🌍 Venturing in ReFi #28
Your 5-minute deep-dive into regenerative web3 investing
ReFi investors and curious researchers!
We're taking a break over Christmas, but the Aera Force DAO is compiling a reflection on its first-year operating in the meantime.
For the last edition of 2022, you can find your global #ReFi fundraising news and curated resources below. Specifically,
⛓️ How corporates could unlock the next billion blockchain users
🔊 An interview with a #ReFi startup
🌊 A call for AF DAO reflections
We have loved exploring #ReFi with you. Let’s dive in:
Global Ecosystem News 🌊
Fundraises 🚀
☀️ Reneum, an on-chain marketplace for Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), received a $150k grant from Filecoin Green’s ReFi Grants program.
🌐 Gridless, a Bitcoin mining company investing in renewable energy infrastructure, raised $2M to support mini-grid developers in East Africa.
🧮 Up2You, an Italian startup, closed a €3.5M seed round to develop its blockchain-powered platform tracking companies’ carbon emissions.
Ecosystem News
📝 US lawmakers introduced the Crypto-Asset Environmental Transparency Act, legislation that could require crypto miners to report their greenhouse gas emissions to the EPA.
💹 The Indonesia Stock Exchange began piloting carbon-backed securities with MetaVerse Green Exchange (MVGX), a Singapore-based startup using blockchain to validate carbon-related data.
🌍 Archax, a UK-based digital securities exchange, partnered with Climate Investment Corp to develop a digital carbon exchange.
📱 AIS, Thailand's largest mobile provider, joined several partners to launch E-Waste+, a blockchain-based system that tracks e-waste throughout recycling.
⛽️ Carbon Path, a ReFi project tokenizing carbon reductions from shutting down oil & natural gas wells, was awarded $10k CUSD from the Celo Camp accelerator program.
🤝 Flowcarbon partnered with the Return Protocol application, allowing users to offset their on-chain emissions using Flow’s carbon credits.
📰 SingleEarth, an Estonia-based startup, introduced the Ecosystem Integrity Index (EII), a methodology to monitor the health and biodiversity of forests.
Newly Launched Projects 🤔
⚡️ Voltreum, an India-based blockchain platform, launched Volt-X, a peer-to-peer energy trading system that allows users to buy and sell energy within their local communities.
⛓️ Voy, an Estonian company using blockchain to build sustainable global trade infrastructure, launched their app to verify the ESG credentials of corporations and supply chain participants.
💸 Silta, a Swiss ReFi protocol, launched the Silta Impact Marketplace, a Web3 platform to connect financial lenders with renewable infrastructure projects.
🩹 Gitcoin launched the UNICEF Quadratic Funding Round to democratically allocate donated funds toward 10 innovative global humanitarian projects.
🙏 ReFiDAO announces the launch of refigratitude.xyz, an NFT collection where participants can mint NFTs to show appreciation for ReFi community members, retire carbon, and support black artists.
Founders feel free to DM our editor a project on Twitter @AlexFilotimo
Curated Readings 📚
1 - Crypto’s next wave will come from corporations’ utility tokens
We saw dozens of crypto startups raise $MM during the bull market on the promise of disrupting industries with tokens — yet, many were speculative startups far from developing valuable products.
This Twitter thread argues that existing corporates with genuine products have a better foundation to create valuable tokens.
How? The thread covers it in more detail and with economic analysis, but tokens offer companies at least two new features:
Loyalty programs with utility — tokens for increasing usage, that you could sell (/that users value more than restrictive loyalty points).
Funding marketing spend with future cashflow (i.e., Paypal offering a $10 sign-up bonus in 2001 could instead offer tokens for product discounts)
In doing so, the company does not pay out $MM in the short term, and the customers are incentivized to care about the long-term usage of PayPal).
2 - Circular Economies with Ashley from Resource Finance ReFiPodcast!
In a recent #ReFi Podcast, Simar from Magic Ventures hosted a fascinating interview with Ashley from Resource Finance.
The podcast explores how Resource Finance creates more “regenerative” local economies by enabling trade without money (community-based mutual credit).
Resource Finance creates tools enabling transactions like bartering in our modern-day economy, at scale.
3 - Questions or comments for the Aera Force investment DAO?
Our following newsletter will come out in late January. A key portion will come from the Aera Force team, reflecting on year one of supporting #ReFi’s first investing DAO.
If you have questions — or you are an inactive Discord member and want to share reflections — please hit reply. I will share anything relevant with the DAO and core team.
Fun extras
🦜 If you’d like a regular analysis of carbon markets, Toucan Protocol runs the excellent deCarbonized newsletter.
🛠️ If you want to build a startup in ReFi, the ReFi DAO runs great programs to support our industry’s founders.
Feel free to reply with feedback, suggestions, or fantastic articles for crypto/climate investors. 📩
With love,
Alex, Yoshi, and the Aera Force DAO
Researching web3 venture investments for a flourishing future
P.S. If you want to contribute to web3-climate investing, feel free to contact us or contribute to this open-source insights repository.
This newsletter is for educational purposes only. While we strive for accurate and unbiased information, none of it is verified or intended to help as investment advice.