Acurast, the first decentralised physical infrastructure network (DePIN) that turns smartphones into a global mesh of verifiable, confidential compute, today announced that it has raised a total of $11 million to date.
Acurast is redefining compute by utilising billions of smartphones – no data centres required. This verifiable, scalable, and confidential compute network enables users to run secure applications on decentralised infrastructure at scale — without compromising speed or privacy.
The $11 million total combines non-dilutive grants and token-based rounds across 2023-2025, including an oversubscribed public token sale on CoinList in May 2025, which raised $5.4 million.
Acurast’s backers include notable angels such as Dr. Gavin Wood (Co-founder, Ethereum; Founder, Polkadot), Leonard Dörlochter (Founder, peaq), Michael van de Poppe (Founder, MN Capital), Scytale Digital, Ogle (Founder, GlueNet; CoinDesk’s Most Influential), and Vineet Budki (CEO, Sigma Capital).
The company also confirmed that its Genesis Mainnet will become publicly available on November 17, 2025, alongside the debut of its native $ACU token.
Alessandro De Carli, Founder of Acurast, said:
“Mainnet marks the moment Acurast becomes a genuinely open, global compute fabric ready for real-world integration.
Billions of smartphones are the most battle-tested hardware on earth. By turning idle phones into verifiable, confidential compute, we remove the gatekeepers, reduce the costs, and bring secure, trustless computation to anyone, anywhere, and all without a data centre.”
Acurast’s product traction has been proven in an incentivised testnet that reached enterprise-grade scale. Over 146,443+ phones have been onboarded to supply compute; developers have executed more than 85,784+ deployments; the network has processed upwards of 489M+ million on-chain transactions; and 179,000 on-chain accounts have been created.
These real devices are already powering mission-critical workloads with strict confidentiality and integrity requirements. This is supported by programs like the Cloud Rebellion, which expand the network’s overall footprint while rewarding early contributors for their efforts.
At the core of Acurast’s advantage is the combination of tamper-resistant execution on consumer phones and secure hardware verification. Unlike raw compute marketplaces that rely on self-reported server specifications (or server-based TEE solutions), Acurast cryptographically verifies each device’s authenticity and executes workloads within enclaves. This process ensures that even the device owner cannot access sensitive data, resulting in censorship-resistant, highly distributed compute.
Vineet Budki, CEO of Sigma Capital, said:
“Acurast is creating a new, user-owned compute layer that aligns perfectly with where AI is heading.
Hardware verification, enclave-based confidentiality, and a massive potential footprint of smartphones combine into a defensible moat that server-centric models can’t compete with.”
“What stands out about Acurast is execution. They’ve shipped, they’ve grown real usage, and they’ve proven demand before mainnet,” said Michael van de Poppe, Founder of MN Capital.
“Turning everyday phones into revenue-generating, verifiable compute nodes is a powerful unlock for inclusion and for scale. We’re excited to back a team that’s building for real-world adoption.”
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