Blockchain climate startup Raad Labs has emerged from stealth mode with $2.25 million in seed funding. This round was led by CoinFund, with additional support from Tribe, EV3, and Protagonist. Raad Labs aims to revolutionize wildfire risk modeling through a network of blockchain-powered sensors, a proactive solution to mitigate the devastating impacts of wildfires.
Addressing the Wildfire Crisis
Wildfires are among the most destructive climate disasters in the United States, causing billions in economic losses and significant human suffering each year. To tackle this growing threat, Raad Labs is deploying a distributed network of meteorological sensors in high-risk zones. This innovative approach leverages blockchain technology to enhance climate data measurement and forecasting.
Innovative Technology and Vision
Raad Labs utilizes a Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks (DePIN) model to create an extensive network of weather, atmospheric, and ground-based sensors. This blockchain-enabled system monitors various environmental factors, including weather patterns, greenhouse gas emissions, wildfire risks, and soil degradation. By integrating web3 technology, Raad incentivizes sensor operators to generate high-quality data crucial for accurate environmental management.
Leadership and Vision
The funding announcement also introduced T.J. Ragsdale as Raad Labs’ CEO and co-founder. Ragsdale, who previously co-founded Entheos Network, brings significant expertise to the role. His leadership is expected to drive Raad Labs towards its mission of improving global weather data density and accuracy.
Raad Labs is one of the pioneering companies to emerge from Montauk Climate, a climate tech incubator co-founded by Philip Krim, Evan Caron, and Sharo Atmeh. Montauk Climate focuses on nurturing sustainable, forward-thinking companies by bringing in experienced founders.
“Raad Labs is at the forefront of an exciting transformation in how earth observation data is collected and utilized,” said Philip Krim, Co-Founder and CEO of Montauk Climate. “With this funding, we are poised to develop groundbreaking technology that will benefit a wide range of industries while also empowering individuals to contribute to and profit from the Raad Labs network.”
Market Potential and Future Prospects
The global forecasting market, valued at $1.76 billion in 2022, is projected to reach $4.18 billion by 2030. Accurate weather data is essential for sectors such as financial services, insurance, agriculture, and utilities. With extreme weather events predicted to cause $711 billion in economic losses over the next five years, the need for improved weather data is more critical than ever.
Raad Labs is among several startups addressing climate change. For instance, AiDash uses AI-powered satellite technology to prevent wildfires and power outages, recently raising $27 million in a Series B funding round led by G2 Venture Partners. Chris Sacca’s Lowercarbon Capital, which raised $800 million in 2021, also focuses on reducing carbon footprints and combating climate change.
Unique Approach and Competitive Edge
Unlike other climate startups, Raad Labs’ technology supports a wide range of applications, including monitoring, observation, modeling, forecasting, and utility service delivery. The startup’s future prospects include providing data sets for large language models (LLMs), AI applications, and methane detection.
The DePIN model encourages more weather data collection by offering high-fidelity, low-cost data to governments and industries while providing passive income to suppliers through blockchain. Despite over 250,000 privately held weather stations in the U.S., significant gaps in weather data remain, posing risks to weather-dependent businesses. Raad Labs aims to fill these gaps by leveraging the WEENie (Weather Enthusiast) community and expanding its network of sensors through tokenized reward initiatives.
“We are thrilled to support Raad Labs in their innovative approach to weather data collection and to satisfy the significant unmet demand for additional weather and atmospheric data,” said David Pakman, Managing Partner at CoinFund. “We believe this team and approach can create the leading decentralized atmospheric data collection network in the world.”
Raad Labs is backed by an advisory board of experts, including Osho Jha, CEO of dClimate and Chief Data Scientist at Arbol; Jason Badeaux, CEO of Daylight; and Matt Vitebsky, Former Head of Product at Accuweather.
Author
Sarah Wilson – Author and Content Writer at AiBlock Insider
