Layoff
Mar 2026PIP Labs reportedly cut around 10% of staff and contractors, including people tied to Story Foundation and Poseidon, while pivoting more sharply toward AI infrastructure.
SourceCompany research
Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Updated Jul 29, 2026
Overview
Story Protocol is a blockchain infrastructure company that began as an IP-licensing and provenance network for creators, then rebranded in June 2026 to The DATA Foundation to focus on AI training data provenance, licensing, and processing.
Primary product
A purpose-built layer-1 network for programmable intellectual property, now centered on the DATA Network and Trace for AI data provenance and licensing.
Founded
2022
Headquarters
San Francisco, United States
Team size
40-50 employees
Work style
Hybrid
Industry
Technology, Information and Media
Sub-industry
Layer 1 blockchain / AI data infrastructure
Offices
San Francisco Bay Area
San Mateo, CA
Palo Alto, CA
Business model
blockchain infrastructure / protocol
licensing and provenance rails
token-network ecosystem
AI data marketplace infrastructure
Funding
People & investors
Leadership
CEO & Founder
Co-founder & Chief Protocol Officer
Chief Product Officer
Leo Chen
Chief Technology Officer
VP, Marketing
Henri Viès
Head of Communications
Raul Martinez Fernandez
Head of Security
Tom Lorek
Head of Partnerships
Ben Sternberg
Chief Financial Officer
Julie Jo
General Counsel
Cayden Bernstein
Head of HR
Meng Li
Engineering Lead
Investors
a16z crypto
Adrian Cheng
Allen and Eva Lau
Alliance DAO
Balaji Srinivasan
CH Kim
Charlie Songhurst
Cozomo de' Medici
dao5
David Bonderman
David Lee
Endeavor
Foresight Ventures
Hashed
Insignia Venture Partners
Kyung In Jung
Mirana Ventures
Nicolas Berggruen
Paris Hilton's 11:11 Media
Polychain Capital
Roham Gharegozlou
Samsung Next
Sanghun Kim
Scott Trowbridge
Si-hyuk Bang
Two Small Fish Ventures
Work & culture
Mission-driven, open-source, and founder-adjacent; public hiring language emphasizes a fast-moving startup environment, decentralized-first thinking, and building infrastructure for creators and AI-era data.
Work style
Hybrid
Compensation
Public job posts show broad salary bands depending on role, from roughly $57k-$90k through $170k-$250k, plus token incentives and benefits; some roles are hybrid or remote, while others require Bay Area office time.
Benefits
medical/dental coverage for US employees
competitive compensation packages
token incentives
equal opportunity employer language
Product & market
Pricing
Not publicly disclosed; the company appears to monetize through protocol/network usage, licensing rails, ecosystem partnerships, and token/network economics.
Differentiators
- —programmable IP assets and licensing on-chain
- —Proof-of-Creativity protocol
- —Programmable IP License (PIL) bridging on-chain logic and real-world legal terms
- —royalty and dispute modules built into the protocol
- —EVM-compatible layer-1 design with Cosmos SDK support
- —Trace public audit layer for AI training data
Technology
Solidity
TypeScript
JavaScript
Python
React
GitHub
Slack
Figma
Discord
Cosmos SDK
CometBFT
EVM
ERC-721
Customers
creators and IP owners
AI labs
developers and app builders
dataset contributors
ecosystem partners such as Ablo, Sekai, and Magma
Kled / DATA Network users
Competitors
Sahara AI
Mysten Labs
Aptos
Solana
NEAR
DFINITY
Scale & contact
Estimated revenue
$1M-$10M
Estimated monthly visits
29.2K
Traffic estimate as of Jul 2026
Signals & risks
Other
Jun 2026Story rebranded to The DATA Foundation and shifted its strategic focus from broad IP infrastructure to AI training data provenance, licensing, and processing.
SourceLatest news
Cointelegraph · Jun 2026
Story Protocol rebranded as the DATA Foundation, added Trace for AI training-data provenance/licensing, and named Andrea Muttoni CEO of the new organization.
The Block · Jun 2026
The Block reported the company’s pivot from IP infrastructure to AI training data, including Trace, Kled integration, and a 1.5B-record network claim.
CoinDesk · Jun 2026
CoinDesk covered the rebrand from Story Protocol to the DATA Foundation, the AI training-data focus, and the migration from IP token to DATA token.
TechCrunch · Aug 2024
TechCrunch covered Story’s Series B, led by a16z crypto, and said the round brought total funding to $143M at a $2.25B post-money valuation.
The Block · Aug 2024
The Block reported the $80M Series B led by a16z crypto, team size around 40, and plans to hire more engineering and APAC staff.
Jobs and careers at Story Protocol
0 jobs at Story Protocol
No open positions
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