Spark Capital leads token round as Antseed brings an open, decentralized market model to AI compute
[October 6, 2026] – Antseed, an open peer-to-peer marketplace for AI inference, has debuted its platform alongside a $2.4 million token round dedicated to the nonprofit Antseed Foundation. Spark Capital, an early backer of Anthropic, spearheaded the funding round, which also included contributions from Collider, DCG, North Island Ventures, Reciprocal Ventures, Relay Capital, and Venice.ai.
By introducing a Web3-style open, peer-to-peer framework to AI inference, Antseed shifts away from reliance on centralized providers and aggregators. Instead, developers can direct their requests across a multitude of independent suppliers who vie against one another on the basis of price, performance, reputation, model capability, and data privacy.
Participants can contribute their own hardware or share existing compute power, establish their individual pricing structures, and contend for incoming demand. Users interface with the network via a self-hosted local router, eliminating any need for a centralized Antseed profile or a platform-generated API key. At present, top-tier models are accessible through the marketplace at rates discounted by up to 97% compared to official APIs.
The ecosystem is powered by the ANTS native token, which incentivizes qualifying network engagement and lets participants stake in support of specific AI providers. Because rewards scale alongside eligible activity and staking commitments, both suppliers and purchasers are motivated to drive greater volume and liquidity to the exchange. Providers secure higher earnings by handling increased demand and drawing stakes, whereas buyers accumulate rewards through their platform activity and general participation.
This rollout arrives amid surging demand within the AI inference infrastructure sector. Gartner estimates that global expenditures on AI cloud infrastructure will jump 96% to reach $42 billion over the course of 2026. Concurrently, Stripe recently reached an agreement to purchase centralized AI model aggregator OpenRouter for upwards of $7 billion.
“What BitTorrent did for files, Antseed is doing for AI inference, with no central server and no company deciding who gets access or what it costs,” remarked Amos Meiri, co-founder of Antseed. “As agents make more model calls and inference becomes a material operating cost, developers need a simple way to route each request based on price, performance, capability and privacy.”
Independent on-chain metrics from September 2026 indicate that the network has already handled close to 150 billion tokens distributed among 202 active sellers, with more than $285,000 settled via the Base blockchain.
“Inference is becoming to AI businesses what fuel is to airlines, a core operating cost that companies need to manage as they scale, and right now a handful of companies control the wells,” noted Santo Politi, Co-Founder and General Partner at Spark Capital. “Antseed is the counterweight to that centralized control, serving as a decentralized, open market that gives developers the freedom to choose how they source compute, while creating a direct market for providers to compete.”
About Antseed
Antseed is an open peer-to-peer market for AI inference. Its locally run router enables developers to access a network of independent AI inference providers through a compatible endpoint, with routing based on user-defined priorities including price, performance, reliability, and privacy. Antseed is building infrastructure intended to make AI inference more open, competitive, and accessible for developers and providers. Learn more at antseed.com
