TLDR: Karia Samaroo, co-founder of WonderFi, has successfully launched xTAO, a new decentralized artificial intelligence (AI) network, after securing $31 million CAD in funding. The company has also listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol XTAO.U, aiming to provide public access to the Bittensor network.
Karia Samaroo, a prominent figure in the Canadian crypto landscape and co-founder of WonderFi, has officially launched his latest venture, xTAO, a decentralized artificial intelligence (AI) network. The startup has successfully closed a significant financing round, securing $31 million CAD (approximately $22.8 million USD) through subscription receipts. This seed funding round officially concluded on July 11, 2025, following a strategic merger with Vancouver-based Adrianna Ventures.
The financing attracted a diverse group of digital-asset-focused venture capital firms, including notable names such as Animoca Brands, Arca, Arche Capital, Borderless Capital, Digital Currency Group (DCG), FalconX, Hypersphere Ventures, Off the Chain Capital, Republic, and Stratos. Earlier investments also came from firms like Cadenza Capital, Contango Digital Assets, EV3 Ventures, Nickel5 Investments, and The Venture Department, underscoring strong investor confidence in xTAO’s vision.
xTAO’s core mission is to advance decentralized AI, building its platform on the innovative Bittensor network. Bittensor operates as a unique cryptocurrency mining network where participants exchange TAO tokens on a blockchain marketplace to access AI models and the necessary computing resources. This approach is seen by supporters as a crucial step towards disrupting the current centralized AI industry, which is largely dominated by a few major players.
William Wolf, General Partner at Arche Capital, commented on the potential, stating, “Bittensor is incentivizing open and permission-less creation of machine intelligence, providing an alternative to the centralized AI oligopoly.” Samaroo himself has expressed strong conviction in the underlying technology, referring to TAO as the “Bitcoin of AI” and believing it will become “one of the most important assets in our generation.”
In a significant milestone for the company, xTAO commenced trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) under the stock symbol XTAO.U as of July 22, 2025. This listing positions xTAO as the first publicly-traded company to offer direct access to the Bittensor network, marking what Samaroo described as “important milestones” for the startup’s focus on advancing decentralized AI.
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Samaroo’s entrepreneurial journey includes co-founding WonderFi in February 2021, which became the first Canadian-regulated crypto trading platform to list on the Toronto Stock Exchange in June 2022. Although he stepped down as WonderFi’s CEO in October 2022, he remained the board chair until December 2023. His commitment to AI and blockchain extends beyond xTAO, as he also co-founded BitMind in July 2024, a venture that leverages Bittensor to detect AI-generated content.
