“Not enough traction” = the #1 vague pass reason from VCs. Here’s what investors usually mean 👇
Let’s dive into deals in the #DePIN vertical. We analyzed early-stage rounds closed in 2025 (plus investor conversations + what they backed and why) to answer one practical question:
What revenue traction (or revenue-adjacent proof) typically becomes “good enough” to unlock a check at each stage?
Here’s a rough benchmark we keep seeing across DePIN deals - patterns from real fundraising outcomes:
Pre-Seed: LOIs or pilot revenue
Seed: $50K–$500K ARR or a clear enterprise pipeline
Series A: $500K–$2M ARR + growth trajectory
Series B: $5M+ ARR + path to profitability
Why this matters: once you’re past pre-seed, “nodes deployed” or “token narrative” rarely substitutes for demand-side proof (who pays, why they pay, and whether it’s repeatable).
We broke down all you need to know about fundraising for DePIN startups in the full playbook: lane-specific KPIs (compute vs wireless vs sensors/data vs energy vs storage), valuation logic, and how investors actually make decisions.
➡️ Read Full guide: https://blog.innmind.com/depin-fundraising-playbook-2026/
& let’s discuss: What stage are you fundraising at, & what traction question keeps coming up in your calls? Feel free to share your InnMind startup profile for visibility!
Let’s dive into deals in the #DePIN vertical. We analyzed early-stage rounds closed in 2025 (plus investor conversations + what they backed and why) to answer one practical question:
What revenue traction (or revenue-adjacent proof) typically becomes “good enough” to unlock a check at each stage?
Here’s a rough benchmark we keep seeing across DePIN deals - patterns from real fundraising outcomes:
Pre-Seed: LOIs or pilot revenue
Seed: $50K–$500K ARR or a clear enterprise pipeline
Series A: $500K–$2M ARR + growth trajectory
Series B: $5M+ ARR + path to profitability
Why this matters: once you’re past pre-seed, “nodes deployed” or “token narrative” rarely substitutes for demand-side proof (who pays, why they pay, and whether it’s repeatable).
We broke down all you need to know about fundraising for DePIN startups in the full playbook: lane-specific KPIs (compute vs wireless vs sensors/data vs energy vs storage), valuation logic, and how investors actually make decisions.
➡️ Read Full guide: https://blog.innmind.com/depin-fundraising-playbook-2026/
& let’s discuss: What stage are you fundraising at, & what traction question keeps coming up in your calls? Feel free to share your InnMind startup profile for visibility!
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What languages unicorn founders speak in 2025? 🦄
A Stanford GSB research team looked at 1k+ US unicorn founders’ LinkedIn profiles & mapped the languages they actually speak:
- English is #1 (sure).
- But the real signal is the founder diverse diaspora: Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Hebrew, Hindi, Russian…
- 95 languages in total!
Btw, did you find your mother tongue on the chart?😉
IMHO: while the world is polarizing, tech builders are still shipping together.
And in 2025 (immigration tightening + “new tech” regulations + innovation barriers💩 ), the ecosystems that keep winning are the ones that keep attracting builders with startup friendly policies. Agree?
💬 Drop in comments: what’s your native language?
Happy Sunday / Feliz domingo / Bon dimanche / Schönen Sonntag / 周日快乐 ☀️
A Stanford GSB research team looked at 1k+ US unicorn founders’ LinkedIn profiles & mapped the languages they actually speak:
- English is #1 (sure).
- But the real signal is the founder diverse diaspora: Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Hebrew, Hindi, Russian…
- 95 languages in total!
Btw, did you find your mother tongue on the chart?😉
IMHO: while the world is polarizing, tech builders are still shipping together.
And in 2025 (immigration tightening + “new tech” regulations + innovation barriers
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New Perk for Web3 Founders 🚀 Token Utility That Actually Works
Meet FOLIO — a plug-and-play prediction games platform that helps Web3 projects turn community attention into real engagement and token utility.
Instead of quests and giveaways, you launch prediction campaigns around roadmap events, ecosystem milestones, or market outcomes. Users participate, compete on leaderboards, and come back again and again. Your token becomes an access key, not a passive asset.
