YZi Labs Launches EASY Residency, a 10-Week In-Person Global Incubation Program

2025.6.18 • 5 min read

Ever dream of building the next Binance, NVIDIA, or Moderna?
Do you see yourself as the next CZ, Jensen Huang, or Bob Langer?
Have you ever felt the weight of building alone? Looking to join a high-caliber community of visionary founders and inspiring mentors?

The founder’s journey is never EASY.

Too many bold ideas fade away—not from lack of potential, but because of constant distractions.At YZi Labs (pronounced EASY Labs), we believe that visionary founders deserve more than just funding—they deserve a trusted community that supports long-term, focused building. Our mission is to clear the noise for the top 1% of founders—those with the courage to tackle hard problems and build what matters.Today, we’re proud to announce the launch of EASY Residency which offers hands-on support for founders building in Web3, AI, and biotech. This 10-week global incubation program offers an immersive in-person residency coupled with access to a global network of world-class mentors, builders, and investors. It’s not just an accelerator; it’s a partnership rooted in belief, built for the long road.

During the program, YZi Labs will provide full coverage of accommodation, meals, and initial funding to bootstrap–this way, founders can fully dedicate themselves to product development and company-building.Applications open today: https://bit.ly/EASY_Residency. The EASY Residency program is grounded in one of CZ’s core principles: “Success does not come from how many things you do, but how well you do a few selected things. Being focused allows you to work hard. Remove distractions from your life.” Through the program, YZi Labs will help founders eliminate distractions and focus on delivering results, pushing participants past the ideation phase to have a working product with user/sales traction by Demo Day.“EASY Residency is a natural evolution of the Binance Labs Incubation Program we launched seven years ago,” said Ella Zhang @ellazhang516, Head of YZi Labs. “This elevated program goes beyond traditional incubation—it's a focused environment designed for the top 1% of founders to build, ship, and gain real traction. The YZi Labs team handles everything else, so founders can stay laser-focused on what matters most. I’m especially proud that so many of our alumni founders have returned as mentors, helping guide the next generation. We’re honored to welcome Sandeep Nailwal (Polygon), Eric Chen (Injective), Ronghui Gu (CertiK), Veronica Wong (SafePal), Harry Halpin (Nym), and others. Together, we're building one of the world’s highest-quality founder–mentor networks—united by a shared mission to support bold innovation. It's a thrilling moment for our entire team.”

Our Mission & Vision

YZi Labs is dedicated to driving a positive, transformative impact on human society through strategic investments that shape a better future. We prioritize impact over profit, believing that meaningful financial returns will follow and compound over time.At the heart of YZi Labs is a belief that true innovation takes time, and that visionary founders deserve time, trust, and genuine partnership.We’ve seen what happens when builders are left to go it alone. So we designed this program to be a home for long-term thinkers—a space where founders are not only guided but genuinely supported, challenged, and celebrated.We're building more than companies: we're cultivating a developer-first, founder-led community, rooted in legacy, mentorship, and resilience—and fueled by the spirit of shared growth.

Program Focus Areas

The program will center around three transformative areas that are redefining the future of society–Web3, AI, and healthcare–these are some directions we are interested in (but not limited to):

Web3 – High-Performance Blockchain and scaling solutions, MEV Mechanism Design, Interoperability Solutions, Next-Gen DeFi Protocols, StableCoins, Decentralized Internet infra, Real-World Assets On-Chain, Tokenized Stock, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), Privacy & Security Solutions, PayFi, GameFi, TradFi x DeFi, etc.
AI – Agentic & Autonomous Systems, AI Infrastructure & Developer Tools, Vertical AI Applications, Multi-Agent Collaboration Frameworks, Data Privacy, Security & Alignment, Robots and Advanced AI-Based Robotics Control system, etc.
Healthcare – DeSci, AI for Scientific Discovery, Patient-centric health data ownership, AI diagnostics, decentralized CROs and DAOs, transparent product validation and side-effect tracking, and secure systems for chronic disease monitoring.

What You’ll Gain from the Program

A 10-week immersive in-person global incubation program. We handle everything—accommodation, meals, and a working space optimized for building.
A deeply personalized program; not a one-size-fits-all approach.
A high-quality builder and product ecosystem, designed for both scale and soul.
Long-term access to a world-class mentor community and investor network.
Genuine support during and after the program concludes.
A community culture where founders grow, stay connected, and pay it forward.

World-Class Mentors

Founders won’t walk this journey alone.
They’ll be guided by a global network of visionary mentors—pioneers in Web3, AI, healthcare, and venture capital—who have shaped industries and sparked revolutions.Among our distinguished mentors are:

CZ @cz_binance, Co-founder and former CEO of Binance;
Yi He @heyibinance, Co-founder of Binance;
Vitalik Buterin @VitalikButerin, Co-founder of Ethereum, who will serve as a mentor to projects that align with the d/Acc principles and are open-sourced;
Matt Huang @matthuang, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Paradigm, a pioneering investor architecting the next-generation internet stack, and creator of Foundry for smart contract developers;
Dr. Le Cong @lecong, Assistant Professor of Pathology and Genetics at Stanford School of Medicine, developing technologies for large-scale genome editing and gene insertion, with applications in gene and cell therapy;
Ronghui Gu @RonghuiGu, Co-founder and CEO of CertiK, Computer Science Professor at Columbia University, and has a strong background in formal verification and systems security;
Sandeep Nailwal @sandeepnailwal, Co-founder of Polygon, a leading L2 Ethereum scaling solution, and core contributor to Sentient, building open-sourced AI foundation models;
Eric Chen @ericinjective, Co-founder of Injective and a visionary building a future where DeFi seamlessly integrates into TradFi;
Veronica Wong @V_SafePal, Co-founder of SafePal and an expert in crypto wallet security and cross-chain interoperability;
Harry Halpin @harryhalpin, Co-founder of Nym, who will lend his expertise on privacy-enhancing technologies and secure communication protocols;
Michael Ma @MichaelandMa, Founder of District (formerly CreatorDAO) and Founding Partner at L2 Ventures, the seed fund launched by NFL legend Joe Montana. An early YC alum, he founded TalkBin, a feedback platform acquired by Google. He was an earlier mentor for Binance Labs’ incubation program, supporting early-stage blockchain projects.

These mentors don’t just advise—they will share, challenge, and stay.
Because building the next great company takes more than capital—it takes community.

Program Details & How to Join

The program kicks off in NYC on June 9, 2025 and runs for 10 weeks, concluding on August 10, 2025, with a big Demo Day where founders will showcase their working products and early traction to the most reputable VCs in each field. Subsequent sessions are scheduled to take place in other major international cities, including Singapore, Dubai and additional locations, as part of the program's comprehensive global rollout.

Applications are open now and will close at 23:59 (GMT-7) on May 21, 2025.

We will welcome 10 to 20 exceptional teams into the inaugural cohort—builders with bold visions, long-term courage, and the hunger to create something that truly matters.

Ready to build something that lasts?

If you're building with heart, courage, and a vision that spans beyond this season…
If you’re ready to become one of the next great companies of this generation…
Apply now. The journey is long. But with YZi Labs, you won’t walk it alone.Applications for the inaugural cohort are now open.

Apply now to the EASY Residency and let’s shape the future together.