Backing the Future: How Investors Are Shaping the DePIN Landscape

This panel from DePIN Day Denver brings together leading investors who are actively shaping the DePIN landscape. Moderated by Dimi Chatzianagnostou (Outlier Ventures), the conversation features Mahesh Ramakrishnan (Escape Velocity), SJ Baek (Hashed), and Rob Schmults (Blockchange) diving into what makes DePIN a unique investment opportunity, the challenges that come with it, and how capital can accelerate (or hinder) real-world adoption.

The Opportunity: Bridging Web3 and Real-World Demand

Unlike purely digital Web3 investments like DeFi or NFTs, DePIN networks represent real infrastructure with physical constraints. Investors are drawn to DePIN because it connects the speculative innovation of crypto with real-world value creation. As Rob Schmults put it, “Deepin has real traction and metrics” and that’s both a strength and a challenge.

Mahesh highlighted how DePIN allows for a capital-light but impact-heavy business model: the ability to bootstrap infrastructure and eventually create self-sustaining networks. Escape Velocity’s name itself is a nod to this idea—a moment when networks no longer need outside capital to grow.

The Challenge: Supply-Demand Dynamics and Overbuilding Risk

While many crypto projects scale via speculation, DePIN projects have to grow demand and supply in sync. Build too much infrastructure (supply) without sufficient usage (demand), and you’re stuck with expensive idle assets. Mahesh drew a parallel to 19th-century railroads that overbuilt capacity and had to be bailed out.

The panelists stressed the importance of tight feedback loops, rigorous tokenomics, and the ability to iterate in public with real metrics. Rob warned that early traction can sometimes hurt a DePIN project if it becomes difficult to project the larger story.

The Challenge: Supply-Demand Dynamics and Overbuilding Risk

What Investors Are Looking For

Realistic Tokenomics: Investors are no longer impressed by hyper-financialized supply growth. They want to see thoughtful incentive models with clear ROI on token rewards.
Go-To-Market Strategy: Teams must show domain knowledge and a clear plan to capture demand, not just incentivize supply.
Founder Profiles: Long-term vision, grit, and domain expertise matter more than flashy crypto-native resumes. As SJ Baek noted, DePIN is about real-world infrastructure—and that means a longer timeline.
Metrics That Matter: From revenue to profitability (excluding token subsidies), metrics will increasingly drive valuation. Mahesh noted the emergence of tools like DePIN Ninja to benchmark performance.

Verticals with Strong Momentum

AI & Physical Robotics: SJ pointed to the potential of DePIN to serve decentralized infrastructure needs of physical AI and robotics.
New Data Assets: Rob cited examples like Spexy, where previously unmonetized physical activities become part of a valuable data layer.
Legacy Industry Disruption: Mahesh described conversations with Web2 founders who now want to decentralize their infrastructure stack using tokens.

Advice to Founders

Jump In: Don’t wait for perfect conditions. The capital and community are here now.
Think Like a Business: DePIN projects need a go-to-market plan, real users, and product-market fit.
Prioritize Sustainability: Design networks that become self-sustaining over time.
Talk to Your Market: Don’t just build in isolation. Get early validation and iterate fast

The Takeaway
Investors aren’t just betting on DePIN. They’re helping build it. What makes DePIN hard: the real infrastructure, the slow growth curves, the capital intensity — is also what makes it defensible and valuable long term. As Mahesh put it: “You’re building one of the hardest things in the world. But if you get it right, it finances itself.”

This panel made it clear: DePIN is a shift in how infrastructure is built, funded, and owned.