Grass Raises $10 Million to Decentralise Internet Connectivity and AI Data Access
Grass, the flagship product of Wynd Network, has raised $10 million in a bridge funding round co-led by Polychain Capital and Tribe Capital, with participation from other existing investors.
The round, primarily structured as a token purchase, reinforces investor confidence in Grass’s vision. Primarily to decentralise internet connectivity and reshape how AI companies access and process web data.
Grass previously secured funding in both Seed and Series A rounds. This latest raise, insiders say, wasn’t planned but came at a pivotal moment as the project experiences rapid commercial growth and adoption.
What Is Grass?
Grass operates as a decentralised bandwidth network built on Solana. It allows individuals to monetise unused internet capacity by selling their “view of the internet.” Through this system, companies and developers can access public web data at scale. This provides data crucial for training and improving AI models.
Users are rewarded in the network’s native GRASS token, which also serves as the protocol’s primary vehicle for value accrual and governance.
“Grass is a piece of technology that allows companies to access data at an unprecedented scale,” said Andrej Radonjic, co-founder of Grass. “It’s solving the access problem AI developers face when building or training models across the open web.”
Fixing the Data Bottleneck in AI
The AI industry heavily relies on large-scale data collection, yet much of the internet is increasingly restricted. Grass aims to fix this bottleneck by using distributed bandwidth from its users. This creates a network capable of performing internet-scale web crawls. This infrastructure can support both AI training and inference, two key components of modern AI systems.
Radonjic explained that AI firms are currently “blocked” from conducting large-scale crawls. Grass offers a permissionless alternative, turning idle internet connections into gateways for data retrieval.
“The possibilities are endless,” he said. “We’re building live context retrieval — retrieval-the next layer of real-time AI data infrastructure.”
From Training Data to Live Inference
Grass’s short-term commercial success has come from selling training data to AI companies developing models for text, video, and speech. But the next frontier is inference data — real-time data that powers generative AI systems as they interact with users.
Radonjic said Grass wants to be ready for that shift. “We’re seeing amazing growth in selling training data, but our long-term goal is for Grass to become infrastructure for inference as well.”
This evolution could make Grass essential for AI developers who need continuous, unrestricted access to the public web for model updates and contextual accuracy.
Polychain and Tribe Back Grass Again
Grass’s $10 million bridge round marks Polychain Capital’s third investment in the company. The crypto-focused fund led both the Seed and Series A rounds before returning for this one.
“Rarely have we come across a team executing as ferociously as Grass,” said Josh Rosenthal of Polychain. “They’re a perfect example of how distributed systems can outperform Web2 peers. We’re thrilled to triple down at such a meaningful inflexion point.”
Tribe Capital also reaffirmed its commitment to Grass, calling it a benchmark for operational excellence among its portfolio.
“Grass is a product leader,” said Boris Revsin, CEO and Managing Director at Tribe Capital. “We’ve seen seven-figure clients, including the largest AI labs, sign up in the last 12 months. That’s what matters. Everything else follows.”
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Rapid Growth and Institutional Adoption
In the last month alone, Grass reported 8.5 million monthly active users and is currently collaborating with around 20 companies, including nonprofits and academic institutions.
The company’s momentum reflects growing interest in crypto-native data networks. Projects that use blockchain technology to distribute real-world infrastructure, a sector often referred to as DePIN (Decentralised Physical Infrastructure Networks).
Grass’s design allows data providers and consumers to interact transparently, with the Grass Foundation acting as the contractual entity that manages revenue and ensures payments flow directly into the foundation’s accounts.
“All the revenue our customers pay goes to the Grass Foundation,” Radonjic confirmed. “The GRASS token is the primary vehicle for value accrual in everything we’re doing.”
Grass and the Future of Decentralised AI
Grass sits at the intersection of two fast-growing industries, AI and decentralised infrastructure. By enabling individuals to contribute bandwidth and earn from it, the project is turning passive connectivity into an active digital asset.
Its approach could redefine how data pipelines are built for AI, shifting control from centralised tech companies to a distributed global network.
As Polychain’s Rosenthal put it, “Businesses built on distributed systems are proving they can outcompete centralised Web2 models, and Grass is leading that charge.”
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Clinton Nwachukwu is a crypto and finance writer with an MBA in Artificial Intelligence and 6+ years of experience creating content for leading global brands. He turns complex topics into clear, actionable insights for readers worldwide.