Protocol Labs

Protocol Labs is a research and development organisation that describes itself as an innovation network. It began as the team behind the IPFS, Filecoin and libp2p projects and still supports them while moving into other emerging technologies.

What Protocol Labs offers

• Decentralised storage — Filecoin and IPFS, built to spread data across a distributed network.
• Digital human rights — work on privacy-preserving, self-sovereign identity and internet security through Web3.
• Economies and governance — tools using crypto, AI and programmable public infrastructure.
• AI and robotics — efforts around responsible AI, agent coordination and frontier computing infrastructure.
• Neurotechnology — research toward brain-computer interfaces, NeuroAI and whole brain emulation.
• PL Capital — an investment arm for early research, new inventions and prototype-stage startups.

Who it works with

The network links more than 750 startups, funds, accelerators, foundations, open-source projects and service providers, mainly in web3, AI, AR, VR, hardware and related fields.

Key facts

• Model: fully distributed, open-source organisation
• Origins: the team behind IPFS, Filecoin and libp2p
• Network size: more than 750 organisations