# Praxis (proposed city)
**Praxis** is a proposed startup city and self-described "Network State" founded in 2019 by entrepreneur Dryden Brown, which aims to build a new city for a community recruited online, governed as a special jurisdiction within a host country.[1](https://www.curbed.com/article/inside-the-peter-thielbacked-praxis.html) • [2](https://cointelegraph.com/news/praxis-525-million-funding-crypto-ai-utopia-city) The project has announced roughly $525 million in milestone-based financing commitments, scouted sites in the Mediterranean, Greenland, California, and Uruguay, and as of its September 2026 announcement had signed only a largely nonbinding agreement for a site in Uruguay.[3](https://www.wsj.com/articles/tech-utopian-project-praxis-gets-525-million-in-commitments-for-planned-heroic-city-f4623e98) • [4](https://blog.pmpress.org/2026/09/29/these-tech-utopians-want-to-build-a-city-for-the-post-a-i-world/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2019, by Dryden Brown (born in Santa Barbara, California; NYU dropout, formerly at a hedge fund)[2](https://cointelegraph.com/news/praxis-525-million-funding-crypto-ai-utopia-city) • [5](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/12/style/praxis-city-dryden-brown.html) |
| Self-description | "A grassroots movement of modern pioneers building a new city"; calls itself "the world's first Network State"[1](https://www.curbed.com/article/inside-the-peter-thielbacked-praxis.html) • [6](https://www.insidehook.com/internet/peter-thiel-praxis-next-great-city-greenland) |
| Funding | $19.2 million raised as of December 2023; $525 million in milestone-based commitments announced October 2024, of which $500 million from GEM Digital and $25 million from Arch Lending[5](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/12/style/praxis-city-dryden-brown.html) • [2](https://cointelegraph.com/news/praxis-525-million-funding-crypto-ai-utopia-city) |
| Site history | Mediterranean scouting (Italy, Greece, Montenegro), Greenland (2024), Atlas near Vandenberg Space Force Base (2025), Uruguay at +Colonia (September 2026)[7](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/praxis-dryden-brown) • [8](https://www.praxisnation.com/content/praxis-uruguay-announcement) |
| Uruguay plan | $1 billion in investment over three years at +Colonia near Colonia del Sacramento; first residents expected mid 2027[8](https://www.praxisnation.com/content/praxis-uruguay-announcement) |
| Signed status | As of September 2026, only a largely nonbinding deal with the developer of +Colonia; no city built[4](https://blog.pmpress.org/2026/09/29/these-tech-utopians-want-to-build-a-city-for-the-post-a-i-world/) |
| Community | Roughly 50,000 on a waiting list (2023), nearly 89,000 prospective citizens (2025), and over 150,000 claimed by Brown himself[5](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/12/style/praxis-city-dryden-brown.html) • [7](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/praxis-dryden-brown) • [9](https://dryden.substack.com/p/my-trip-to-greenland) |
## What Praxis is
Praxis describes itself as "a grassroots movement of modern pioneers building a new city," aiming to create an autonomous charter-state built on a decentralized crypto economy, a phrase Brown repeated while the intended site was still "somewhere in the Mediterranean."[1](https://www.curbed.com/article/inside-the-peter-thielbacked-praxis.html) The project's founding spiritual principles are physical health, an appreciation of beauty, and "the intangible pull of the frontier."[1](https://www.curbed.com/article/inside-the-peter-thielbacked-praxis.html) It calls its planned jurisdiction an "acceleration zone," a special economic zone intended to speed technological progress in AI, biotech, and energy.[7](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/praxis-dryden-brown)
The project sits inside the network state movement, a concept developed by Balaji Srinivasan, former CTO of Coinbase: an internet community that acquires a physical home and "gains diplomatic recognition from pre-existing states."[10](https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/15/i-went-to-greenland-to-try-to-buy-it-meet-the-founder-who-wants-to-re-create-mars-on-earth/) • [6](https://www.insidehook.com/internet/peter-thiel-praxis-next-great-city-greenland) Praxis goes a step further, calling itself "the world's first Network State."[6](https://www.insidehook.com/internet/peter-thiel-praxis-next-great-city-greenland)
