ValleyDAO has matured into a functioning ecosystem that funds, builds, and advances real-world climate biotech. Over the past twelve months, we’ve supported innovative research, launched new funding campaigns and governance mechanisms, expanded our tooling stack, and strengthened a global community of scientists, builders, and supporters aligned around one mission: to accelerate climate-positive biotechnology through decentralized funding and coordination.
This update brings together the milestones, lessons, and momentum from across the year, from lab benches to governance votes, from podcasts to pilot projects, and sets the stage for what comes next.
The traditional scientific system continues to struggle under the weight of slow funding cycles, risk aversion, geographic inequality, and misaligned incentives. At the same time, the climate crisis demands faster, bolder, and more experimental solutions.
In 2025, ValleyDAO demonstrated that decentralized science can:
Fund early-stage, high-risk climate biotech responsibly
Bring communities directly into research prioritization
Support researchers beyond grants with AI tooling, visibility, and strategy
Move promising science closer to commercialization
This year was about validating the model, and proving that DeSci can operate at the intersection of science, capital, and go-to-market coordination.
HEMPY saw some of the most exciting scientific progress across the portfolio in 2025.
Building on enzyme-based treatments developed through an earlier fund round, the project achieved novel material properties in hemp fibers, addressing two of hemp’s biggest historical limitations:
Softness and processability, making fibers compatible with existing spinning infrastructure
Hydrophobicity, reducing water absorption and improving performance for outdoor and technical apparel
This combination unlocks use cases previously inaccessible to hemp, from performance wear to more durable everyday textiles.
Key milestones this year included:
Lab validation of water-repellent hemp fibers
Material testing for durability and performance contexts
Limited-edition HEMPY hoodie drop, serving as both a product experiment and a storytelling vehicle
Progress toward patent protection and trademarked branding
ValleyDAO@valley_dao
🧪 Straight from the Valley Labs: $HEMPY Update 🌿 We’ve just unlocked a brand new property of hemp! Not only have we successfully softened the fiber, but we’ve now made it more hydrophobic. Yes, water-repellent hemp is becoming a reality! By attaching specific molecules to
10:07 AM · Aug 4, 2025 · 32.3K Views
23 Replies · 14 Reposts · 79 Likes
By the end of 2025, HEMPY transitioned from a purely research-focused effort to a project actively preparing for market-facing experiments, a critical step in validating DeSci-enabled commercialization.
Bio Protocol@BioProtocol
🌲 The Limited Edition @hempydotscience Hoodie by @valley_dao is now live on Biofy! The first biotech-softened hemp hoodie, engineered at the molecular level for performance that actually lasts. Use the code 'BIOFY10' for a limited time 10% discount + 5K BioXP bonus. Buy yours
6:15 PM · Jan 27, 2026 · 4.46K Views
17 Replies · 10 Reposts · 87 Likes
Cocoa Zero continued its steady march toward scalable, sustainable alternatives to traditional cocoa fats.
ValleyDAO@valley_dao
🍫 Ever seen cocoa fat being grown in a lab? Join ValleyDAO inside @imperialcollege as we check in on Cocoa Zero!
4:24 PM · Nov 19, 2025 · 17.7K Views
61 Replies · 5 Reposts · 139 Likes
Throughout the year, the team focused on:
Cultivating and optimizing lipid-producing yeast strains
Scaling from shake flasks to bioreactor runs at the 10-30L scale
Refining lipid extraction workflows and compositional analysis using GC-MS
Expanding strain libraries and long-term sample storage
These efforts support a long-term vision: locally produced cocoa-like fats that reduce dependency on climate-vulnerable tropical supply chains.
ValleyDAO@valley_dao
Another day, another DeSci success story! 🍫 ValleyDAO’s Cocoa Zero yeast strain is producing fats that are up to 90% identical to organic cocoa butter! This means we’re one step closer to creating the first-ever DeSci-enabled chocolate bar. Why does this matter? Climate
6:15 PM · Apr 22, 2025 · 4.87K Views
3 Replies · 7 Reposts · 53 Likes
Beyond the lab, Cocoa Zero became one of ValleyDAO’s most visible projects in 2025. Behind the scenes lab visits, researcher interviews, technical walkthroughs, and supporting content helped demystify biotech R&D and bring the community closer to the science itself. Across updates, articles, and video content, Cocoa Zero generated over 200,000 views on X alone throughout 2025!
