Grass Raises $10 Million to Revolutionize Data Access in AI

In the current cryptocurrency landscape, three tokens trading below $1 are capturing significant attention: Little Pepe (LILPEPE), Flare (FLR), and Aethir (ATH). With a modest investment of $250, these tokens have the potential to yield extraordinary returns, transforming small investments into substantial wealth. Among these, Little Pepe (LILPEPE) stands out as the most unique and promising option, particularly due to its presale success and innovative approach to combating sniper bot activity, which ensures fair opportunities for all buyers. Little Pepe (LILPEPE) is currently priced at $0.0022 during its presale stage 13 and has already raised over $26.38 million, showcasing strong demand and investor confidence. The presale has been characterized by rapid sellouts, indicating a growing interest in the token. With its recent listing on CoinMarketCap, LILPEPE's visibility has increased, further enhancing its credibility. Market analysts are optimistic about its potential, predicting that a $250 investment could significantly appreciate once the token launches and gains traction on exchanges. Additionally, the LILPEPE team is incentivizing presale buyers with a mega giveaway, adding to the excitement surrounding this emerging meme coin. Flare (FLR) and Aethir (ATH) also present compelling investment opportunities. Flare (FLR), trading at around $0.02565, has recently experienced a 15% increase due to heightened DeFi activity following the launch of the XRP-wrapped token FXRP. Meanwhile, Aethir (ATH) has surged 85% in just one week, driven by significant trading volumes and ecosystem developments, including the upcoming launch of a credit card for ATH-collateralized loans. Both tokens are positioned as strong contenders for investors seeking to maximize returns on small investments. As the next bull cycle approaches, these under-$1 tokens could offer explosive growth potential for savvy investors.

Grass, the flagship product of Wynd Network, has successfully raised $10 million in a bridge funding round co-led by Polychain Capital and Tribe Capital. This funding, primarily structured as a token purchase, highlights the growing investor confidence in Grass's mission to decentralize internet connectivity and enhance AI data access. Previously, Grass had secured funding through Seed and Series A rounds, but this latest round was unplanned and comes at a crucial time as the project experiences rapid growth and adoption. Grass operates as a decentralized bandwidth network built on the Solana blockchain, allowing users to monetize their unused internet capacity by selling their 'view of the internet.' This innovative system enables companies and developers to access public web data at scale, which is essential for training and improving AI models. Users are rewarded with the native GRASS token, which serves as the primary vehicle for value accrual and governance. Co-founder Andrej Radonjic emphasized that Grass addresses the access challenges AI developers face when building or training models across the open web, thereby solving a significant bottleneck in data collection for AI. The recent funding round marks Polychain Capital's third investment in Grass, reflecting their strong belief in the company's potential. Grass has reported impressive growth, with 8.5 million monthly active users and collaborations with around 20 companies, including nonprofits and academic institutions. As the project continues to evolve, it aims to transition from providing training data to offering real-time inference data, which is crucial for generative AI systems. With its unique approach, Grass is positioned to redefine data pipelines for AI, shifting control from centralized tech companies to a decentralized global network, thus leading the charge in the intersection of AI and decentralized infrastructure.

Bee Maps, a decentralized mapping startup previously known as Hivemapper, has successfully raised $32 million to enhance its blockchain-based cartography network. The funding round was led by prominent investors including Pantera Capital, LDA Capital, Borderless Capital, and Ajna Capital, marking it as one of the largest in the Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Network (DePIN) sector. The platform incentivizes users with HONEY tokens for capturing real-world footage via Bee Dashcams, which is then processed by AI to identify roadwork, new signage, and infrastructure modifications. This decentralized approach aims to deliver more accurate and diverse geographical data compared to traditional centralized systems, as highlighted by a spokesperson from Pantera Capital. In its next phase, Bee Maps is focusing on accessibility by introducing a new $19 monthly Bee Membership Plan, which replaces the previous hardware fee of $589. This strategic move is expected to significantly increase user participation by lowering the barrier to entry for contributors. The platform has already secured data and integration partnerships with major players such as Volkswagen, Lyft, and Mapbox, allowing its live mapping feeds to be utilized in navigation tools and AI training models. As the DePIN sector continues to thrive, Bee Maps is positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for real-time, precise data in various industries. In a related development, the DePIN market is witnessing a surge, with a reported 28% increase in on-chain activity since July. Solana has emerged as the second most active blockchain for DePIN projects, following Ethereum. Meanwhile, the launch of Snorter, a new token and Telegram sniper bot, is gaining attention for its speed and efficiency in automating trades. Analysts from 99Bitcoins suggest that such utility bots could signal the next phase of the crypto bull market, particularly as they help users navigate the increasingly complex landscape of tokenized infrastructure projects. As the market evolves, both Bee Maps and Snorter are poised to play significant roles in shaping the future of decentralized applications and infrastructure.