## Founders, funding, and backers
**Dryden Brown.** Brown, born in [Santa Barbara, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/santa-barbara-california), is a New York University dropout who was fired from his last job, at a hedge fund, and had never built a house before, let alone a city, when he started Praxis.[5](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/12/style/praxis-city-dryden-brown.html) He is the company's co-founder and CEO.[2](https://cointelegraph.com/news/praxis-525-million-funding-crypto-ai-utopia-city)
**Early rounds.** As of December 2023, Brown had raised $19.2 million. A 2021 round of $4.2 million included Pronomos Capital, the Thiel-backed city-building fund run by Patri Friedman, grandson of economist [Milton Friedman](https://www.edgepedia.org/milton-friedman); other investors included the crypto firms Paradigm and [Alameda Research](https://www.edgepedia.org/alameda-research), Sam Altman's Apollo Projects, Balaji Srinivasan, and [Joe Lonsdale](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-lonsdale).[5](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/12/style/praxis-city-dryden-brown.html) Later backers include Arch Lending, GEM Digital, and Manifold Trading.[6](https://www.insidehook.com/internet/peter-thiel-praxis-next-great-city-greenland)
**The $525 million announcement.** In October 2024 Brown said he had secured $525 million in milestone-based financing commitments, which he described as a step toward persuading governments and development partners to allow the project to proceed.[3](https://www.wsj.com/articles/tech-utopian-project-praxis-gets-525-million-in-commitments-for-planned-heroic-city-f4623e98) Of that, $500 million comes from the crypto investment firm GEM Digital through a drawdown financing facility, a type of loan in which capital is disbursed only after conditions are met, and $25 million from Arch Lending.[2](https://cointelegraph.com/news/praxis-525-million-funding-crypto-ai-utopia-city) • [11](https://gizmodo.com/praxis-another-tech-billionaire-backed-urban-project-gets-525-million-in-funding-2000512690) In return, Praxis must provide GEM with crypto tokens representing ownership in future real-estate development, with funds released in stages upon milestones such as permits, land purchase, tokenization, construction start, and residents moving in.[2](https://cointelegraph.com/news/praxis-525-million-funding-crypto-ai-utopia-city) The money is therefore committed rather than in hand.
**The Thiel question.** [TechCrunch](https://www.edgepedia.org/techcrunch) and Vanity Fair characterize Praxis as "Peter Thiel-backed," and Thiel-linked money is present through Pronomos Capital.[10](https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/15/i-went-to-greenland-to-try-to-buy-it-meet-the-founder-who-wants-to-re-create-mars-on-earth/) • [7](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/praxis-dryden-brown) The New York Times, however, reported that per a person familiar with Thiel's investments, Thiel never directly supported Praxis and his representatives turned Brown down multiple times.[5](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/12/style/praxis-city-dryden-brown.html) Other named backers include Shervin Pishevar and Cameron and [Tyler Winklevoss](https://www.edgepedia.org/tyler-winklevoss) through Winklevoss Capital.[7](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/praxis-dryden-brown)
## Where and how it would be built
**Site history.** Brown scouted Mediterranean countries including Italy, Greece, and [Montenegro](https://www.edgepedia.org/montenegro) on about a dozen trips; the founders later said the region was too close to active conflicts.[7](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/praxis-dryden-brown) • [4](https://blog.pmpress.org/2026/09/29/these-tech-utopians-want-to-build-a-city-for-the-post-a-i-world/) In November 2024 Brown traveled to [Greenland](https://www.edgepedia.org/greenland) attempting to buy land, tweeting "I went to Greenland to try to buy it," and argued that tax revenue from a new city, mining, and tourism could help fund [Greenlandic independence](https://www.edgepedia.org/greenlandic-independence); the idea drew public pushback.[10](https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/15/i-went-to-greenland-to-try-to-buy-it-meet-the-founder-who-wants-to-re-create-mars-on-earth/) • [12](https://gizmodo.com/peter-thiel-backed-startup-that-wanted-to-buy-greenland-is-thrilled-that-trump-wants-to-buy-greenland-2000548415) • [4](https://blog.pmpress.org/2026/09/29/these-tech-utopians-want-to-build-a-city-for-the-post-a-i-world/) In 2025 Brown announced the project would instead build in the United States, about a three-hour drive from Los Angeles and one hour north of Santa Barbara, on land near Vandenberg Space Force Base, in a project called Atlas; Praxis had not secured the Enhanced Use Lease typically needed to build on base land.