No engineering. No complex setup. Launch in minutes and measure engagement that matters.
🎁 InnMind Perk
Selected startups from our community get access to a free trial of FOLIO’s token-gated prediction campaigns. Perfect for testing engagement loops before scaling.
👉 Activate the perk here
Build smarter engagement. Move fast. Test real token utility 💥
Meet FOLIO — a plug-and-play prediction games platform that helps Web3 projects turn community attention into real engagement and token utility.
Instead of quests and giveaways, you launch prediction campaigns around roadmap events, ecosystem milestones, or market outcomes. Users participate, compete on leaderboards, and come back again and again. Your token becomes an access key, not a passive asset.
No engineering. No complex setup. Launch in minutes and measure engagement that matters.
🎁 InnMind Perk
Selected startups from our community get access to a free trial of FOLIO’s token-gated prediction campaigns. Perfect for testing engagement loops before scaling.
👉 Activate the perk here
Build smarter engagement. Move fast. Test real token utility 💥
App Innmind
Gamified Prediction Campaigns by FOLIO: Free Trial for Community Engagement
Get a free trial of FOLIO’s gamified prediction campaigns for startups on InnMind. Drive social and token-gated engagement, utility, and community growth using interactive prediction games.
🔎 AI Visibility Is the New SEO for Web3 Founders
In the last weeks, we’ve seen strong interest from our community around one topic: project visibility. Not just ranking on Google, but being discoverable where decisions now actually happen. Inside AI tools used by users and investors.
Search has changed permanently. People no longer browse pages. They ask ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini and act on the answers they get. If your Web3 project is missing from those answers, it is effectively invisible.
⚡️ We’ve published an in-depth guide that breaks down this shift and explains why traditional SEO is no longer effective for crypto startups. The article demonstrates how AI agents read, rank, and recommend projects, and outlines what founders can do now to adapt in 2026 and beyond.
If visibility matters for your growth or fundraising, this is a must-read.
👉 Read the full article here
🎁 Bonus for InnMind founders
Inside our Perks Club, we also offer an exclusive deal to help projects act on this immediately:
▪️ Free LLM SEO audit
▪️ 25% off AI optimisation services
▪️ Focused on visibility inside ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other AI agents
This is AI Agent Optimisation, not old-school SEO.
👉 Check the perk here
Clear signals beat hype. Make your project readable for machines and trustworthy for humans 🚀
In the last weeks, we’ve seen strong interest from our community around one topic: project visibility. Not just ranking on Google, but being discoverable where decisions now actually happen. Inside AI tools used by users and investors.
Search has changed permanently. People no longer browse pages. They ask ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini and act on the answers they get. If your Web3 project is missing from those answers, it is effectively invisible.
⚡️ We’ve published an in-depth guide that breaks down this shift and explains why traditional SEO is no longer effective for crypto startups. The article demonstrates how AI agents read, rank, and recommend projects, and outlines what founders can do now to adapt in 2026 and beyond.
If visibility matters for your growth or fundraising, this is a must-read.
👉 Read the full article here
🎁 Bonus for InnMind founders
Inside our Perks Club, we also offer an exclusive deal to help projects act on this immediately:
▪️ Free LLM SEO audit
▪️ 25% off AI optimisation services
▪️ Focused on visibility inside ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other AI agents
This is AI Agent Optimisation, not old-school SEO.
👉 Check the perk here
Clear signals beat hype. Make your project readable for machines and trustworthy for humans 🚀
InnMind Blog: Fundraising & Growth for Web3 + AI Startups
AI-SEO for Web3 Startups: How to Be Found by Users and Investors
Search is shifting from Google results to AI answers. This guide explains why traditional SEO falls short in the crypto space and how to make your project more visible with AI-optimised content, clean tech, and fast-loading formats that users and investors…
Merry Christmas to the InnMind community 🎄
This year wasn’t loud — it was real.
Building through uncertainty. Learning through friction. Shipping when it wasn’t obvious.
That’s what progress actually looks like.
If you’re still here — refining your product, talking to users, thinking long-term — you’re already doing the hard part right.
Thank you to every founder, investor, advisor, and partner who made InnMind a place for substance over noise.
We’re proud to build alongside you.
Take a breath, recharge, and come back with clarity.
2026 has work worth doing. ❤️
This year wasn’t loud — it was real.
Building through uncertainty. Learning through friction. Shipping when it wasn’t obvious.
That’s what progress actually looks like.
If you’re still here — refining your product, talking to users, thinking long-term — you’re already doing the hard part right.
Thank you to every founder, investor, advisor, and partner who made InnMind a place for substance over noise.
We’re proud to build alongside you.
Take a breath, recharge, and come back with clarity.
2026 has work worth doing. ❤️
❤4
If you’re building even these days - RESPECT!
May your burn be low and your DAU be high.
2025 was brutal. If you’re still shipping, you’re already ahead.
Keep going. We’ll help where we can.
- InnMind
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🔥 When DeFi Trading Starts Thinking for You
Fragmented liquidity, dozens of tabs, manual execution, missed entries. That’s the everyday reality of decentralized trading today.
This is exactly the problem Flipper AI is tackling.
Flipper is building an intelligent trading layer on top of DeFi. Not another exchange, but a system that aggregates liquidity, analyses market conditions, and helps traders execute smarter decisions across chains. Solana is just the starting point.
Under the hood, Flipper combines AI-driven routing, advanced spot logic, and automation tools that feel closer to professional trading infrastructure than a typical DEX.
Why this approach stands out
🧠 AI optimises execution based on liquidity, slippage, and real market conditions
⚡️ Advanced spot logic, including conditional and delayed orders
🤖 Trading bots built directly on top of the aggregation layer
📊 One unified dashboard for spot, analytics, and future derivatives
🌐 Modular architecture designed for fast multi-chain expansion
And onboarding doesn’t start with complexity.
Flipper is growing its ecosystem through a Telegram Mini App that teaches crypto and DeFi in a gamified format. Users learn, complete missions, earn points, and gradually step into real trading tools. Education, engagement, and product adoption are designed to work together.
The product is already live in early form, and this is the phase where real user feedback matters most.
If you’re curious how AI-powered aggregation feels in practice and what next-gen DeFi trading infrastructure might look like, it’s worth taking a closer look.
👉 Join the waitlist & connect your wallet: @fl_whtbot
👉 Access Flipper MVP: https://app.flpp.io/
Building quietly, shipping early, and focusing on fundamentals. Exactly the kind of experiments we like to see in the InnMind ecosystem.
Fragmented liquidity, dozens of tabs, manual execution, missed entries. That’s the everyday reality of decentralized trading today.
This is exactly the problem Flipper AI is tackling.
Flipper is building an intelligent trading layer on top of DeFi. Not another exchange, but a system that aggregates liquidity, analyses market conditions, and helps traders execute smarter decisions across chains. Solana is just the starting point.
Under the hood, Flipper combines AI-driven routing, advanced spot logic, and automation tools that feel closer to professional trading infrastructure than a typical DEX.
Why this approach stands out
🧠 AI optimises execution based on liquidity, slippage, and real market conditions
⚡️ Advanced spot logic, including conditional and delayed orders
🤖 Trading bots built directly on top of the aggregation layer
📊 One unified dashboard for spot, analytics, and future derivatives
🌐 Modular architecture designed for fast multi-chain expansion
And onboarding doesn’t start with complexity.
Flipper is growing its ecosystem through a Telegram Mini App that teaches crypto and DeFi in a gamified format. Users learn, complete missions, earn points, and gradually step into real trading tools. Education, engagement, and product adoption are designed to work together.
The product is already live in early form, and this is the phase where real user feedback matters most.
If you’re curious how AI-powered aggregation feels in practice and what next-gen DeFi trading infrastructure might look like, it’s worth taking a closer look.
👉 Join the waitlist & connect your wallet: @fl_whtbot
👉 Access Flipper MVP: https://app.flpp.io/
Building quietly, shipping early, and focusing on fundamentals. Exactly the kind of experiments we like to see in the InnMind ecosystem.
App Innmind
Flipper - InnMind Company Profile & Funding
Flipper DEX is a decentralized crypto exchange with AI bots, agents, low fees, and full control. Automate your strategy and trade smarter in Web3.
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2025 was a brutal bastard:
- VCs said “let’s stay in touch” and ghosted forever,
- tokens lived below TGE longer than most relationships,
- AI hype screamed “just wait one more quarter” - and nothing,
- while outages, wars, politics & tariff shocks reminded us everything's fragile AF.
If you’re reading this, you’re already top 1% in founder survivorship.
Seriously.
Most gave up back in March (or October).
You didn’t.
Be proud, founder.
Happy fucking 2026, builders! 🥂❄️
May your uphill startup grind finally turn into snowball success: traction compounds, revenue shows up out of nowhere, real users arrive and actually stick around, investors stop ghosting and start committing, and momentum finally works FOR you, not against.
We at InnMind were right there with everyone who refused to quit - through the dips, the delays, and the chaos.
In 2026 we’re dropping a ton of new tools that actually speed up fundraising and growth + significantly expanding liquid, active investors network. Means better investor matchmaking, fresh deal-flow features, and more.
Don’t forget to update your startup profile…
Let’s make 2026 the year the snowball finally rolls downhill.
You’ve earned it!
- VCs said “let’s stay in touch” and ghosted forever,
- tokens lived below TGE longer than most relationships,
- AI hype screamed “just wait one more quarter” - and nothing,
- while outages, wars, politics & tariff shocks reminded us everything's fragile AF.
If you’re reading this, you’re already top 1% in founder survivorship.
Seriously.
Most gave up back in March (or October).
You didn’t.
Be proud, founder.
Happy fucking 2026, builders! 🥂❄️
May your uphill startup grind finally turn into snowball success: traction compounds, revenue shows up out of nowhere, real users arrive and actually stick around, investors stop ghosting and start committing, and momentum finally works FOR you, not against.
We at InnMind were right there with everyone who refused to quit - through the dips, the delays, and the chaos.
In 2026 we’re dropping a ton of new tools that actually speed up fundraising and growth + significantly expanding liquid, active investors network. Means better investor matchmaking, fresh deal-flow features, and more.
Don’t forget to update your startup profile…
Let’s make 2026 the year the snowball finally rolls downhill.
You’ve earned it!
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Quick check-in after the holidays 👀
New year, fresh momentum — time to get back into builder mode. What’s your main focus right now?
New year, fresh momentum — time to get back into builder mode. What’s your main focus right now?
Anonymous Poll
65%
Fundraising
35%
Partnerships / bizdev
16%
Product & traction
14%
Tokenomics / strategy
A few days ago Nikita Bier (X Head of Product) posted (then deleted after huge backlash) a blunt line: the algo will be ~70% less likely to push “crypto-related” posts to wider audiences. Not “maybe”. Moving forward. Screenshots are still everywhere.
If you’ve been living off classic CT marketing mechanics, this is why your reach suddenly feels cursed.
☠️ The CT playbook that’s dying:
• Quest / points / “engage-to-earn” loops (Kaito-style leaderboards, Zealy/Galxe tasks, “RT + comment + tag 3 friends”, daily grind)
• Giant airdrop bait for retweets/replies (volume over quality)
• Reply farms (gm/gn chains, “thoughts?”, copy-paste reactions)
• Ticker/hype spam ($SOL $BTC “100x” “moon” “don’t fade”)
Those mechanics generate dumb engagement. And X is now explicitly optimizing against that, even if you’re a legit project.
Takeaways for X Community Building in 2026:
Old paradigm's dead—ditch farming, go founder-led. Mix 80% value (deep dives, utility stories, skills) with 20% crypto. Long threads, videos, and real convos win. Build rep: consistent, human posts = algo trust.
Marketing Alternatives for 2026:
Own your audience: Telegram/Discord for sticky communities, TikTok/YouTube Shorts for virality, on-chain (agents, intents) for verifiable rep. Budget shift: 40% off-X now. Try alternative growth+distribution strategies (like the one we recommended before holidays)
We’ve been saying this on InnMind for months (posts, newsletters, weekly Office Hours & advisory calls with founders): don’t build your GTM on rented attention + reward-farmed engagement. Now the algo made it official.
🔖 Save this. Forward to the teammate still buying “RT campaigns”.
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🚀 Product Hunt Launch in 2026: A Practical Guide for AI and Web3 Teams
We have just released a new practical document built for founders who plan to launch AI or Web3 products on Product Hunt in 2026.
😺 Product Hunt is one of the few platforms where early-stage startups can get real visibility among founders, builders, investors, and early adopters. For teams in our community, it can help validate a product, attract first users, collect feedback, and build credibility that goes beyond marketing noise.
Inside the document you will find
🔸 a clear step-by-step launch framework
🔸 updated Product Hunt rules and algorithms
🔸 real tactics that worked for teams ranking at the top.
It explains how to prepare weeks before launch, how to run the 24-hour launch day, and how to turn attention into users and revenue after the launch.
If you are building an AI tool, Web3 product, or developer platform and want Product Hunt to actually move your metrics, this guide will save you weeks of trial and error.
📥 Download the Product Hunt Launch Guide by InnMind and use it as your launch playbook.
We have just released a new practical document built for founders who plan to launch AI or Web3 products on Product Hunt in 2026.
😺 Product Hunt is one of the few platforms where early-stage startups can get real visibility among founders, builders, investors, and early adopters. For teams in our community, it can help validate a product, attract first users, collect feedback, and build credibility that goes beyond marketing noise.
Inside the document you will find
🔸 a clear step-by-step launch framework
🔸 updated Product Hunt rules and algorithms
🔸 real tactics that worked for teams ranking at the top.
It explains how to prepare weeks before launch, how to run the 24-hour launch day, and how to turn attention into users and revenue after the launch.
If you are building an AI tool, Web3 product, or developer platform and want Product Hunt to actually move your metrics, this guide will save you weeks of trial and error.
📥 Download the Product Hunt Launch Guide by InnMind and use it as your launch playbook.
App Innmind
Product Hunt Launch Guide 2026 for AI & Web3 Startups - InnMind KB
A battle-tested Product Hunt launch and monetization guide for AI and Web3 founders who want real users, traction, and revenue in 2026 instead of short-lived hype.
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Why most Product Hunt launches fail after Day 1️⃣
Many founders still think Product Hunt is about collecting upvotes. In reality, most launches fail not on launch day, but right after it.
The common pattern looks like this:
❌ No clear goal beyond ranking
❌ No plan for activating users after signup
❌ No structure for turning attention into revenue
This is especially painful for AI and Web3 startups, where trust, clarity, and real utility matter more than hype.
Strong launches today are built like campaigns. They start weeks before the launch, focus on real engagement during the day, and continue with structured onboarding and monetisation after.
We recently put all of this into a single guide for AI and Web3 founders who want Product Hunt to work as a growth channel, not just a vanity badge. If you are planning a launch this year, it is worth studying before you hit “publish”.
🔗 The guide is available in our knowledge base.
Many founders still think Product Hunt is about collecting upvotes. In reality, most launches fail not on launch day, but right after it.
The common pattern looks like this:
❌ No clear goal beyond ranking
❌ No plan for activating users after signup
❌ No structure for turning attention into revenue
This is especially painful for AI and Web3 startups, where trust, clarity, and real utility matter more than hype.
Strong launches today are built like campaigns. They start weeks before the launch, focus on real engagement during the day, and continue with structured onboarding and monetisation after.
We recently put all of this into a single guide for AI and Web3 founders who want Product Hunt to work as a growth channel, not just a vanity badge. If you are planning a launch this year, it is worth studying before you hit “publish”.
🔗 The guide is available in our knowledge base.