In Q3, ValleyDAO governance approved a strategic investment into Tattva, marking a major step forward for the DAO’s role in industrial-scale climate solutions.
ValleyDAO@valley_dao
✅ The proposal to fund Tattva has officially passed, and the funds have already been distributed! This is a huge step for carbon-negative biomaterials, and an extremely exciting time for ValleyDAO & $GROW! We’ll keep you updated on progress, insights, and milestones as they
6:05 AM · Oct 2, 2025 · 6.43K Views
28 Replies · 2 Reposts · 78 Likes
Tattva is developing Stromate, a cyanobacteria-based biomineral that:
Sequesters CO2 into long-lived mineral form
Exhibits fire-safe, lightweight, and insulating properties
Has the potential to replace or augment concrete, foam insulation, glass, and bricks in certain applications
Highlights from 2025:
Successful governance vote and fund deployment
Ongoing pilot collaborations with industrial partners
Continued validation of material performance and scalability
Progress toward regenerative construction use cases
This investment exemplifies ValleyDAO’s thesis: fund ambitious science early, support it through community governance, and help bridge the gap between lab and industry.
ValleyDAO@valley_dao
🦠 ValleyDAO is kicking off the year at the TATTVA lab recording fresh content and getting a firsthand look at the latest progress on the research project! Stay tuned!
2:09 PM · Jan 8, 2026 · 2.7K Views
4 Replies · 3 Reposts · 44 Likes
In 2025, the $FORGE initiative evolved into Biomined, the project’s new identity reflecting its focus on biological mining and sustainable resource recovery. While the name has changed, the $FORGE ticker remains the onchain participation token coordinating community involvement across Biomined’s research, deployment, and commercialization journey. Developed in collaboration with researchers at CSIRO and ValleyDAO, Biomined uses microbial processes to recover critical metals from electronic waste, offering a lower-energy alternative to traditional mining while supporting more resilient and decentralized supply chains.
Throughout 2025, the team advanced core infrastructure and scientific validation, including sourcing and preprocessing e-waste feedstock, scaling microbial cultures, and designing reactors for bioleaching and metal recovery. Early tests have demonstrated high extraction efficiencies under mild conditions, alongside encouraging techno-economic indicators that suggest the process can be both technically viable and financially robust.
One of the most important developments of 2025 was the continued evolution of Phlo, ValleyDAO’s AI-powered platform for research translation.
Phlo was built to address a persistent gap: researchers often have strong science, but lack tools for:
Market analysis and engagement
Competitive positioning
Project scoping
Business model design
Funding readiness
Key advances this year included:
Development of agent-based workflows for technology design and de-risking which help researchers design better technologies for the market
New agent-based workflows for business development that allow users to analyse market trends, competitors and customer behaviours to help executive decision making
Improved AI reasoning and synthesis across literature, markets, and strategy
A new trust score system for AI-generated research reports
Deployment in hackathons and live research settings
https://valleydao.medium.com/phlo-part-1-why-deep-tech-fails-and-how-were-fixing-it-1ac8c8985072
https://valleydao.medium.com/phlo-part-2-solving-deep-techs-broken-pipeline-bea34d184eae
Webinar Alert!
Phlo is not designed to replace scientific judgment, it exists to augment researchers, helping them move faster and avoid common dead ends. In 2025, it proved its value as a core pillar of ValleyDAO’s ecosystem. For 2026, we’re preparing to launch Phlo to the public and are also conducting fortnightly webinars to demonstrate its value and upskill users. If you’re interested in learning more then join us every other Thursday at 6:30pm CET: https://luma.com/3tm3vd7b?tk=eT8VdJ
In 2025, ValleyDAO launched and scaled the Proof of DeSci podcast as a core media channel for the ecosystem. By the end of the year, Proof of DeSci reached just over 1000 active listeners across all major streaming platforms, with Apple Podcasts and Spotify emerging as the primary channels for audience engagement.
Across multiple episodes, the podcast explored:
Climate biotech funding models
Lab automation and AI in research
Open science and data sharing
Community building in DeSci
Market structure and token design
Guests ranged from researchers and founders to ecosystem builders, helping position ValleyDAO as both a funder and a convener of ideas.
