YZi Labs Introduces $1B Fund for BNB Chain Projects

YZi Labs, formerly Binance Labs, introduced a $1 billion fund for projects building on the BNB Chain.

The investment company, which was rebranded from the venture arm of crypto exchange Binance last year, is targeting BNB-based projects in areas such as trading, real-world assets (RWAs), artificial intelligence (AI), decentralized finance (DeFi) and wallets, according to an announcement on X on Wednesday.

YZI Labs said it wants the BNB ecosystem to form a backbone of "democratized access and ownership, AI to enhance human potential and biotech to improve quality of life."

"Through this $1B BNB Builder Fund, YZi Labs is committed to supporting BNB builders across sectors such as DeFi, AI, RWA, DeSci, and more — those building the next generation of open systems that connect technology back to human progress," said Ella Zhang, Head of YZi Labs.

Following Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao's release from prison last year, he took a more active role in the company's venture capital arm, rebranded YZi Labs, to target startups in Web3, AI and biotech.

YZI Labs is in fact often referred to as Zhao's family office - the name for an investment vehicle that manages the wealth of a single family. The company, however, says its structure is different from a traditional family office, as it does not involve itself in estate planning, tax structuring and so on.