San Francisco, CA – ResearchHub, a platform dedicated to accelerating scientific research through open collaboration and incentivized contributions, has raised a total of $7 million in funding across multiple rounds, including a recent $2 million Series A round in February 2025. The company's co-founder, Patrick Joyce, recently expressed enthusiasm for the platform's progress, stating, "Exciting day for the @ResearchHub community! Grateful for our early supporters - especially the scientists who took on career risk to contribute to RH."
ResearchHub, co-founded by Joyce and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, aims to revolutionize scientific publishing by operating more like open-source software, a vision Joyce underscored by adding, "Building with folks who share a vision for open & incentivized science is the best." The platform addresses issues such as paywalls and the traditional "publish or perish" culture by providing an environment where researchers can openly share, discuss, and review scientific literature.
Central to ResearchHub's model is ResearchCoin (RSC), an ERC20 token that incentivizes user engagement. Scientists and researchers earn RSC for various contributions, including uploading scientific papers, participating in discussions, and conducting peer reviews. This system allows for the direct funding of scientific studies through preregistrations and enables users to create bounties for specific research tasks, realigning incentives within the scientific community.
The platform has also forged significant partnerships to expand its impact. In January 2025, ResearchHub initiated a collaboration with the Center for Open Science (COS), integrating its incentivized peer review system with the COS's Lifecycle Journal. This partnership aims to accelerate the peer review process, with a goal of completing reviews within 14 days, and promotes greater transparency in scholarly publishing.
ResearchHub's growth reflects a broader movement towards decentralized science (DeSci) and open access. The platform's commitment to rewarding valuable contributions and fostering a collaborative ecosystem positions it as a key player in shaping the future of scientific discovery, as Joyce concluded, "Stay tuned - we're just getting started."