Vangrid, a decentralized physical infrastructure network focused on spatial data, has raised $9 million in a seed round structured as a SAFT, co-founder and CEO Robert Brighton told The Block.

HashKey, Borderless, Crypto.com Capital, Animoca Brands, Gate Labs and Mapleblock Capital participated as what Vangrid calls "key stakeholders," combining financial and strategic roles. Brighton said no board seats were granted and declined to disclose the project's valuation.

The fundraise began in August 2025 and closed in multiple tranches by January 2026, with the team delaying the announcement until the network was live. Vangrid plans to use the capital to expand its spatial data network, hire across engineering and data operations, and deepen partnerships with companies building Physical AI infrastructure and applications.

Vangrid's network pays contributors to capture real-world locations on smartphones, turning them into 3D spatial models whose provenance is verified onchain. "Contributors capture real-world locations on their smartphones, we reconstruct them into 3D spatial models and verify everything onchain," Brighton said, adding that buyers commission specific locations and pay for verified captures, making the system demand-driven from inception.

The project targets Physical AI builders working on robots, autonomous agents and digital models that require continuously updated, ground-level spatial data. Brighton said the same data could also serve defense and government organizations operating in GPS-denied or fast-changing environments.

Vangrid positions itself between traditional mapping companies that rely on expensive, centrally owned vehicle fleets and open crowdsourcing networks that struggle to verify data quality and origin. The project says it anonymizes faces and license plates on-device before upload, then uses onchain verification to establish data origin before selling it.

The network is built on Base and leverages Ethereum Attestation Service to verify batches of captured data. Brighton said Vangrid's public explorer shows close to 100,000 verified captures, 200,000 grid events and over 1,300 batch attestations.

Contributors are currently paid via bounties, with a token and associated reward mechanics planned for later this year. Vangrid's web and Android apps are live, with an iOS app on the roadmap.

The Amsterdam-based startup has a core team of 14 and has signed memorandums of understanding with undisclosed strategic data partners, including organizations in defense and robotics. Brighton joined as co-founder and CEO in May, after founder Khalid Benrafik started the project in July 2025.

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