Vangrid

Our take on Vangrid

Vangrid is an Amsterdam-based decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) that pays contributors to capture real-world locations using their smartphone cameras, turning the captures into verified 3D spatial models for Physical AI, robotics and defense applications. It raised a $9M seed round (structured as a SAFT) in August 2026, with HashKey Capital, Borderless Capital, Crypto.com Capital, Animoca Brands, Gate Ventures and Mapleblock Capital participating as combined financial and strategic backers. The network runs on Base and uses Ethereum Attestation Service to verify data batches; the company reports close to 100,000 verified captures and 200,000 grid events via its public explorer.

Risks to consider

• No token or airdrop has been officially confirmed — the funding round was structured as a SAFT (simple agreement for future tokens), which implies a token is planned but gives no guaranteed date or terms.
• DePIN projects depend on real contributor participation to generate value; data quality and network growth claims should be checked against the live public explorer rather than taken at face value.
• As an early-stage (seed) project, the usual risks of pre-launch crypto infrastructure apply — team execution, regulatory treatment of paid data-capture schemes, and competition from other spatial-data DePINs.

Notes on the steps

• The $9M raise is independently confirmed by The Block (exclusive report), CryptoRank and multiple other outlets with consistent investor lists — a well-documented round, not a single unverified press release.
• CEO Robert Brighton has been named publicly and quoted directly by The Block, which is a stronger transparency signal than an anonymous team.

Reviewed October 5, 2026