YZi Labs

What YZi Labs does

YZi Labs is a private global investment vehicle — the rebranded successor of Binance Labs — founded as the family-office investment arm of Binance co-founders Changpeng Zhao (CZ) and Yi He (He Yi). It manages over $10 billion in assets across more than 300 portfolio projects spanning 25 countries on six continents, deploying capital across Web3 (approximately 70%), AI (20%), and biotech (10%) per CZ's stated thesis. The firm is legally domiciled as YZILabs Management Ltd. in Road Town, British Virgin Islands, with CZ serving as sole director and Ella Zhang as Head / Managing Partner.

The firm operates a multi-program investment platform anchored by three primary application tracks: EASY Residency (a flagship incubation program offering up to $500,000 in initial investment per founder — $150K for 5% equity via SAFE plus $350K on an uncapped SAFE — now structured as a year-round rolling program with permanent hubs in New York, San Francisco Bay Area, Bhutan's Gelephu Mindfulness City, and Forest City, Malaysia), Direct Investment (online application pipeline for venture rounds), and BNB Chain MVB (a co-run ecosystem builder program). Supplementary programs include the Atlas Scout Program ($1M student-managed venture fund sourcing scouts from top US universities), the $1 billion BNB Chain Builder Fund, and a $1 million CertiK audit grant program embedded into EASY Residency. Notable portfolio outcomes include BitGo's NYSE IPO (BTGO), the Aster perpetuals DEX, Predict.fun, RoboForce, Better Payment Network, Ethena (via StablecoinX), CEA Industries (NASDAQ: BNC, where YZi Labs holds a significant equity and board position), CertiK, Digital Asset (Canton Network), and Renewal Bio (first biotech investment).

YZi Labs' business model is venture capital returns — management fees on AUM plus carried interest from portfolio exits and token unlocks — rather than a software product or recurring SaaS revenue. Distribution flows through the BNB Chain and Binance ecosystem (PancakeSwap, BitGo custody, CertiK security), the 300+ portfolio network, and event-driven Demo Days (April at TOKEN2049 Dubai, August, December). The firm extends its reach through activist public-market engagement, most visibly concluding a proxy contest at CEA Industries in June 2026 that placed three YZi Labs directors on the BNC board. There is no public disclosure of fund management fees, revenue, or fund vintages.

Name

YZi Labs

Legal name

YZILabs Management Ltd.

Website

https://yzilabs.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

YZi Labs is a private global investment vehicle (formerly Binance Labs) managing over $10 billion across 300+ portfolio projects in Web3, AI, and biotech, primarily backing early-stage founders through its EASY Residency incubation program, direct investments, and BNB Chain ecosystem programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital / Crypto Investment Firm

akta.pro primary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Corporate Accelerators & Startup Programs (FSANAHAD)

Keywords

• Venture capital
• Web3 investment
• Incubation program
• AI investment
• Biotech investment

Headquarters

HQ city

Birkirkara

HQ country

Malta

HQ region

Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Fund Returns: YZi Labs is a $10 billion global investment vehicle generating returns through venture capital investments across early-, growth-, and late-stage rounds in Web3, AI, and biotech. The firm allocates capital approximately 70% crypto, 20% AI, and 10% biotech per CZ's stated thesis. Returns accrue through portfolio company exits, token unlocks, and equity appreciation.
2. Capital Allocation Across Sectors: Crypto (70%), AI (20%), biotech (10%) allocation, focused on founders and projects that have a profound impact on human civilization. Notable exits include XAI acquired by SpaceX.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

YZi Labs is a private global investment vehicle that identifies, invests in, and supports early-stage startups and founders across Web3, AI, and biotech. It deploys capital through direct venture investments (early to late stage), a flagship EASY Residency incubation program offering up to $500K per founder, the co-run BNB Chain MVB builder program, and the Atlas Scout student-managed venture initiative. The firm manages over $10 billion in assets across 300+ portfolio projects in 25 countries.

Product overview

YZi Labs operates as a multi-program investment platform rather than a single unified software product, anchored by its Direct Investment vehicle (managing over $10 billion in assets across 300+ portfolio projects) and layered with flagship programs including EASY Residency (incubation), BNB Chain MVB (ecosystem builder), and Atlas Scout (student-managed venture). The platform is supplemented by partnership-enabled services such as the $1M Audit Grant with CertiK and ecosystem-specific capital pools including the $1B BNB Chain Builder Fund. Together, these programs form a vertically integrated investment stack supporting Web3, AI, and biotech founders from scouting (Atlas Scout) through incubation (EASY Residency) to ecosystem-specific scaling (BNB Chain MVB, Builder Fund) and security enablement (CertiK audit grant).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Atlas Scout Program: Student-managed venture initiative (up to $1 million allocation) empowering top college students to back Web3, AI, and biotech startups.
• EASY Residency

