Wingbits, a Web 3.0 startup, has successfully raised $5.6 million in funding, with Borderless Capital and Bullish Capital leading the round. Additional participation came from Spartan Group, Tribe Capital, Antler, SNZ, and Heartcore, bringing total investment to $9.2 million. The company is pioneering the first decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN) for aviation.
“Wingbits is a definitive use case for DePIN. They are on track to be the largest airplane tracking network on earth thanks to their well-designed incentives and execution,” said Álvaro Gracia, Partner at Borderless Capital.
The latest funding follows a $3.5 million seed round raised just six months ago, backed by major investors such as Borderless Capital, Tribe Capital, and Antler. Since then, the company, co-founded by Robin Wingardh and Alex Lungu, has achieved remarkable growth, expanding its network six times faster than any previous flight tracking system.
“We are excited to partner with the Wingbits team, who in less than 18 months have already begun to disrupt a flight tracking industry with huge proven demand by leveraging blockchain technology to incentivize the supply of higher quality, lower latency data,” said Alasdair Foster, CEO of Bullish Capital.
During its first year on the Solana testnet, Wingbits scaled operations to 2,100 active stations tracking 120,000 unique flights per day across 85 countries. More than 2,000 pre-orders have been placed for its custom-engineered DePIN hardware, developed in partnership with GEODNET.
“I believe Wingbits has a strong chance to become a leader in their market compared to many other DePIN projects. Based on my research, they also have one of the most unique supply-side dynamics, tapping into hundreds of thousands of existing flight tracking enthusiasts around the world. Balanced strength in both demand and supply is critical for the success of DePIN projects,” said Evan Park, investor at Tribe Capital.
With air traffic expected to double by 2040 and the drone sector surpassing $55 billion by 2030, scalable and reliable tracking systems are becoming increasingly essential. This latest investment will fuel Wingbits' expansion into underrepresented regions, accelerate the deployment of its proprietary devices, and optimize its tokenomics in preparation for the upcoming mainnet launch.
Image credit: Wingbits