Brave is the web browser developed by Brave Software, co-founded by Brendan Eich and Brian Bondy in 2015.
Brave Software was established in 2015 by Eich, a creator of JavaScript and former Mozilla chief executive, and Bondy, a programmer who had also worked at Mozilla. The company’s browser was first released in 2016 and was built on Chromium, the open-source project that also underpins several other major browsers.
Brave’s central pitch is privacy-focused browsing. It blocks many advertisements and trackers by default and includes protections against browser fingerprinting. Its private browsing mode can also connect to the Tor anonymity network. These features distinguish Brave from the answer choices, although Firefox, Opera, and Vivaldi also offer privacy-related tools.
Brave later introduced an optional advertising and rewards system using Basic Attention Token, or BAT. That system is separate from the browser’s original identity as an ad- and tracker-blocking browser. The company’s founders and 2015 founding date make Brave the canonical answer.