Ethereum-based protocol Glow has raised $30 million from venture capital firms to scale up its decentralized solar farms.
The round was led by Framework Ventures and Union Square Ventures, with participation from Lattice Ventures, Protocol Labs, Hack VC, HF0 and Alliance DAO.
According to an Oct. 31 announcement, the funds will support the scale of a solar grid that is expected to replace the energy consumption of 34,000 homes in India.
“In less than a year, Glow has grown from a rooftop solar project in the US to a network with several multimillion-dollar solar farms in India. The solar farms that have already been built are projected to eliminate more than 85,000 tons of CO2 emissions over their lifetime,” said David Vorick, founder and CEO of Glow Labs.
DePIN protocols — or decentralized physical infrastructure networks — leverage blockchain technology to allow individuals to collectively own, maintain, and profit from infrastructure like solar energy grids, wireless networks, and data storage systems. Participants contributing with physical resources, such as energy nodes, are rewarded through digital tokens, making it economically viable and scalable.
Related: DePIN will become one of this decade’s most important crypto investments
According to data compiled by DePIN.Ninja, Glow is the most profitable DePIN network, with over $3.5 million in revenue accrued since its beta launch in 2023 — placing it ahead of popular systems such as the Helium network.
Glow claims to have a slightly higher revenue of $5 million, thanks to a recent expansion over the past 40 days in Rajasthan, India.
DePIN projects revenue. Source: DePIN.Ninja
Solar farms in the Glow network are rewarded with GLW tokens for their electricity output, as well as with stablecoins rewards for their carbon credits. According to the startup, its incentive model prioritizes rewards for solar farms that generate the most environmental impact, targeting regions where their clean energy can most effectively offset high carbon emissions.
Another DePIN protocol working on decentralized energy is Power Ledger, enabling peer-to-peer energy trading by allowing consumers to sell excess energy directly to their neighbors.
“We think DePIN can be a powerful tool for rolling out physical infrastructure across the world,” said Michael Anderson, co-founder of Framework Ventures.
Related: Decentralized network Uplink tops 40K routers, targets lower internet costs