Cartel and Echo also participated in the round alongside angel investors, including Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal, Sentient core contributor and Symbolic Capital co-founder Kenzi Wang, 0G Labs CEO Michael Heinrich, Allora Labs CEO Nick Emmons and Nuffle Labs co-founder Atlan Tutar.
The round opened during the summer and closed at the end of Q3, the Talus team told The Block. It brings Talus’ total funding to $9 million, having previously raised a $3 million seed round, also led by Polychain Capital, which closed in February.
Talus Network declined to provide specific details on the structure of the round when asked by The Block but emphasized that Polychain’s continued investment reflected its confidence in the project.
With the fresh funding in place, Talus plans to further develop its ecosystem, including blockchain infrastructure Protochain and the Nexus framework — a toolkit for developers to build self-governing and self-executing agents.
The team did not directly address questions on the status of Talus’ token or potential airdrop. However, it outlined plans for a TAI token in its litepaper for transaction fees, resource allocation and rewards. In October, it also hinted at a token generation event following a community rewards program.
“Our community is at the heart of everything we do. We are dedicated to creating a vibrant, long-term ecosystem that empowers many different types of users to fully leverage decentralized AI agents,” the team said. “Our goal is to ensure this ecosystem grows in ways that deliver real value to its members.”
Talus Agents autonomously manage smart contracts and perform tasks across various sectors, including portfolio optimization and MEV protection in DeFi, treasury management and grant allocation for DAOs and NPC management and automated testing in gaming, the team explained. The agents are designed to become onchain assets co-owned and monetized by users at the intersection of AI and crypto.