Products and services

• EASY Residency YZi Labs' flagship global incubation program supporting early-stage, long-term founders across Web3, AI, and biotech. Founders may receive up to $500,000 in investment ($150K for 5% equity SAFE + $350K uncapped SAFE), fully covered workspace and accommodation, AWS and CertiK partner credits, hands-on co-building, and three Demo Days per year.
• Direct Investment YZi Labs' primary venture capital investment vehicle fueling impact in Web3, AI, and biotech. Manages over $10 billion in assets globally with a portfolio of 300+ projects across 25 countries and six continents, including Trust Wallet, CoinMarketCap, Polygon, Injective, Ethena, SafePal Wallet, Better Payment Network, and Aster.
• BNB Chain MVB (Most Valuable Builder) BNB Chain ecosystem builder program co-run with YZi Labs, focused on accelerating top builders on BNB Chain. One of YZi Labs' three primary application tracks on its website and supported by the $1B BNB Chain Builder Fund.
• Atlas Scout Program A $1 million student-managed venture initiative empowering 5-10 top college students (Stanford, Harvard, MIT, Columbia, NYU, CMU, UC Berkeley) to act as investors backing Web3, AI, and biotech founders. Provides global travel budgets, incentive-aligned rewards, and direct access to YZi Labs' ecosystem of 300+ portfolio projects.
• $1 Million Audit Grant (with CertiK) Strategic partnership program with CertiK providing a $1 million security audit grant for early-stage Web3, AI, and biotech startups in the EASY Residency Incubation Program. Includes Formal Verification, Skynet Boosting, and AI scanning services.
• $1B BNB Chain Builder Fund A $1 billion Builder Fund supporting long-term developers building on BNB Chain in areas including trading, AI, and DeFi. Includes YZi Labs' residency program and accelerator to back selected projects with funding and ecosystem support.

Quantifiable outcome

• $10 billion assets under management globally
• +8 more outcomes

Named customers28 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

AI capability9 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, minor and major.

• Gelephu Mindfulness City (GMC)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 May 2026YZi Labs is anchor partner with Bhutan's Gelephu Mindfulness City — a Special Administrative Region of 4,046 km² established by Royal Charter in December 2024 with full executive, legislative, judicial independence. EASY Residency Season 4 cohort will operate on the ground in GMC including accommodation, meals, workspace covered. Bhutan committed up to 10,000 BTC from sovereign reserves for GMC build-out.
• NanoVitaminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 April 2026Strategic partnership with TermiX to build foundational settlement layer for emerging AI agent economy, leveraging ERC-8183 and ERC-8004 standards. TermiX positions as clearinghouse for autonomous agent transactions, supported by YZi Labs-backed ecosystem.
• PancakeSwapmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 December 2025YZi Labs and PancakeSwap co-launched Probable, a zero-fee prediction market on BNB Chain integrating UMA's Optimistic Oracle for dispute resolution. Probable later acquired by Predict.fun (March 2026). Competes with Polymarket and Kalshi.
• CertiKflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 March 2025Strategic partnership to establish $1 million security audit grant program for EASY Residency Incubation Program participants across Web3, AI, and biotech. CertiK provides Formal Verification, Skynet Boosting, and AI scanning services. YZi Labs is CertiK's largest institutional investor. Partnership launched March 15, 2025 in Singapore.
• EASY Residency Portfolio CompaniesflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner65+ portfolio companies have gone through EASY Residency incubation program. Notable participants include Trust Wallet, CoinMarketCap (via predecessors), Polygon, Injective, Ethena, Safepal Wallet, Better Payment Network, Aster, XAI (acquired by SpaceX), Predict.fun, Probable, APRO, Bitway, and others. YZi Labs provides deep co-building, mentorship, and distribution access.
• Binance / BNB ChainflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerYZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs) maintains deep strategic partnership with Binance exchange and BNB Chain ecosystem — including $1B BNB Builder Fund, integration with BNB Chain MVB program, ecosystem builder acceleration, and joint incubation of projects like PancakeSwap-launched Probable.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z Crypto): Largest dedicated crypto/Web3 venture platform with multi-billion AUM and a16z crypto fund; directly competes for top founder deal flow, runs its own accelerator programs (CNK), and overlaps heavily in stablecoins, DeFi, AI x crypto, and infrastructure theses.
• Paradigm: Crypto-native venture firm with multi-billion AUM focused on early-stage Web3, DeFi, and protocol research; competes head-to-head for marquee pre-seed/seed rounds and offers deep technical/research support similar to YZi Labs' EASY Residency model.
• Multicoin Capital: Crypto-focused thesis-driven fund investing across Web3, DeFi, and infrastructure with comparable AUM scale; directly comparable on cross-chain ecosystem bets and on offering LPs concentrated exposure to token-driven venture returns.
• Pantera Capital: Long-running crypto venture and liquid-token fund managing multi-billion AUM across early, growth, and liquid strategies; directly comparable in deploying capital across Web3 infrastructure, DeFi, and exchanges, with similar institutional LP base.
• Coinbase Ventures: Strategic investment arm of Coinbase with global crypto deal flow; comparable in providing portfolio distribution through a major exchange/chain ecosystem (akin to YZi Labs' Binance/BNB advantage) and in backing pre-seed through growth-stage Web3 startups.
• Polychain Capital: Crypto-native venture firm investing across protocol layer, DeFi, and token ecosystems; similar to YZi Labs in concentrating capital in crypto infrastructure with thesis-driven early-stage bets and ecosystem-aligned co-investors.
• Animoca Brands: Web3-focused venture and operating company investing across gaming, metaverse, and DeFi (e.g., co-investor in Capybobo with YZi Labs); comparable in running both an investment portfolio and ecosystem-building programs targeted at Web3 founders.
• Framework Ventures: DeFi-focused crypto venture firm; direct co-investor with YZi Labs in Avalon Labs and active in similar BNB/DeFi ecosystem deals, providing a comparable thesis-led early-stage investment approach.

Broad incumbents

• Digital Currency Group (DCG): Crypto conglomerate spanning venture (Grayscale), trading (Genesis successor entities), media (CoinDesk), and direct investments; broader incumbent competing with YZi Labs across venture, treasury, and information services in the same Web3 verticals.

Regional players

• HashKey Capital: Asia-headquartered crypto venture arm of HashKey Group; co-investor with YZi Labs in AEON and Capybobo and operates comparable incubation and ecosystem programs primarily across Asia, complementing YZi Labs' global footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat7 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BinanceLabs
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/binancelabs

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments244 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about YZi Labs