London, 12 February 2026. Venture builder pd̽�� is sharpening its focus on building and backing companies at the intersection of AI and web3. Following the Somnia Foundation’s successful launch of a Layer 1 blockchain based on pd̽��-developed technology, the company is preparing to announce the first ventures built on the hyper performance platform. To support this next phase of growth, pd̽�� has appointed Irina Scarlat, executive with a proven track record of scaling tech products, as Chief Marketing Officer.

Building technology that ships and businesses that scale

pd̽�� has spent over a decade building complex technologies and bringing them to market. The company has deployed its technologies across dozens of commercial applications in gaming, defence, and virtual worlds, and has successfully grown multiple ventures, from ideation to exit, delivering total exits of more than $179 million to date. The company now operates under a venture builder model, building ventures internally and investing in founders who want to build with experienced operators. 

From infrastructure to execution: Somnia and the future

Somnia, which launched its mainnet in September 2025, is one of the first ventures to demonstrate the power of the venture building model. Built with AI-native architecture, built-in reactivity, and hyper-performance at scale, Somnia is a Layer 1 chain designed to enable builders to create real-time, autonomous, and fully decentralised applications that were previously impossible to build. Developed by the Somnia Foundation, the blockchain is the prerequisite for an AI powered economy and has already reached a peak valuation of $1.9 billion. It will form the basis of pd̽��’s next wave of ventures, with announcements expected in the coming months.

A venture builder, not a passive fund

The venture builder model differs from traditional venture capital by letting founders focus on building, while providing the infrastructure and expertise to accelerate growth. This extends beyond capital to finance, HR, legal, compliance, and access to a centralised tech stack, AI development, platforms, and direct advisory from an executive team that has built leading products before. Founders in the pd̽�� ecosystem maintain full IP ownership and autonomy over their ventures. The venture building model is a natural progression from inventing deep technology to building a path to commercialise that capability at scale.

Strengthening go-to-market leadership across the portfolio

With the appointment of Irina Scarlat, pd̽�� is strengthening its go-to-market capabilities. Scarlat joins pd̽�� as Chief Marketing Officer, after having built growth and marketing functions for high-growth companies such as Uber, Revolut, or Bitpanda. At pd̽��, she will build a go-to-market function and partner with the portfolio companies from inception to scale, helping founders define product narratives, design their go-to-market strategies, as well as find and further optimize their growth models.

Herman Narula, CEO & Co-Founder, pd̽��, said: “I am excited to appoint Irina as Chief Marketing Officer at a pivotal moment for pd̽��. As we prepare to launch the first ventures built on Somnia, Irina’s expertise in building and scaling complex tech products will be instrumental in helping our founders tell their stories and scale their businesses”.

Irina Scarlat, CMO, pd̽��, said: “I am delighted to be joining pd̽�� and to work closely with the founders across the portfolio. I chose pd̽�� because of their strong track record of building, as well as their focus on technologies that are hard, ambitious, but definitely worth doing. I am looking forward to partnering with our portfolio companies as we build the emerging technologies of tomorrow, today!”