Nasdaq-listed shipping company OceanPal announced that it has completed a $120 million private equity investment (PIPE) in collaboration with NEAR to establish a subsidiary, SovereignAI Services LLC. This new entity will focus on developing digital assets and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.
Cryptocurrency-focused investors, including Kraken, Proximity, Fabric Ventures, and G20 Group, along with the NEAR Foundation, participated in this significant investment round, according to the company's statement.
The allocated proceeds are designated for two primary objectives: the creation of a digital asset treasury centered on the NEAR Protocol, and the development of a confidential AI cloud platform. This platform will be powered by technologies from NEAR and Nvidia. NEAR Protocol itself is a Layer-1 blockchain platform specifically designed to support scalable and AI-compatible decentralized applications (dApps).
SovereignAI's Strategic Vision
The newly formed startup, SovereignAI, intends to position OceanPal as a key investment vehicle. This strategy will provide investors with access to both the NEAR token and the advanced AI infrastructure that facilitates autonomous vehicle trading. Looking ahead, the company has outlined plans to acquire at least 10% of the NEAR token supply over the long term.
Ilya Polosukhin, speaking on the development, expressed his enthusiasm: “We are delighted to have SovereignAI join the NEAR ecosystem. Together, we will build true universal AI sovereignty that will enable user-owned, private, and autonomous AI commerce.”