Jan 20
Announcing the Render Network Foundation
Key Recruits To Help Facilitate the Governance Process of The Largest Decentralized GPU Computing Network
Today we’re excited to announce The Render Network Foundation, a new not-for-profit dedicated to maintaining the core Render Network protocol and growing its community and ecosystem. The Render Network protocol was initially financed by OTOY Inc., one of the early corporate contributors. As part of the creation of the Foundation, the founding group transferred control of the core Render Network repos and the Render Network brand to the Foundation, a major step in decentralization and putting governance and control in the hands of the community.
Since 2017, Render Network users have rendered over 16-million frames and almost half a million scenes on the network, evolving into the largest decentralized GPU computing and GPU cloud rendering networks in the world. Through a decentralized architecture, the Render Network has surpassed the GPU cloud rendering capacity of the largest cloud providers, offering dramatic increases in scale and decreases in cost for creators and film studios around the world.
Today, in addition to corporate members like OTOY Inc. other organizations like Swatchbook and MR Studios have joined the community, as well as many of the world’s leading 3D crypto artists. The Render Network is widely used for applications ranging from large-scale rendering workflows, immersive virtual worlds, GPU based product design applications, and the creation of some of the most iconic digital artwork and NFTs (non-fungible tokens) ever produced. The Render Network Foundation will help organize the community’s wide range of members and stakeholders — from creators and developers, to compute and service providers, to corporate partners, and more — and play an operational role that helps foster greater adoption.
The Render Network Foundation’s core roles and responsibilities in the ecosystem will be primarily facilitating the Render Network Proposal (RNP) system, which was first announced in June last year and formalized through a community vote in October. The Foundation will also be responsible for helping to set the strategic priorities of the network and issuing grants to support them. On a go-forward basis, the Foundation will communicate through the Render Network Blog, the RNP Github repo, and the Render Network Twitter account.
OTOY Inc. and the core developers are not going anywhere and will continue to provide support and services to the Foundation in areas ranging from engineering to product development; however, community management and strategic priorities will now be guided by the Foundation and its board.
The Render Network Foundation has recruited a veteran team of executives, crypto-natives, and advisors to help grow the ecosystem. It will be helmed by Tristan Relly as its Head of Operations; Andrew Hyde as its Head of Communications; and Ryan Shea as a Foundation Advisor. We are also excited to announce Trevor Harries-Jones, OTOY’s Chief Operating Officer, will be joined by two other independent professional directors on the Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Trevor Harries-Jones brings with him a wealth of experience as a financial director, manager and leader across multiple industries over the last 25+ years. With a start in financial management in one of the Big 4 firms, Trevor began his journey into media with work at OpenTV, quickly rising to an SVP of Finance position, where he oversaw global accounting, treasury allocation and oversight. From there he moved onto Yola.com, a leading SAAS website building company, serving across a number of C-Level positions as both President, COO, CEO and Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors, helping to guide Yola.com through tremendous growth as one of the most affordable and easy-to-use services on the market.
He has since brought that same mentality and experience to the Render Network, serving as parent company OTOY’s COO as he has helped usher in the next phase of development for the Render Network.
Tristan Relly (Head of Operations)
After over two decades of working in financial advisory roles at one of the world’s leading financial service providers and other blue-chip companies, Tristan Relly has taken his skills from an illustrious career and put them towards new directions. Before Render Network, he cut his teeth in DeFi and served as the CEO of the Balancer Foundation (servicers of the Balancer Protocol and ecosystem). Prior to that he helped lead a passionate team to set up an NPO with the purpose of protecting and enhancing natural heritage on Cayman Brac, the most eco-diverse and least protected island in the Cayman Islands chain.
Andrew Hyde (Head of Communications)
Andrew Hyde has a passion for community, writing, travel and startups. He founded Startup Weekend alongside Ignite Boulder, TEDxBoulder, Startup Week as well as many smaller events. He has worked on a few Web3 startups including Solana and Crypto.com. He is the director of Glider.com, a 501c3 nonprofit that throws some amazing community events, and is working to help build up the Render Network Foundation communications and community going forward.
Overseeing The Render Network Foundation, Andrew and Tristan will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the Network, alongside issuance of token unlocks, and governance of the Network in the form of the RNP process. Other functions may include:
- Managing Grants, Awards, and Developer Programs
- Facilitating Additions to the RNP Process and Network Governance
- Organizing Community Events for Developers and Network Participants like Hackathons, Talks, and Virtual Symposiums
- Producing Original Research for Protocol Development
- Interfacing with Blockchain and web3 Communities on Behalf of the Network
Ryan Shea (Foundation Advisor)
Ryan Shea spent the last three years working at Solana Labs and launched the Solana network and ecosystem. Before that, he collaborated with companies building on Ethereum like Gitcoin and Decentraland. Ryan’s now leading NATION.io, a company building tools for on-chain organizations, and serving in an advisory capacity for the Render Network Foundation. Ryan will be instrumental in guiding the Foundation through major upgrades required to effect RNPs like those proposed under RNP-001.
With Ryan’s guidance, the foundation will implement upgrades to the network codified in the RNP process, putting control of the Render Network directly into the hands of its community. Over the coming weeks, the Foundation will facilitate a number of important RNPs that will help the Network expand its compute power, on-board new users, support community development, and increase decentralization. To that end, the Foundation’s top six priorities for H1 2023 include:
- Creating a clearer and more participatory experience for the community RNP governance process
- Finalizing and implementing an upgraded economic model for the Network
- Developing a new community grants program that fosters a multi-sided ecosystem and growth opportunities for creators, node operators, and developers
- Implement a comprehensive website for the Render Network Foundation that serves as a community hub for the Network and its resources.
- Create a decentralization roadmap that continues to support the mission of making the Render Network more decentralized
- Creating a corporate partnership program to expand support and usage of the network
While the RNP system is facilitated by The Render Network Foundation, it’s important to reinforce that the community is in the driver’s seat. Using Render Network’s native token, RNDR, anyone can propose or vote on RNPs and make direct contributions to the core base.
For more information about The Render Network Foundation please visit: The Render Network Foundation Website, join the Render Network Community Discord to get involved in the RNP Governance Process, and follow Render Network on Twitter, Medium and Telegram.
