PlanetWatch raised a total of three million euros via a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) complemented by bank loans. The CERN spin-off will use the capital to solidify the business’ foundations and prepare for a larger Series A round later this year.
With a strong roadmap for 2023 that includes smart contracts for air quality data sales and the transition to a Web3 business model, PlanetWatch will use the funds towards three main purposes: strengthening the technical infrastructure, growing the air quality monitoring network, and boosting business development initiatives.
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“We are honored that key entities from the Algorand ecosystem, as well as major French banks, continue to support PlanetWatch development,” said Claudio Parrinello, co-founder and CEO of PlanetWatch. “At a challenging time for blockchain companies, PlanetWatch is being endorsed as a real-world blockchain project with a compelling use case and capable of closing business deals both with companies and governmental entities.”
The round, bridging between a Seed one and a future Series A, was led by Borderless Capital. Additional investors include Algorand Inc. and the Algorand Foundation. Two French banks are providing additional liquidity via loans.
“In the framework of our $10M PLANETS.Fund, which is one of the largest air quality sensor runners in the PlanetWatch network, we are excited to lead this new financing round and back the company vision of building the largest decentralized global air quality monitoring network and use blockchain as the core tech to make it happen. We strongly believe that PlanetWatch can really disrupt and transform the air and green data economy and markets at a global scale,” said David Garcia, CEO and Managing Partner at Borderless Capital
“It is central to our mission to support solutions that use the Algorand blockchain to address environmental challenges,” said Matt Keller, Head of Impact at the Algorand Foundation. “With its affordable air quality sensors, PlanetWatch empowers people to become agents of change in their own communities which in turn – among other things – gives policymakers real-time data to help combat air pollution on a localized level. In 2022, they became the largest project on Algorand in terms of daily number of transactions, proving that the real-world utility and potential for broad impact is there. We’re excited to support the team in delivering on the roadmap ahead.”
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