DePIN Surf Cohort 1: Meet the Founders Building Web-3 Physical Infrastructure

As the bull market hits its stride, all eyes are on the tantalizing rise of meme coins and ETF inflows. But a group of founders, most of whom have been building throughout the bear market, are preparing for the global launch of their DePINs (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks). DePIN, as a technological paradigm, has a broad mandate, covering any web-3 application that has a physical element, spanning edge-AI and virtual power plants.

DePIN, as a narrative, has steadily gained traction in web-3 circles as the key to connecting the crypto industry with the global population of non-crypto natives whose lives depend on reliable physical infrastructure. 

Mirroring the exponential rise of other viral applications of web-3 like DeFi and NFTs, the number of DePIN projects has exploded from less than a hundred in late 2022 to over a 1,000 at the time of writing.

But DePIN is hard. Many projects start their journey by designing and executing the manufacturing and distribution of hardware, which can take several years, in addition to building out the rest of an onerous tech stack that includes firmware, middleware, and software. 

Exemplifying the industry’s rise, and its challenges, IoTeX, with support from FutureMoneyGroup and ForesightX launched DePIN Surf, the first accelerator dedicated exclusively to supporting DePIN founders. 

Cohort 1, which officially launched at the R3al World event at ETHDenver, features seven startups preparing for TGE and global launch. 

During the two-month program, founders receive a $50k investment and white-glove marketing, technical, and go-to-market support from the IoTeX core team and an elite group of mentors. Cohort 1 programming included workshops on how to raise series-A, DePIN tokenomics, and the fundamentals of community management, as well as panels and main-stage presentations at global web-3 events. 

 Here is a summary the projects presenting at demo day on April 30th: 

Company Name: Inferix

What it does: Decentralized 3D rendering platform.

Stage: Series-A. 

The Pitch: Inferix: Inferix is a decentralized GPU computing platform for visual computing & AI Inference. Inferix has a major market share in South East Asia & India and other developing markets. Their primary target market is average designers & AI Artists, Game Studios using all major rendering engines & Generative AIs, including Blender Cycles, Vray, D5, Omniverse, Stable Diffusion, Actif3D and OctaneRender.

Company Name: Wayru

What it does: Decentralized telecom.

Stage: Series-A. 

The Pitch: Wayru is the world's first DePIN to partner with the UN to tackle the global connectivity crisis starting in Latin America were 400M people lack connectivity. Wayru uses blockchain and the $WAYRU token to incentivize hotspot deployment and management in areas where internet is most needed, enabling anyone to become a Hotspot Operator. Powered by WayruOS, users can seamlessly transforms off-the-shelf WiFi devices into Wayru hotspots. Wayru has successfully launched its iOS/Android app with 10,000+ downloads, and made significant impact through the UN pilot, deploying 500+ hotspots and engaging 50,000+ monthly users.

Company Name: PowerPod 

What it does: Decentralized EV Charging Network.

Stage: Series-A.

The Pitch: PowerPod aims to provide a reliable and accessible charging network for electric vehicles in various countries. This locally distributed model is designed to operate globally and function as a social enterprise using Powerpod’s proprietary, internet-connected, and Tesla-compatible charging device. 

Company Name:  Network 3

What it does: Dedicated AI layer-2. 

Stage: Series-A. 

The Pitch:  Network3 provides services to AI developers worldwide, helping them train and validate models in scale quickly, conveniently, and efficiently through AI model optimization and compression, federated learning, edge computing, and confidential computing.

Company Name:  StarPower

What it does: Distributed energy platform.

Stage: Series-A. 

The Pitch:  Starpower is an AI and Web3 powered Global Energy Network. As a connectivity protocol, Starpower connects devices in energy generation, storage and consumption scenarios. Following an open-source model, Starpower collaborates with third parties to construct the biggest distributed energy network platform for virtual power plants and carbon credit.

Company Name:  ATOR

What it does: Privacy protocol.

Stage: Open market.

The Pitch:  ATOR creates a safer, private layer for the internet. Through its DePIN routing network,  signature hardware and software SDK, ATOR provides a seamless, truly decentralized privacy solution for the applications we all use. Anyone can contribute to the ATOR Network and be rewarded by providing their excess bandwidth to it.

Company Name: DePHY

What it does: DePIN middleware Infrastructure.

Stage: Series-A

The Pitch: DePHY is pioneering a decentralized off-chain data messaging network designed to empower DePIN projects to deploy faster and cheaper. It addresses the underutilized potential of digital and hardware assets and the crucial role of data relay in bridging the physical and blockchain realms. DePHY facilitates the secure, verifiable, and swift transfer of data from hardware directly to the blockchain, utilizing cutting-edge technologies like the Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) and Zero-Knowledge (ZK) Oracles to guarantee data verifiability and low latency.

This post is commissioned by DePIN and does not serve as a testimonial or endorsement by The Block. This post is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment, tax, legal or other advice. You should conduct your own research and consult independent counsel and advisors on the matters discussed within this post. Past performance of any asset is not indicative of future results.