Donut Labs Raises $15M Seed Funding to Build AI-Powered Crypto Trading Browser

Donut Labs has raised $15 million in seed funding as it builds what it calls “an AI quant inside a browser.”

The funding came from investors such as BITKRAFT, Makers Fund, Sky9 Capital, Altos Ventures and Hack VC, alongside contributors from Solana, Sui and Monad ecosystems, according to an emailed announcement on Monday.

The seed round comes less than six months after Donut Labs raised $7 million in pre-seed funding

Led by CEO Chris Zhu, Donut Browser said it aims to transform how users interact with the financial internet by embedding autonomous trading agents directly into the browsing experience. These agents analyze markets, calculate risk and execute onchain trades — even while users are offline.

The potential intersection of AI agents and blockchain technology is seen as a game changer by some observers in the crypto industry. Using smart contracts, self custody and bridging different chains may be complex for humans, but an AI agent could be customized specifically to thrive in such an environment.

Donut, which has amassed more than 160,000 users on its waitlist, plans to use the funding to develop a monetizable agentic browser capable of orchestrating real-time market intelligence and automated execution.

Donut’s rise comes amid surging decentralized trading volumes, with DeFi derivatives surpassing $1 trillion in monthly activity. Zhu said Donut is “redefining trading as something as natural as typing — a browser where your AI quant works for you, 24/7.”