Banyan AI Fund I led the oversubscribed pre-seed round of ArgentumAI, with Founder & General Partner Sam Awrabi writing the first check and joining as a founding advisory board member.

Alongside Sam, Argentum AI is proud to welcome Nicholas Sammut (Brookfield Asset Management, AI & Technology Investing Lead), Jonathan Gordon (Founder & CEO of 1916 Enterprises), and Todd Benson (Former Co-Founder of Citi Private Equity, Managing Partner & CEO of Herington LLC, Banyan AI Fund LP & Board Member) as additional founding advisory board members.

What Argentum AI Is Building

Argentum AI is building a human-friendly AI-powered compute marketplace designed to democratize global compute access. The platform connects enterprises, developers, and researchers with providers offering idle or underutilized GPUs — whether from individuals or data centers — through an open, decentralized, and transparent marketplace.

Core Use Cases

• AI Training & Inference
• 3D Rendering & Digital Twins
• Scientific Simulations
• Big Data Analytics & Gaming Workloads

Through blockchain-based transparency and an AI optimization engine that continuously learns from tasks, ArgentumAI delivers:

• Lower costs (40–60% cheaper than centralized clouds)
• Global access (anyone with compute can participate)
• Enterprise-grade compliance (SOC2, HIPAA, ISO27001)
• Fairness & transparency (every transaction on-chain, preventing vendor lock-in)

In the long term, ArgentumAI envisions enabling a new class of “GPU entrepreneurs” — individuals and businesses who acquire and operate hardware clusters, monetizing them by plugging into the Argentum marketplace. Much like Airbnb for housing or Uber for cars, Argentum AI aims to make GPUs liquid, tradable, and revenue-generating assets.

Why Banyan Led

Banyan’s thesis is to back AI-native infrastructure companies solving the defining bottlenecks of the AI era. Compute is that bottleneck — and Argentum AI offers a differentiated, enterprise-ready solution.

Banyan AI Fund I led this round because:

• Founder Strength: Andrew Sobko is a top 0.01% founder, having raised $270M+ across prior ventures and built marketplaces at global scale (NEXT Trucking, backed by Sequoia and Brookfield).
• Model Differentiation: Argentum AI uniquely combines owned GPU infrastructure, enterprise compliance, and a decentralized tokenized marketplace.
• Token Design: Argentum AI’s universal compute token (AGP) underpins payments, staking, and governance — but unlike speculative tokens, it is anchored to real GPU capacity and platform usage.

Why Kraken’s Co-Investment Is Big

Kraken’s participation is especially meaningful for Argentum AI’s future. As one of the world’s most trusted and established crypto exchanges, Kraken brings:

• Global validation — signaling strong institutional confidence in Argentum AI’s model.
• Liquidity expertise — helping ensure AGP tokens are positioned for adoption and integration into global crypto markets.
• Credibility with regulators and enterprises — Kraken’s reputation for compliance strengthens Argentum AI’s positioning in regulated industries.
• Strategic alignment — Kraken shares Argentum AI’s focus on transparency, security, and accessibility, making them a natural long-term partner.

Market Opportunity

The global cloud and compute market is projected to reach $2.4 trillion by 2030, with decentralized compute expected to surpass $60 billion by 2032. Argentum AI is positioned to capture this growth by unlocking idle GPU capacity, reducing compute costs, and offering enterprises an open, trusted alternative to AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure.

A Word from Banyan

“Argentum AI represents the future of compute. The world is moving toward a model where GPU capacity is decentralized, accessible, and liquid — and Andrew Sobko is the founder to make it happen. At Banyan, we back escape-velocity companies solving the AI era’s hardest problems, and Argentum AI fits that vision perfectly.”
— Sam Awrabi, Founder & General Partner, Banyan Ventures