around, Solana brush
+1.32%
Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN), which focuses on environmental data collection, has raised $2 million in a seed funding round.
Ambient said Tuesday that Borderless Capital led the round, with participation from Solana Ventures, Parami Investors, Sonic Boom Ventures, Primal Capital and others.
Ambient began raising money for the round in February and closed it in April, co-founder and CEO Luca Franchi told The Block. The round consisted of a Simple Contract for Future Assets (SAFE) along with token warrants, Franchi said, declining to comment on the valuation.
Ambient Acquires PlanetWatch
Ambient was formed in January of this year. It acquired PlanetWatch last March. Algorand 
what
-0.13%
-based The DePIN project decided to move to Solana with a focus on environmental data, Franchi said.
PlanetWatch currently has its own token, PLANETS, on the Algorand blockchain, but Ambient is planning to launch its own new token on Solana.
“Currently, the network is powered by the PLANETS token. Over the coming weeks, we will be publishing a roadmap to launch new tokens on Solana, along with migration incentives and platform overhauls to support Ambient’s ambitions,” Franchi said.
Franchi added that Ambient plans to launch on the Solana testnet this summer ahead of the token launch.
How Ambient Works
Ambient collects “real-time and localized” environmental data through sensors.
Ambient data “can help improve health and well-being around the world, starting with the air we breathe,” Franchi said. “Ambient will expand over time with complementary environmental datasets, such as noise and light pollution.”
Ambient currently offers PLANETS tokens as a reward to users who contribute data to the network. If you launch your own Solana-based token, your rewards will be converted to that token. The current value of PLANETS tokens is $747,000, fully diluted.
Ambient claims its users have deployed more than 25,000 environmental sensors across more than 20 countries, capturing data feeds every five minutes and generating more than 10.7 billion data streams.
“The United States, Germany and the Netherlands are the top three countries in terms of sensors deployed to date,” Franchi said. “Participants purchase, deploy, and connect sensors by selecting network-certified equipment. Sensor costs range from $400 to $2,100, depending on indoor versus outdoor use and measured air quality parameters.”
Ambient plans to unveil a revised sensor store with the launch of Solana and expand the range of certified hardware to fit a wider range of use cases and price points over time, Franchi added.
Ambient also plans to launch a mobile app to make data capture more accessible and rewarding to everyone.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet delivering news, research and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor in The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the cryptocurrency space. Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget is an anchor LP of Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to provide objective, impactful and timely information about the cryptocurrency industry. Below are our current financial disclosures.
© 2023 The Block. All rights reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not provided or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice.