Reppo Labs Raises $2.2 Million to Revolutionize AI Data Access

Reppo Labs, a startup from Protocol Labs Venture Studio, has secured $2.2 million in funding to develop a platform that facilitates direct collaboration between AI agents and data owners. The initiative aims to create an open-access environment where AI agents can negotiate for specialized datasets, potentially unlocking the value of untapped data for AI development.

• Reppo Labs secures $2.2 million to build AI-data collaboration platform
• Platform to enable direct data access and negotiation
• Utilizes Anoma and Gateway Protocol for security and exchange
• Incentivizes data owners through programmable IP co-ownership

Reppo Labs is on a mission to bridge the gap between AI agents and data owners, eliminating the need for intermediaries. This direct line of communication could foster a vibrant market for data, where AI agents can freely negotiate for the datasets they need. Imagine AI agents as savvy shoppers in a data supermarket, picking and choosing the datasets that will fuel their growth and innovation.

The platform will use Anoma for its Data Exchange, which acts like a marketplace where data can be traded securely. The Gateway Protocol will provide the necessary security measures to ensure that these transactions are safe and reliable. By introducing programmable IP co-ownership, Reppo Labs plans to share ownership of new creations made from the data with those who provide it, ensuring that data owners are rewarded for their contributions to the AI ecosystem.

The funding round, closed in March 2024, saw contributions from a strong lineup of investors including Protocol Labs, CV VC, and CMS Holdings. It was so popular that it quickly sold out on Echo.xyz, with notable angel investors like Charles Songhurst, Lincoln of MH Ventures, Dieter Fishbein, Thomas France, and Nicolas Pinto joining the party. It’s like they invited the whole neighborhood to the party, showing the confidence in Reppo Labs’ vision.

Reppo Labs is already testing the waters by incubating AI auditors for solar farms on the Glow Network, a decentralized physical infrastructure network (DePIN). DePINs are networks that use blockchain to manage physical infrastructure, like solar farms. This is just the beginning, as Reppo Labs also targets broader challenges like insurance underwriting and node auditing in DePINs. The potential to tap into off-chain data, especially from business-owned sources, could be a game-changer for AI and machine learning models.

Raghav (RG) Rmadya, CEO of Reppo Labs, doesn’t mince words about the future of AI and blockchain integration. He asserts,

Anyone claiming to build a blockchain specifically for AI is most likely a scam. It’s nothing more than a narrative play. Most blockchains today can already support AI processes and applications. The more likely future is that each agent or application will have its own chain. In such a world, models, agents, and applications will need open-access ways to self-source their fuel i.e. data to grow and stay relevant. The days of spoon-feeding AI will soon be over.

Rmadya also highlights the growing desperation for data in the AI industry, stating,

Unfortunately, current data sources and pipelines are drying up. Ilya Sutskever highlighted this problem at NeurIPS last year, and the recent acquisition of Carbon by Perplexity underscores the growing demand for novel data connectors in the AI industry. Web3 has experimented with DataDAOs as a potential solution, but they are yet to prove scalable. Not all data in the world is user-owned; business-owned data is vast and often untapped. For instance, DePIN node operators generate enormous amounts of operational data that might seem mundane to some but is gold to us.

Brad Holden, Partner at Protocol VC, echoes the excitement about Reppo Labs’ approach. He notes,

What excites us about Reppo is the team’s ability to contextualize and solve challenges they encountered during their time at Filecoin for the broader Web3 and AI ecosystem. Their focus on making off-chain data accessible to build practical AI/ML models and agents is critical for tackling bottlenecks like insurance underwriting, node auditing, and SLA management for blockchain networks, especially for DePINs that we at Protocol VC are ultra bullish on. Few teams take such a systems approach to solving wicked problems and it was a no-brainer for us to partner with Reppo. I’m ecstatic about their mission to democratize open-access to previously untapped data for AI developers and agents.

While the promise of Reppo Labs is undeniable, the road ahead is not without its challenges. The concept of open-access data raises questions about privacy and security. How will Reppo Labs balance these concerns with the need for open data markets? Moreover, the idea of programmable IP co-ownership is innovative but untested at scale. How will it fare in the real world, where legal and ethical considerations come into play?

Yet, the potential rewards are too significant to ignore. If Reppo Labs can navigate these challenges, it could not only unlock new opportunities for AI development but also empower data owners like never before. As the lines between AI, blockchain, and data continue to blur, Reppo Labs stands at the forefront of a revolution that could redefine how we think about and use data in the digital age.

Key Takeaways and Questions

• What is the primary goal of Reppo Labs?

  Reppo Labs aims to build infrastructure that enables open-access collaboration between AI agents and data owners, allowing AI agents to directly access and negotiate for specialized datasets.

• How does Reppo Labs plan to incentivize data owners?

  They plan to use a model of programmable IP co-ownership, ensuring data owners are compensated through downstream revenue generated by the derived IP and its applications.

• What technologies will Reppo Labs utilize for their platform?

  Reppo Labs will use Anoma for their Data Exchange and secure it with Gateway Protocol.

• Who are the key investors in Reppo Labs’ recent funding round?

  The funding round saw investments from Protocol Labs, CV VC, CMS Holdings, and various angel investors including Charles Songhurst, Lincoln of MH Ventures, Dieter Fishbein, Thomas France, and Nicolas Pinto.

• What are some potential applications of Reppo Labs’ platform?

  Reppo Labs is incubating AI auditors for solar farms on the Glow Network, and they aim to address challenges in insurance underwriting, node auditing, and SLA management for blockchain networks, particularly DePINs.

• Why is there a growing demand for novel data connectors in the AI industry?

  Current data sources and pipelines are drying up, and there is a need for new ways to access untapped data, especially off-chain data, to fuel AI development and maintain competitiveness.

• How does Reppo Labs view the future of AI and blockchain integration?

  Reppo Labs believes that each AI agent or application will have its own blockchain, necessitating open-access ways for these entities to self-source data to stay relevant.