[7](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/praxis-dryden-brown) By summer 2025, after investigating Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Morocco, and Greenland without result, the Atlas plan was the announced direction, with around $500 million reportedly committed.[13](https://thesapiensproject.substack.com/p/the-praxis-saga-new-cities-and-tech)
**The Uruguay announcement.** On September 22, 2026, Praxis announced Uruguay as the location of its first city-scale development, with its first phase at +Colonia near [Colonia del Sacramento](https://www.edgepedia.org/colonia-del-sacramento), plans to mobilize $1 billion in investment over three years, and first residents expected in mid 2027.[8](https://www.praxisnation.com/content/praxis-uruguay-announcement) Reporting on the announcement stated that Praxis had so far only signed a largely nonbinding deal with the developer behind +Colonia, Eduardo Bastitta, an advisor to Argentina's president, letting Praxis members buy condos and reserving undeveloped land for a hypothetical future community.[4](https://blog.pmpress.org/2026/09/29/these-tech-utopians-want-to-build-a-city-for-the-post-a-i-world/) • [14](https://www.thenerdreich.com/network-state-invades-uruguay-praxis-nyt/) • [13](https://thesapiensproject.substack.com/p/the-praxis-saga-new-cities-and-tech)
**The master-plan model.** Praxis's own master plan describes a four-step process: signed commitments to move establish demand that attracts capital to buy and entitle land, followed by a partnership with a host government to create a special jurisdiction.[15](https://www.praxisnation.com/journal/master-plan) Location is to be selected based on proximity to financial and logistics centers, stable local governments, and an attractive coastal location.[15](https://www.praxisnation.com/journal/master-plan) For Uruguay, the company states that community institutions would operate fully within Uruguay's constitutional, legal, and democratic framework and complement existing public institutions.[8](https://www.praxisnation.com/content/praxis-uruguay-announcement) This is a notably softer claim than Brown's earlier stated ambition that Praxis be self-governing and completely independent of any other country or state.[16](https://nypost.com/2025/04/06/world-news/robo-cops-ai-schooling-food-from-3-d-printers-and-post-work-future-are-anticipated-for-praxians/) Detailed mechanics such as courts, taxes, and citizenship rules are not specified in the company's public materials.[17](https://spearswms.com/wealth/column/praxis-promise-tech-bro-utopia/)
## By the numbers
- **Capital:** $19.2 million raised by December 2023; $525 million in milestone-based commitments announced October 2024; $1 billion in investment planned for the Uruguay phase over three years.[5](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/12/style/praxis-city-dryden-brown.html) • [3](https://www.wsj.com/articles/tech-utopian-project-praxis-gets-525-million-in-commitments-for-planned-heroic-city-f4623e98) • [8](https://www.praxisnation.com/content/praxis-uruguay-announcement)
- **Community:** a waiting list of nearly 50,000 with 12,000 interested in moving (December 2023); nearly 89,000 prospective citizens (Vanity Fair, 2025); over 150,000 claimed by Brown in his own writing.[5](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/12/style/praxis-city-dryden-brown.html) • [7](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/praxis-dryden-brown) • [9](https://dryden.substack.com/p/my-trip-to-greenland)
- **Residents:** the master plan states Phase I will be home to 10,000 residents, and the initial project was set to cover around 1,000 acres; in April 2025 Brown said the initial city would be sized for about 1,000 residents in "very spartan" makeshift conditions.[15](https://www.praxisnation.com/journal/master-plan) • [2](https://cointelegraph.com/news/praxis-525-million-funding-crypto-ai-utopia-city) • [16](https://nypost.com/2025/04/06/world-news/robo-cops-ai-schooling-food-from-3-d-printers-and-post-work-future-are-anticipated-for-praxians/)
- **Promises to hosts:** Praxis tells prospective host governments it would deliver $100 billion of foreign direct investment, more than 400,000 new jobs, and $45 billion in capital investment.[17](https://spearswms.com/wealth/column/praxis-promise-tech-bro-utopia/)
- **Revenue model:** the company says it will earn revenue through monetization of real estate and services, with recurring services revenue growing with residents' income.[15](https://www.praxisnation.com/journal/master-plan)
The community figures come from different dates and different speakers, and the largest number, 150,000, is Brown's own claim; the funding figures likewise rest on press and company statements rather than filings.
