Solana DePIN Mawari Network raises $10.8 million in new funding

Mawari Network, a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) building on Solana and focused on spatial computing, has raised $10.8 million in a strategic funding round.

Anfield Ltd, Borderless Capital and 1kx co-led the round, with participation from Accord Ventures, Animoca Brands Japan, Blockchange Ventures, Draper Dragon, Samsung Next and others, Mawari Network said Thursday. Angel investors, including Helium co-founder and Borderless Capital partner Sean Carey, The Tie co-founder and CEO Joshua Frank, Techstars Web3 leader Pete Townsend and former Galaxy Digital chief information security officer Ivan Brightly, also joined the round.

As part of the deal, Carey has joined Mawari Network's board of directors, Mawari co-founder and CEO Luis Oscar Ramirez told The Block.

Mawari began raising funds for the strategic round in March and closed it last week, Ramirez said. He added that the round was structured as a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) with token warrants. Ramirez declined to comment on Mawari's valuation.

The strategic funding round brings Mawari's total capital raised to $17.3 million, following a $6.5 million raise in February 2023.

What is Mawari Network?

Mawari is a Solana-based DePIN project focused on scaling spatial computing. Spatial computing blends the physical world with digital information, allowing users to interact with their surroundings through technologies like augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and extended reality (XR).

Mawari means "your surroundings" or "look around" in Japanese, Ramirez said. He explained that the idea for Mawari Network began in 2016 when he and Takeo Yatabe co-founded MUTEK Japan, a digital arts festival. There, they recognized the vast potential of XR, but also the significant challenges, such as data intensity, computing power and scalability, that artists faced in creating real-time, immersive content.

"In 2017, we set out to solve these issues, believing that 'framed' media (content confined to screens) would evolve into 'frameless' media, where virtual objects interact seamlessly with the real world," Ramirez said.

In 2018, Mawari was commissioned by Japanese telecom giant KDDI to stream its AI-powered digital human, Aiko, in real-time 3D to AR glasses. Mawari won the proposal, streaming Aiko with full 3D rendering and real-time interaction, but quickly realized that existing technology couldn't scale. This experience led to the creation of the Mawari Engine and, ultimately, the development of the Mawari Network in 2022, Ramirez said.

Mawari Network operates behind the scenes to deliver real-time 3D content for VR, AR and XR devices.

"Just like Netflix streams video content to your device in the Internet video generation, Mawari streams immersive, interactive 3D content to XR devices like smart glasses or headsets," Ramirez explained. "Mawari handles the heavy computing work (rendering) on powerful computers around the world, ensuring smooth performance with minimal delay. This means your device doesn't have to do all the processing, allowing for a seamless and immersive experience, no matter where you are."

Ramirez said Mawari doesn't have direct competitors in web3 but is often compared to Render Network (RNDR). However, Mawari's key differentiator is that it performs rendering in real-time, while Render does it offline. In the web2 world, companies like Hololight provide XR streaming services for industrial use cases, but they rely on Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) for scaling, which Ramirez called "a point of failure."

Mawari says it holds three patents, with 11 more in process related to 3D streaming. It claims to currently serve 40 clients, including global brands like T-Mobile, Netflix, and BMW, and an average of $1.5 million in annual revenue.

Mawari Network mainnet launch schedule

Mawari Network is currently in active development on Solana's devnet and plans to launch its mainnet in the first quarter of next year, Ramirez said.

The network is also preparing for a node license sale in the fourth quarter of this year to expand its infrastructure. This will include spatial streamer nodes, verifier nodes and application nodes, Ramirez said.

When asked how much Mawari aims to raise through the node sale, Ramirez said no set amount has been decided yet. The focus is on achieving decentralization and ensuring sufficient supply for the phase 1 launch.

Mawari currently has 20 employees, and Ramirez plans to hire 5-6 more in network engineering, business development and marketing functions.

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