Wingbits, a Stockholm-based Web3 startup, has raised $5.6 million in a funding round led by Borderless Capital and Bullish Capital, with participation from Antler Global, Tribe Capital, The Spartan Group, Heartcore Capital, and SNZ Capital. The company is building a decentralized flight tracking network using blockchain technology, aiming to address inefficiencies in the current system, which relies on volunteer-operated antennas. By offering financial incentives for data contributions, Wingbits seeks to improve tracking accuracy and expand coverage in underserved regions. The new funding will support the rollout of its custom-engineered tracking devices and further development of its blockchain-based reward system ahead of its mainnet launch.
Wingbits develops a decentralized flight-tracking network using blockchain-based incentives. The company’s approach leverages a distributed network of contributors who install ADS-B receivers to collect real-time flight data, addressing coverage gaps and data reliability issues in traditional tracking systems. By integrating blockchain technology, Wingbits aims to create a more transparent and scalable alternative to existing volunteer-driven models. The company was founded by Robin Wingardh and Alex Lungu and has secured funding from investors including Borderless Capital, Bullish Capital, and Tribe Capital.
“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.
This latest funding comes just 6 months after Wingbits’ $3.5 million seed round, backed by leading investors Borderless Capital, Tribe Capital and Antler. Since then, the startup founded by Robin Wingardh and Alex Lungu has achieved rapid growth, expanding its network six times faster than any other flight tracking system in history.
“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.
In its first year on Solana testnet, the Wingbits network has scaled to 2,100 active stations (users), tracking 120,000 unique flights per day across 85 countries. Additionally, there are over 2,000 pre-orders for the custom-engineered DePIN hardware, which was produced 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.
Flight tracking, a cornerstone of the $6 trillion aviation industry, has long relied on a global network of volunteers who install home antennas to collect flight data. Companies like FlightRadar24 and FlightAware sell this data to airports, airlines and other organisations to support their global operations, generating hundreds of millions in revenue, while volunteers themselves receive nothing in return.
“The current model isn’t just exploitative – it’s inefficient,” says Wingbits CEO and co-founder Robin Wingardh. “We’re setting a new standard for transparency and collaboration in aviation. It’s about building a network that works better than the traditional alternatives, while treating contributors as valued stakeholders, who are the backbone of aviation data infrastructure.”
Wingbits is the first flight tracking network to directly compensate contributors, incentivizing better hardware placement, data quality and coverage in global blind-spots. Like Helium with its vast network of 5G hotspots, Wingbits leverages Solana’s blockchain network to reward its contributors with its native $WINGS tokens directly.
At the heart of Wingbits’ network is its groundbreaking DePIN hardware. Manufactured by industry leaders, these devices will be the first cryptographically-secured ADS-B receivers, ensuring data is verifiable and reliable, addressing long-standing concerns about faked data and inaccurate reports in the aviation industry.
With air traffic projected to double by 2040 and the drone industry expected to surpass $55 billion by 2030, reliable, scalable tracking systems will become vital. With the latest funding, Wingbits plans to accelerate device deployment, expand its network into underrepresented regions, and refine its tokenomics as they prepare for their upcoming mainnet launch.
“We recognized the commitment and ambition of Robin and Alex from the very start of their growth journey. This funding round reflects the quality of the technology they are building, the level of innovation in their business model and the speed at which they are scaling. The founders set out to create the world’s best flight tracking network and the impact Wingbits has already had on the market shows that they are delivering on that vision already,” commented Oscar Westergard, Partner at Antler.
“The flight tracking industry is prime for disruption by Wingbits. Being built on Web3 rails allows Wingbits to incentivize users to provide top quality ADS-B feeds with the most reliable up-time and the lowest latency. The nature of the industry being run by hobbyists, coupled with the well-designed incentive mechanism that accounts for the concentration of coverage in the various regions, allows Wingbits to scale quickly in a targeted way,” added Lionel Pek, investor at Spartan Group.
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Read the orginal article: https://arcticstartup.com/wingbits-raises-5-6m/