Proof of DeSci by ValleyDAO is now streaming live across all major platforms:
👉 Spotify
👉 Deezer
👉 Castbox
ValleyDAO@valley_dao
🎙 Introducing the Proof of DeSci Podcast by ValleyDAO! ValleyDAO’s new podcast series spotlighting real research and real results in decentralized science is now available on all major streaming platforms. 🎧 Tune in wherever you get your podcasts, and help us prove that DeSci
6:03 AM · Apr 1, 2025 · 4.32K Views
4 Replies · 9 Reposts · 44 Likes
ValleyDAO@valley_dao
🤝 ValleyDAO is teaming up with the Bytes for Bites Hackathon, hosted by @BezosEarthFund & @imperialcollege in London! Participants will get exclusive access to Phlo to de-risk & prototype ideas with AI tools built for biotech founders. 🔗 Learn more: bezoscentre.co.uk/byteforbites-h…
12:56 PM · Sep 10, 2025 · 7.49K Views
4 Replies · 5 Reposts · 38 Likes
Throughout the year, ValleyDAO maintained a strong presence at key DeSci and biotech events, including:
DeSci London and DeSci Berlin
Bytes for Bites Hackathon (with Imperial College London and the Bezos Earth Fund)
iGEM ecosystem events
ValleyDAO@valley_dao
🎬 @Mxltiplex breaks down what ValleyDAO and DeSci is really about. 👉Why we’re building Phlo. 👉How $GROW helps fund real climate biotech. 👉And what it actually means to support DeSci.
9:09 AM · Aug 6, 2025 · 5.78K Views
7 Replies · 5 Reposts · 51 Likes
These moments were critical not just for exposure, but for onboarding new scientists into decentralized funding models, especially students and early-career researchers.
ValleyDAO@valley_dao
🎬 We asked DeSci builders 5 BIG questions at @DeSciBerlin, and their answers might just change how you see the future of science. Crypto, community, and what’s really needed for mass adoption!🌍 Watch the full video now 👇
6:52 PM · Jul 2, 2025 · 7.46K Views
1 Reply · 6 Reposts · 52 Likes
$GROW continued to function as the connective tissue of the ValleyDAO ecosystem. Our token’s focus remained on its role as exposure to a portfolio of IP-backed climate biotech projects, a fundamentally different approach to value in crypto.
ValleyDAO@valley_dao
This is what real DeSci adoption looks like! ValleyDAO just secured $100K from leading climate biotech VC. This is a signal that DeSci is maturing. Let’s break down what it means for $GROW 👇🧵
5:45 PM · May 19, 2025 · 4.34K Views
4 Replies · 19 Reposts · 81 Likes
By the end of 2025, success for ValleyDAO is no longer hypothetical. It looks like:
Researchers getting funded faster
Projects moving from idea to pilot
Communities participating meaningfully in science
Climate-relevant technologies advancing that otherwise might not exist
We don’t measure success solely by token price or headlines. We measure it by progress per dollar, experiments run, ideas validated, and paths opened.
As we enter 2026, our focus sharpens around:
Deeper commercialization support for portfolio projects
Broader deployment of Phlo to researchers globally
Stronger bridges between DeSci, industry, and institutions
Continued experimentation with governance, funding, and tooling
The work is far from done, but 2025 proved the model works.
ValleyDAO is leading the charge in decentralized science, and we invite you to join us in this groundbreaking journey. With $GROW tokens, you can get involved in funding research projects, gain exposure to the success of those projects, and have a voice in the future of DeSci. Whether you’re a researcher, enthusiast, or investor, there’s a place for you in our growing community.
We’re also looking for beta testers for Phlo who want early access to our research co-pilot.
If you or someone you know is interested in shaping the future of climate biotech and DeSci, please reach out or forward this update. Let’s keep building.
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ValleyDAO@valley_dao
Want to back science that actually matters? Join the $GROW community, and help fund climate biotech research! 🧬 Own a stake in the future. 🌱 Shape what gets built. 🌍 Help science serve the planet. Start here: valleydao.bio Telegram: t.me/valleydao Discord:
9:43 AM · May 30, 2025 · 2.3K Views
2 Replies · 14 Reposts · 48 Likes
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