Shaping the Internet of tomorrow
Every generation is defined by the technological advancements made during their lifetime. As the Internet has defined the past couple of decades of innovation, it is also beginning to define us as humans. We want to help define the coming decades of innovation and by extension the digital evolution of us as humans, to build a better and more intelligent future together.
About
Brainfund’s mission is to advance the development of technologies shaping the Internet of tomorrow. We build, support and invest in the vanguard of technologies of the world’s most innovative industries with a special focus on education, fintech and artificial intelligence.
Originally founded in 2014 with the goal of democratizing knowledge online, then known as Everipedia. The company became known as Brainfund in 2022 as a result of the restructuring of Everipedia International when it became the parent company of IQ.wiki and other former Everipedia subsidiaries.
The creation of Brainfund was motivated by the desire to streamline the company’s original encyclopedia product while granting more independence and autonomy to the suite of additional initiatives as part of the organization’s broadening scope of focus.
History
2014
Everipedia was founded
In 2014, Sam Kazemian and Theodor Forselius founded Everipedia from a dorm room at UCLA. Travis Moore joined on in 2015 as a Co-founder and the company’s first Chief Technology Officer.
Originally, Everipedia started with the mission to build a more modern and inclusive version of Wikipedia. Sam and Theodor were inspired by Y Combinator's co-founder Paul Graham's blog post from 2008 entitled "Startup Ideas We'd Like to Fund." In his list of ideas, he called for "more open alternatives to Wikipedia".
2017
Worlds first Blockchain Encyclopedia
In December 2017, we announced our plan for Everipedia to become the world’s first blockchain encyclopedia in an exclusive with Wired. The announcement was made alongside the news that Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger was joining the company as Chief Information Officer.
2018
$30 Million Raise
In February 2018, Everipedia raised $30 million from Galaxy Digital to accelerate the company’s vision of democratizing knowledge. This raise and expansion were covered by several outlets including Fortune Magazine, Reuters, and Yahoo! News.
2018
Launching IQ
In July 2018, the points-system on the encyclopedia was turned into IQ, granting editors and users enhanced governing capabilities of the wiki content.
In August, Everipedia made history by launching as the world’s first blockchain encyclopedia.
2020
Expansion beyond encyclopedia
Starting in 2020, as the readership and editorship on Everipedia focused towards fintech and blockchain content. The team started expanding its operations beyond the encyclopedia. In 2020, the company launched OraQles, a service that allows verified first parties to bring real-world information on-chain.
On November 4, 2020, The Associated Press used the software to publish the US election race calls on-chain. This marked the first time in history that a US election was recorded and called on the blockchain. The news was covered by publications including Forbes, CoinDesk, and Nasdaq.
2022
Everipedia becomes IQ.wiki & Brainfund is born
In October 2022, Everipedia’s encyclopedia product officially rebranded to IQ.wiki and Brainfund was formed as a parent company.
The rebrand was motivated by the desire to streamline IQ.wiki and ensure it remains focused on its own mission while granting autonomy to the expanding suite of initiatives by the parent company.