Investor Profile: YZi Labs — Thesis, Cheque Size & How to Apply

Founders researching YZi Labs funding are dealing with one of the largest crypto-native investment vehicles in the world — the family office of Binance co-founders Changpeng Zhao (CZ) and Yi He, rebranded from Binance Labs in January 2025. YZi Labs manages over $10 billion in assets globally, with a portfolio spanning more than 300 projects across 25+ countries on six continents. The rebrand marked a deliberate expansion beyond crypto and blockchain into artificial intelligence and biotechnology, while remaining, in its own words, steadfastly dedicated to advancing Web3 innovation.

Thesis and focus areas

YZi Labs describes itself as an investment vehicle fuelling impact in Web3, AI and biotech, with an investment philosophy that emphasises impact first — "we believe that meaningful returns will naturally follow." It invests in ventures at every stage, prioritising solid fundamentals. As CZ put it at the rebrand: "I'm a long-term investor who cares about impact, not returns." The firm continues to support its existing portfolio of 250+ projects while actively hunting new opportunities at the intersection of Web3, AI and biotech — a pivot its leadership frames as a natural progression, given the organisation had operated independently of the Binance exchange for years.

Cheque size and stage

YZi Labs invests at every stage, from early to growth. The clearest public signal on cheque size comes from its flagship incubation programme: EASY Residency Season 4 selected 24 early-stage companies, each receiving a $500,000 investment through the initiative. The ten-week programme starts online before founders gather in person — the Season 4 cohort convened in Bhutan — focused on next-generation global financial infrastructure: stablecoin payments and cross-border settlement, on-chain FX and credit, neobanking, institutional-grade liquidity and market making, AI agents and AI-native security. YZi Labs has also partnered with CertiK on a $1 million audit grant for residency participants.

Notable portfolio

The firm's boilerplate lists Trust Wallet, CoinMarketCap, Polygon, Injective, Ethena, SafePal Wallet, XAI and Aster among notable holdings. The deeper Binance Labs lineage includes early backing of Polygon, Injective Protocol, CertiK, Dune Analytics, Kava, SafePal and Elrond through the original Incubation Program, plus names like Coin98, Moonbeam Network and Chiliz.

Team

Changpeng Zhao plays a pivotal role in investment activity, directly engaging with founders on mentorship and coaching, while Ella Zhang returned as Head of YZi Labs — she co-launched Binance Labs with CZ in 2018 as its first head, spearheading the first three incubation batches that backed over 40 startups, before stepping away in 2020. Co-founder Yi He is the other principal of the family office.

How to apply for funding

The structured route in is the EASY Residency programme, which has moved from seasonal cohorts to a year-round, rolling-admissions model — founders can apply and interview at any time through the programme's official application form linked from yzilabs.io. A dedicated MVB track serves teams building on BNB Chain. Given CZ's and Zhang's hands-on style, direct founder outreach backed by a working product also fits the firm's culture, but the residency form is the published front door.