Brave Web Browser is a free, open source web browser based on the Chromium web browser and its Blink engine, announced by the co-founder of Mozilla Firefox and CEO of Brave Software, Brendan Eich, on January 20, 2016. The launch was accompanied by an announcement of a $1 million seed investment round led by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund. The browser blocks ads and trackers by default and has a built-in adblocker. It also aims to improve online privacy by sharing less data with advertising companies. As of March 2019, Brave had 5.5 million monthly active users.