## How it compares with other new-city projects
**Próspera (Honduras).** Próspera is a private city in Honduras backed by Thiel-linked investors and governed by the US company Honduras Próspera Inc. As of 2026 it has about 200 residents and roughly 400 companies, has raised around $200 million, and is described as operating under a ZEDE framework whose legal underpinnings Honduras's top court declared unconstitutional; it plans four residential towers and aims to settle thousands of entrepreneurs and digital nomads.[18](https://www.businessinsider.com/prospera-a-private-city-in-honduras-backed-by-peter-thiel-2026-4) That court ruling is a cautionary result for the special-jurisdiction model Praxis depends on.[6](https://www.insidehook.com/internet/peter-thiel-praxis-next-great-city-greenland)
**Itana (Nigeria).** Itana, formerly "Talent City," another Pronomos Capital investment, is under development in Nigeria roughly 50 miles east of Lagos.[6](https://www.insidehook.com/internet/peter-thiel-praxis-next-great-city-greenland)
**California Forever.** In contrast to Praxis, which has signed no binding land deal, California Forever has already secured more than 50,000 acres of land northeast of San Francisco, largely zoned for agricultural use.[7](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/praxis-dryden-brown)
## Criticism and controversy
**Enclave critiques.** Raymond Craib, a Cornell history professor who wrote a book about market-driven enclave projects, said of tech-utopian city initiatives, "Thus far these haven't gone particularly well."[4](https://blog.pmpress.org/2026/09/29/these-tech-utopians-want-to-build-a-city-for-the-post-a-i-world/) After a Praxis party, Amana Fontanella-Khan, a Guardian editor who attended, posted on Instagram that Praxis wanted to "create their own laws, not pay taxes and remove the poors and the undesirables."[5](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/12/style/praxis-city-dryden-brown.html)
**Feasibility.** Commentators note that Praxis promises host governments $100 billion of foreign direct investment and 400,000-plus jobs but does not say how its governance, laws, and infrastructure would work within an existing nation state.[17](https://spearswms.com/wealth/column/praxis-promise-tech-bro-utopia/) As of September 2026, the only concrete outcome of the Uruguay announcement was the nonbinding agreement with Bastitta's +Colonia project, and many questions remain about whether the promised city will ever result in brick and mortar.[4](https://blog.pmpress.org/2026/09/29/these-tech-utopians-want-to-build-a-city-for-the-post-a-i-world/) • [13](https://thesapiensproject.substack.com/p/the-praxis-saga-new-cities-and-tech) Praxis's own framing emphasizes demand-first mechanics: signed commitments to move are meant to attract the capital and host-government partnership that would make the city real.[15](https://www.praxisnation.com/journal/master-plan)
## Recent developments
The project's public story has shifted repeatedly. In December 2023 the pitch was a "beautiful, green city" rendered by Zaha Hadid Architects with move-in starting in 2026, and an October deal memo to investors claimed a first host-government partnership was being finalized, with former Canadian prime minister [Stephen Harper](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-harper) listed on the government relations team.[5](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/12/style/praxis-city-dryden-brown.html) In November 2024, Praxis hosted 250 supporters in [Punta Cana](https://www.edgepedia.org/punta-cana), Dominican Republic, where attendees including Bedrock's Geoff Lewis and former Georgian prime minister Mamuka Bakhtadzé were presented with location options.[10](https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/15/i-went-to-greenland-to-try-to-buy-it-meet-the-founder-who-wants-to-re-create-mars-on-earth/) In 2025 the announced site moved to the United States as Atlas near [Vandenberg Space Force Base](https://www.edgepedia.org/vandenberg-space-force-base), without the required lease.