- Jules Urbach built Render Network to let GPU owners earn by renting computing power to creators through blockchain.
- His collaboration with Blender opens free blockchain-based rendering access to over 2 million digital artists.
While most teenagers his age were busy pursuing grades and school life, Jules Urbach decided to do something quite unusual: reject Harvard’s offer and choose to make games. Not just trying, at that time he had launched Hell Cab, one of the first interactive CD-ROM games released in the 90s. From there the seeds of the technological adventure began, bringing his name to various fields, including crypto.
Turning Idle GPUs Into Income Through the Power of Blockchain
A dozen years later, Jules Urbach founded OTOY, a Los Angeles-based company known for its GPU rendering software called OctaneRender. If you’ve ever watched Westworld or a Marvel movie, chances are the visuals were processed using Jules’ technology.
He saw that rendering, which usually costs a lot of money and requires expensive hardware, should be more easily accessible to anyone. Makes sense, right? Not everyone has access to a GPU like a Hollywood studio.
But his ideas didn’t stop there. Around 2016, he went further and designed the Render Network (RNDR). Think of it this way: instead of letting your GPUs sit idle and play games every now and then, why not monetize them and rent them out to digital artists around the world via blockchain?
With the RNDR token, GPU owners can rent out their computing power and get paid automatically through a smart Ethereum-based system. In a nutshell, it’s like the Airbnb of GPUs—and of course, it’s more budget-friendly for creators who need fast rendering results.
What’s more, this system isn’t just a cool idea on paper. Jules himself once revealed that a rig with seven GPUs can make around $475 per day after electricity costs are deducted. It’s no wonder that many users are starting to get involved, from independent creators to game companies and animation studios.
Render Network and Jules Urbach’s Vision for Creative Freedom
In 2024, Render Network made a breakthrough by partnering with Blender, one of the most popular open-source software among 3D creators. The partnership will allow Blender’s more than two million users to access the RNDR network for free. A move that expands the reach, while proving that the concept of a decentralized rendering network is indeed needed.
On the other hand, Jules does not just sit behind the scenes. He often appears in technology forums, Web3 discussions, and even big stages such as COSM and NVIDIA GTC. He is known as a person full of ideas, even being dubbed “the most creative software engineer” by several veteran investors.
Not infrequently, he slips in bigger dreams, such as a metaverse world that can not only be seen, but can be rendered with the quality of a big screen movie in real time.
Of course, the journey is not always easy. The crypto industry, as we know, is full of turmoil. The value of RNDR once rose drastically to $5 billion before falling again to around $2.2 billion. But for Jules, this is not just about the token price. His focus remains on how to provide wider access to anyone who wants to create, without being limited by hardware costs or geographic limitations.
If you think about it, Jules’ approach is actually quite down to earth. He doesn’t try to sell empty dreams or trending buzzwords. Instead, he saw a real problem—the need for computing power for the creative industry—and created a system that enabled a community-based, blockchain-based solution. It’s not complicated, but it makes perfect sense.
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