Teneo: Setting Sail to Provide Valuable Real-World Machine Data to DePIN & AI Companies with a Fresh Corporate Identity

The fall of Bitcoin had a much less impact on altcoins in the DePIN and artificial intelligence categories. The market is now more ready than ever for innovations that offer long-term solutions in providing high quality data to DePIN and AI companies.

In our previous interview in April this year with Teneo (formerly known as ELOOP Network), the team has shared their vision and plans to become a game-changer in Machine RWA (Real World Asset) tokenization. They were enthusiastically expanding on their existing tokenization success by launching a RWA tokenization platform on peaq.

A lot has happened between the last interview in April and now in the DePIN and AI space. Two key events to mention are:

• The decentralized Layer-1 blockchain peaq Network announced that it has secured $20 million in the largest CoinList funding and token launch in more than two years.
• NVIDIA’s influence extends far beyond physical computer hardware, contributing significantly to developments in AI and DePIN within the cryptocurrency realm. The company’s past earnings reports not only reflected its performance but also affected the performance of other related digital assets.

The fall of Bitcoin had much lesser impact on altcoins in the DePIN and artificial intelligence categories. The market is now more ready than ever for innovations that offer long-term solutions in providing high quality data to DePIN and AI companies. Data is considered the new gold because it has become a critical ingredient for producing digital products and services.

In this exclusive interview, Leroy Hofer Co-Founder and CEO of Teneo, shares with us what they have been working on in the last three months — Teneo Protocol, the first data layer for DePIN and AI. The protocol offers a unique solution that bridges the gap between the physical and digital worlds and was designed to revolutionize data utilization and monetization. Leroy also discusses the significance of Teneo’s fresh new corporate identity for the new chapter of their journey.

Pentos Ventures: It appears that all ELOOP Network logos on your social media and public-facing material have been replaced by Teneo’s, and a new website has been launched for Teneo! Can you share the story behind this HUGE re-branding move?

Leroy: The transition from ELOOP Network to Teneo Protocol marks an exciting chapter for us. ELOOP was initially created as a lifestyle and mobility brand, focusing on the RWA tokenization of a shared Tesla fleet.

However, as we grew and evolved, it became clear that the ELOOP brand was somewhat restrictive. We realized that our core strength lies in our technology and our role within the blockchain and tech ecosystem. Our work has gone far beyond the mobility sector, encompassing a broad range of services and technologies that connect any real-world machines and their data with the Web3 ecosystem.

We also needed a name that better reflected our technological foundation and our commitment to driving innovation in the tech and crypto worlds. Teneo Protocol perfectly encapsulates our vision of seamlessly integrating real-world assets with blockchain technology, ensuring data integrity, security, and monetization.

We are excited about this new chapter and the endless possibilities it brings for our community and the broader tech ecosystem.

Pentos Ventures: What’s the deal with “Teneo”? What problems is Teneo trying to solve, and why is it significant?

Leroy: Teneo Protocol is the First Data Layer for DePIN & AI and is designed to bridge the gap between real-world machines and the Web3 ecosystem, addressing key issues like data silos, security, and monetization.

Industries often struggle with valuable machine-generated data being trapped in silos, making it inaccessible and inefficient. Teneo unlocks this data and gets it on-chain, ensuring transparency and interoperability while maintaining data integrity and security through an immutable and tamper-proof record.

The significance of Teneo lies in transforming how machine data is used and monetized, driving improvements in sectors like energy, agriculture, and telecommunications. This opens up new opportunities for data-driven insights and applications, revolutionizing industries and communities.

Pentos Ventures: How does the shift from “DePIN & RWA Tokenisation” to a “DePIN & RWA Data Layer” align with the team’s vision and values?

Leroy: Our values of innovation, transparency, and community empowerment are at the heart of this shift. As we dived deeper into the technology and its potential, we realized that the true value lies in the RWA’s data. We believe that data should be accessible to all, not confined to silos or controlled by a few entities. By providing a robust data layer with decentralized writing and reading rights, we empower individuals and businesses to make data-driven decisions, drive innovation, and create new opportunities.

Pentos Ventures: How can ELOOP’s past wins help Teneo move forward?

Leroy: ELOOP’s past wins provide a solid foundation for Teneo’s future growth. Our success in tokenizing a shared Tesla fleet showed that we could effectively integrate real-world assets with blockchain technology. This experience gave us the technical expertise and market understanding needed to develop Teneo’s comprehensive data layer for DePIN and AI.

Through ELOOP, we learned the importance of community engagement and building strong user communities. This emphasis on community will continue with Teneo, ensuring users are active participants and beneficiaries of the ecosystem. Additionally, the strategic partnerships we formed with ELOOP have given us a valuable network of allies, which will be crucial as we expand Teneo’s reach.

Pentos Ventures: How have people reacted to the new brand and project changes so far?

Leroy: People have been super hyped about the new brand and project changes. For many, it was the next logical step in our evolution, aligning with our expanding vision and technological advancements. The feedback has been very positive, with our community loving the new look and feel of Teneo. They appreciate the fresh, modern branding and the clear focus as the first Data layer of DePIN & AI. This support and enthusiasm from our users and partners is incredibly encouraging.

Pentos Ventures: What sets Teneo apart from other data layers in the Web3 world?

Leroy: Teneo stands out in the Web3 world by uniquely bringing real-world machine data on chain. We’re the first data layer designed specifically for DePIN and AI, combining data usage, monetization and tokenization into a single protocol.

There is a strong focus on decentralized access control, ensuring that DePINs and other projects store their data in a decentralized manner, rather than relying on traditional and opaque web2 methods. Data is uploaded and downloaded in a fully decentralized way, making DePIN data much more trustworthy for use by other projects, builders, and data buyers.

Pentos Ventures: How can regular users and businesses get involved with Teneo?

Leroy: For businesses, Teneo offers numerous opportunities to integrate and leverage our technology. When companies provide data to the Teneo protocol, we validate it and offer rewards in the form of Teneo Tokens. This allows data providers to monetize data that might currently be underutilized or too fragmented to realize its full potential.

Once we have access to this verified data, providers can utilize our tokenization platform to fractionalize their assets by creating RWA tokens and selling them to the public. This not only helps providers fund their growth but also builds a loyal customer base, enhancing their market presence and financial health.

Regular users can participate in many ways. They can run nodes, stake Teneo tokens, become asset token holders of tokenized machine RWAs and also earn rewards by contributing data from their devices, like IoT sensors or other connected equipment, to the Teneo network.

Pentos Ventures: Are there any exciting partnerships, updates, or cool stuff on the horizon for Teneo that we could expect?

Leroy: Yes, there are definitely some exciting developments on the horizon for Teneo. This summer, we have two tokenization projects in the pipeline that we’re really looking forward to launching. These projects will showcase the full potential of our platform.

Additionally, we are thrilled to partner with Streamr Network. This collaboration enables us to integrate decentralized real-time data streaming into our ecosystem.

Pentos Ventures: Where do you see Teneo in the DePIN & RWA industry in five years? What keeps you all motivated to keep pushing forward?

Leroy: In five years, we envision Teneo as a major part of any decentralized app, firmly established as a crucial infrastructure provider within the DePIN & RWA industry. Our goal is for Teneo to be the go-to data layer that seamlessly integrates real-world assets with the blockchain.

What keeps us motivated to keep pushing forward are the incredible reactions and feedback we receive from our discussions with customers, partners, investors, team members and the wider community. It’s incredibly rewarding to see that we’re not the only ones who recognize the technological innovation and potential of our product. Their enthusiasm and belief in what we’re building fuel our drive to keep innovating and expanding.

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