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Stop Filming. Start Posting. Let AI Do the Heavy Lifting 🚀
Consistent short-form content is one of the fastest ways to win attention before launch, TGE, or a big product update. But for most founders, filming, noscripting, editing, and posting quickly becomes a bottleneck.
That’s why we’ve added a new exclusive InnMind perk:
💎 a done-for-you AI Influencer Content Machine that helps startups publish winning Reels, TikToks, and YouTube Shorts without building a full content team.
Why this is powerful for startups:
🔹 You ship content weekly without spending founder time on camera
🔹 Scripts are based on trends already working in your niche, not guesswork
🔹 You build steady organic reach that compounds over time, even when ads pause
🔹 You can use a founder avatar, brand persona, or mascot and stay fully brand-safe
What makes this perk special 👇
InnMind startups get a lifetime exclusive discount: standard price is $2,000/month
➡️ Your price is $1,600/month with posting or $1,500/month without posting. That’s $400 to $500 saved every single month, with limited slots available 😃
👉 Access the perk here
Build distribution before the hype. Move fast while spots are open.
Consistent short-form content is one of the fastest ways to win attention before launch, TGE, or a big product update. But for most founders, filming, noscripting, editing, and posting quickly becomes a bottleneck.
That’s why we’ve added a new exclusive InnMind perk:
💎 a done-for-you AI Influencer Content Machine that helps startups publish winning Reels, TikToks, and YouTube Shorts without building a full content team.
Why this is powerful for startups:
🔹 You ship content weekly without spending founder time on camera
🔹 Scripts are based on trends already working in your niche, not guesswork
🔹 You build steady organic reach that compounds over time, even when ads pause
🔹 You can use a founder avatar, brand persona, or mascot and stay fully brand-safe
What makes this perk special 👇
InnMind startups get a lifetime exclusive discount: standard price is $2,000/month
➡️ Your price is $1,600/month with posting or $1,500/month without posting. That’s $400 to $500 saved every single month, with limited slots available 😃
👉 Access the perk here
Build distribution before the hype. Move fast while spots are open.
App Innmind
AI Influencer Content Machine Deal: $500 Off (InnMind Exclusive)
Stop filming. Start posting. Get weekly ready-to-publish shorts powered by trend analysis, proven noscripts, and AI avatars. Get the lifetime discount with InnMind's exclusive perk!
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🤖 Building Vertical AI: where the real AI opportunity lives
Vertical AI is not another SaaS upgrade. It’s a shift from selling software to automating expensive human labour.
LLMs made it possible to tackle workflows that were untouchable before: legal analysis, medical documentation, audits, compliance, and reporting.
That’s why Vertical AI doesn’t fight for IT budgets. It goes straight to the labour line in P&L.
What matters most for founders at the early stage:
these points help you focus on workflows that actually unlock ROI and long-term advantage.
▪️ Solve one painful, repeatable workflow first
▪️ Prove clear ROI early, not just “AI magic”
▪️ Start with a breakthrough feature and earn the right to expand
▪️ Automate progressively, humans stay in the loop
▪️ Move fast before incumbents react
We visualised the 4 key frameworks for choosing a Vertical AI product idea in the infographic above.
👉 Check it before locking your roadmap.
🔗 Learn more about building Vertical AI products here.
Vertical AI is not another SaaS upgrade. It’s a shift from selling software to automating expensive human labour.
LLMs made it possible to tackle workflows that were untouchable before: legal analysis, medical documentation, audits, compliance, and reporting.
That’s why Vertical AI doesn’t fight for IT budgets. It goes straight to the labour line in P&L.
What matters most for founders at the early stage:
these points help you focus on workflows that actually unlock ROI and long-term advantage.
▪️ Solve one painful, repeatable workflow first
▪️ Prove clear ROI early, not just “AI magic”
▪️ Start with a breakthrough feature and earn the right to expand
▪️ Automate progressively, humans stay in the loop
▪️ Move fast before incumbents react
We visualised the 4 key frameworks for choosing a Vertical AI product idea in the infographic above.
👉 Check it before locking your roadmap.
🔗 Learn more about building Vertical AI products here.
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