Surf, an innovative AI research platform focusing on digital assets, has successfully raised $15 million in a funding round spearheaded by Pantera Capital. This round also saw participation from notable investors such as Coinbase Ventures and Digital Currency Group (DCG).
The San Francisco-based startup plans to allocate the funds toward the development of Surf 2.0, a new iteration of its crypto-centric AI model, alongside efforts to expand its enterprise offerings. Surf positions itself as a viable alternative to generic large language models (LLMs), emphasizing a tailored approach that specifically addresses the needs of digital asset analysis. The platform is designed to integrate proprietary systems with crypto-native datasets, thereby enhancing research accuracy and relevance.
Employing a multi-agent framework, Surf analyzes various inputs such as social sentiment, on-chain activity, and market behaviors to deliver insights via a user-friendly chat-style interface. This design aims to streamline the research process, reducing the time and effort typically required for manual analysis.
With Surf 2.0, the company intends to introduce a more sophisticated model, broader proprietary datasets, and newly developed agents that will automate multi-step workflows, traditionally managed by seasoned analysts. Additionally, the forthcoming Surf Enterprise will provide dedicated infrastructure and enhanced security features, catering specifically to institutional clients” requirements.
Ryan Li, co-founder and CEO of Surf, stated, “When people make financial decisions, they want information they can trust. Generic AI tools aren”t built for that.” Since its launch in July, Surf has made significant strides, achieving millions in annual recurring revenue, producing over 1 million research reports, and experiencing a month-over-month growth rate of 50%. Notably, the platform is already utilized by 80% of leading exchanges and research firms.