The fine wine industry, valued at $1 trillion, is facing significant challenges such as fraud, inefficiency, and a lack of transparency. dVIN Labs is introducing the concept of the "Intelligent Product," which aims to revolutionize the way wine is managed by making each bottle smart and connected. This innovation is particularly crucial given the industry's current state, where a bottle of wine can be treated with less sophistication than a simple package from an online retailer. The global wine market, with an annual turnover of $460 billion, suffers from high transaction fees, long settlement times, and substantial losses due to counterfeiting and spoilage, largely because wine has historically been a passive object without the ability to communicate its journey or authenticity. The introduction of Smart Wine leverages advancements in Artificial Intelligence, Web3, and the Internet of Things to create a new paradigm for wine management. By integrating DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks) with NFC/RFID technology, each bottle can connect to a network, allowing it to communicate real-time data about its environment. This connectivity is paired with the dVIN Protocol, which assigns a unique identity to each bottle through a Digital Cork, an NFT on the Solana blockchain. This not only ensures authenticity but also provides a transparent record of the wine's provenance, effectively addressing the $70 billion counterfeit issue in the industry. The transformation to Smart Wine is set to unlock significant economic value by enhancing liquidity and efficiency in trading. With the Digital Cork facilitating instant ownership transfers and drastically reducing transaction fees, the market's trading volume could see a substantial increase. Additionally, wineries can benefit from perpetual royalties through smart contracts, allowing them to share in the appreciation of their wines on the secondary market. As dVIN Labs continues to tokenize bottles and expand its partnerships, the future of the fine wine market looks promising, paving the way for a connected and intelligent wine ecosystem.

The Theta ecosystem is witnessing significant advancements as it gains traction across various sectors, including sports, media, academia, and AI startups. The September Roundup highlights a series of exciting developments, showcasing the platform's versatility and growing adoption. Notably, Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union has launched a new app that features an EdgeCloud-powered RAG chatbot, enhancing fan engagement through innovative technology. Additionally, academic institutions such as SeoulTech and Emory University have signed on to utilize Theta EdgeCloud, further expanding its reach in educational settings. The Theta community recently gathered in Berlin for the annual ThetaEuroCon and BlockJam hackathon, fostering collaboration and innovation among developers and enthusiasts. The platform was also prominently featured at Korea Blockchain Week, where events like Aethir deAI Day and the IoTeX DePin + Real-World AI event showcased its capabilities in integrating blockchain with real-world applications. Furthermore, the development of EdgeCloud continues to progress, with new integrations of advanced AI technologies such as Google Gemini 2.5 Pro and xAI Grok4, indicating a commitment to staying at the forefront of technological advancements. In addition to these developments, the Theta team has released Version 1.2 of the Theta Edge Node for Android and upgraded the Theta Android Wallet to v5.3.0. A notable partnership has been initiated with Olympique de Marseille at the Orange Velodrome stadium, signaling the platform's entry into the sports arena. As Q4 approaches, the Theta Network is poised for more exciting announcements and developments, making it a key player in the blockchain space.

In a groundbreaking collaboration, the Berkeley Environmental Air Quality and CO₂ Network (BEACO2N) has partnered with WeatherXM to enhance urban emissions monitoring in the San Francisco Bay Area. Urban areas are significant contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions, yet understanding their variability remains a challenge. BEACO2N has been at the forefront of providing dense, low-cost air quality monitoring, but the lack of high-resolution weather data has hindered the interpretation of emissions dispersion at the neighborhood level. This partnership aims to fill that gap, offering researchers and policymakers a clearer view of urban emissions, air quality, and environmental justice issues. The challenge lies in the absence of fine-grained meteorological data that complements BEACO2N's continuous monitoring of pollutants like CO₂, CO, O₃, and NOₓ. Conventional weather networks often overlook vulnerable neighborhoods, leading to a lack of crucial data for emissions inventories and public health alerts. In cities like San Francisco, where complex wind flows and microclimates interact with traffic and industrial zones, understanding pollution patterns without weather context is nearly impossible. WeatherXM addresses this issue by deploying a decentralized network of community-powered weather stations, providing real-time data on temperature, humidity, and wind conditions, which are essential for interpreting pollutant behavior. The integration of WeatherXM’s meteorological data with BEACO2N’s air quality monitoring creates a multidimensional perspective on urban emissions. This synergy allows researchers to analyze how pollutants accumulate or disperse due to various factors, including local heat islands and traffic patterns. The decentralized nature of WeatherXM also facilitates rapid data transmission, enabling public health officials to respond swiftly to transient pollution events, such as wildfire smoke. This collaboration not only enhances scientific understanding and public health responses but also empowers local governments and communities with actionable data, paving the way for smarter, more equitable urban planning and climate policies. As cities worldwide face climate and air quality challenges, this case study serves as a blueprint for integrating community-level meteorological and atmospheric data to foster resilience and justice in urban environments.