Blockchain-focused Borderless Capital closes $10M fund to build a ‘green data economy’

Borderless Capital, the Miami-based crypto-currency focused venture capital firm, said it has closed its PLANETS.Fund, a $10 million fund that aims to build a “green data economy.”

 The fund will invest in PlanetWatch, the world’s first decentralized indoor and outdoor air quality monitoring network built on the Algorand blockchain, the crypto ecosystem where Borderless Capital focuses most of its investments. Borderless Capital anchored the PLANETS.Fund with a $1 million investment and SkyBridge, JUMP Capital, Kenetic Capital, Algorand Inc, Meld Ventures, Youbi Capital and individual investors participated in the fund, the firm said.

 David Garcia, CEO and Managing Partner of Borderless Capital, said 9 out of 10 people worldwide live in places where air pollutants exceed the guideline limits of the World Health Organization.

“This is why the PLANETS.Fund was established to accelerate the development of responsible air quality monitoring on Algorand, the market’s only carbon-negative blockchain, which will help us mitigate the problem with reliable data and at the same time create value for our investors, for the PlanetWatch network and primarily for the planet Earth,” Garcia said.

PlanetWatch was founded in 2020 as a spinoff of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). The data collected by PlanetWatch air sensors is transcribed onto Algorand, creating an immutable air quality repository. The PlanetWatchers network currently includes 20,000 air sensors worldwide. PlanetWatch went live on Algorand MainNet in August 2020.

The air quality sensor hosts, called PlanetWatchers, are compensated with PLANETS tokens for streaming air quality data. The PLANETS.Fund will invest the raised capital to deploy a global network of thousands more PlanetWatch air quality sensors and will also hold a long-term position in PLANETS tokens and equity, Garcia said.

“With PlanetWatch, people are making their own city smart. We are currently building the largest air quality monitoring network in the world, so fund resources will be instrumental for speeding up global deployment and engagement,” said Claudio Parrinello, CEO of PlanetWatch.

In June, Borderless Capital announced it was moving its corporate HQ from Atlanta to Miami. At the time, the company also launched a $25 million fund to seed startups in the Miami area that are harnessing Algorand technology. In collaboration with the blockchain platform Algorand and payments company Circle, Borderless Capital also announced it would launch an Algorand Miami Accelerator to support startups.

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Nancy Dahlberg