The decentralized weather network WeatherXM to use blockchain to improve weather forecasts to help the agricultural industry and prevent disasters.
The provision of precise weather predictions is of the utmost importance not only for sectors such as agriculture but also for preventing and mitigating damage caused by adverse weather conditions or natural catastrophes. However, accurate forecasting is exceedingly challenging. For the past twelve years, the proprietors of WeatherXM have endeavored to improve the accuracy of weather forecasts.
An application was introduced by Manolis Nikiforakis, Stratos Theodorou, and Nikos Tsiligaridis in 2012, enabling community members to contribute weather updates at the grassroots level. They subsequently served as consultants for enterprise clients in weather-sensitive industries, including the Athens airport. Presently, they are constructing WeatherXM, a network of community-monitored weather stations that utilize blockchain-based systems to acquire and distribute local weather data.
WeatherXM CEO Nikiforakis informed TechCrunch that the company has already established 5,000 of its weather stations in more than 80 countries. These stations gather ground meteorological data locally and are staffed with volunteers reimbursed with $WXM, the cryptocurrency token issued by WeatherXM. All collected data is freely accessible to individuals for personal use, with paid options available for businesses seeking to utilize it commercially.
“We are staunch proponents of open-source software,” stated Nikiforakis. “WeatherXM firmly contends that the achievement of its mission necessitates the harmonious collaboration of individuals possessing diverse perspectives and areas of expertise.” We are distributing this entire data collection to all individuals without any restrictions. The current forecasts from each weather station are displayed in real-time.
In addition to other types of investors and venture capitalists, the startup has just received $7.7 million in Series A funding led by Faction, an early-stage blockchain-focused fund affiliated with Lightspeed. Borderless Capital, Alumni Ventures, and Red Beard Ventures also contributed to the round. The funding will be utilized to expand the startup’s workforce and position it to begin generating revenue from its commercial users.
Partner at Faction Tim Khoury stated that he was interested in investing in the company due to its appealing use case as a community-driven blockchain initiative, which possessed both the demand for the company’s products and the supply of individuals willing to join the community. Additionally, the potential TAM for more precise weather data did not harm.
“The demand side is responsible for the demise of many deep networks,” Khoury explained. “The network’s long-term sustainability is compromised in the absence of demand for the actual output, or production in this case.”
As the basement owner who has experienced flooding multiple times due to unanticipated storms, I was immediately intrigued by this bargain. However, the blockchain and cryptocurrency token components of WeatherXM’s strategy initially perplexed me.
According to Nikiforakis, the crypto incentive structure is essential for the operation of this local meteorological network. Incentivizing individual weather station supervisors would render the concept impracticable and challenging to implement at the scale required for the network to achieve effectiveness. According to him, they discovered through their first app that users were willing to provide weather data for free; therefore, WeatherXM’s structure is designed to provide users with a slightly greater incentive.
“[Using crypto] also facilitates coordination regarding the deployment of weather stations in rural and developing nations, which are the regions where our attention is focused the most,” Nikiforakis added. “The cryptocurrencies serve as a coordination mechanism.” In many respects, this is a community endeavor; consequently, cryptocurrency serves as a governance instrument. This token can be used to vote on decisions affecting the project’s operation.
Although I do not hold an optimistic stance on blockchain or cryptocurrencies, applying that framework in this instance is quite logical. Additionally, it complements the startup’s objective of establishing open-source data, a feat that necessitates the functionality of blockchain technology.
Earlier this week, I presided over a panel discussion on community preparedness for climate emergencies and disasters, and a recurring theme was the necessity for such information to be made public so that public and private entities could collaborate more efficiently to plan for and respond to climate disasters.
Providing open source data by WeatherXM, particularly from its stations situated in marginalized or rural regions, may benefit communities grappling with the escalating peril and devastation caused by climate events, all while requiring minimal financial investment and resources.
Embracing the objective at hand is simple; however, the level of demand for integrating weather into the blockchain will determine whether or not it truly impacts the situation.
“To advance the industry and meteorology as a whole, we must establish an ecosystem around our ideas and technologies,” Nikiforakis stated. “We abhor the antiquated method in which everything occurred in silos and access was denied to anyone with the necessary credentials or payment.” We are deviating from the prevailing direction. We are granting universal access to the data.