[7](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/praxis-dryden-brown) In September 2026 the location shifted again, to Uruguay, with first residents promised for mid 2027 and a governance model described as operating within Uruguay's existing legal framework rather than as an independent state.[8](https://www.praxisnation.com/content/praxis-uruguay-announcement) The promised move-in date has moved to mid 2027, and the deal behind it is nonbinding.[4](https://blog.pmpress.org/2026/09/29/these-tech-utopians-want-to-build-a-city-for-the-post-a-i-world/)
## References
1. [Inside the Peter Thiel–Backed Praxis, Curbed](https://www.curbed.com/article/inside-the-peter-thielbacked-praxis.html)
2. [Praxis gets $525M for utopic crypto, AI-friendly city, Cointelegraph](https://cointelegraph.com/news/praxis-525-million-funding-crypto-ai-utopia-city)
3. [Tech Utopian Project Praxis Gets $525 Million in Commitments for Planned 'Heroic' City, The Wall Street Journal](https://www.wsj.com/articles/tech-utopian-project-praxis-gets-525-million-in-commitments-for-planned-heroic-city-f4623e98)
4. [These Tech Utopians Want to Build a City for the Post-A.I. World (NYT reprint), PM Press blog](https://blog.pmpress.org/2026/09/29/these-tech-utopians-want-to-build-a-city-for-the-post-a-i-world/)
5. [Who Would Give This Guy Millions to Build His Own Utopia?, The New York Times](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/12/style/praxis-city-dryden-brown.html)
6. [Peter Thiel-Linked Praxis Wants to Build the 'Next Great City', InsideHook](https://www.insidehook.com/internet/peter-thiel-praxis-next-great-city-greenland)
7. [Welcome to Praxis: The High-Tech, High-Testosterone Eden That Will Save the World, Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/praxis-dryden-brown)
8. [Praxis Announces Uruguay as Location for Planned $1 Billion Investment at +Colonia, Praxis press release](https://www.praxisnation.com/content/praxis-uruguay-announcement)
9. [My Trip to Greenland, Dryden Brown (Substack)](https://dryden.substack.com/p/my-trip-to-greenland)
10. ['I went to Greenland to try to buy it': Meet the founder who wants to recreate Mars on Earth, TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/15/i-went-to-greenland-to-try-to-buy-it-meet-the-founder-who-wants-to-re-create-mars-on-earth/)
11. [Praxis: Another Tech Billionaire-Backed Urban Project Gets $525 Million in Funding, Gizmodo](https://gizmodo.com/praxis-another-tech-billionaire-backed-urban-project-gets-525-million-in-funding-2000512690)
12. [Peter Thiel-Backed Startup That Wanted to Buy Greenland Is Thrilled That Trump Wants to Buy Greenland, Gizmodo](https://gizmodo.com/peter-thiel-backed-startup-that-wanted-to-buy-greenland-is-thrilled-that-trump-wants-to-buy-greenland-2000548415)
13. [The Praxis Saga: New Cities and Tech Bro Fantasies, The Sapiens Project (Substack)](https://thesapiensproject.substack.com/p/the-praxis-saga-new-cities-and-tech)
14. [Network State Invades Uruguay? Praxis Rolls the NYT, The Nerd Reich](https://www.thenerdreich.com/network-state-invades-uruguay-praxis-nyt/)
15. [Praxis Master Plan, Praxis](https://www.praxisnation.com/journal/master-plan)
16. [Robo cops, AI schooling, food from 3-D printers and post-work future are anticipated for Praxians, New York Post](https://nypost.com/2025/04/06/world-news/robo-cops-ai-schooling-food-from-3-d-printers-and-post-work-future-are-anticipated-for-praxians/)
17. [Praxis and the promise of a tech bro utopia, Spear's](https://spearswms.com/wealth/column/praxis-promise-tech-bro-utopia/)
18. [Welcome to Próspera, a Private City in Honduras Backed by Peter Thiel, Business Insider](https://www.businessinsider.com/prospera-a-private-city-in-honduras-backed-by-peter-thiel-2026-4)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Business and work › Business and work overview › Companies and corporations › Companies overview*
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