We recently invested in EarnOS, backing founders Tom, Phil, Reece and Wayne. EarnOS is building a consumer discovery & engagement platform powering  a global, decentralised advertising network

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The Problem

Global brands are facing significant challenges in the realm of digital advertising. Despite economic conditions, these brands consistently invest in growth, yet they encounter numerous obstacles. A substantial portion of internet traffic is dominated by bots, leading to an estimated 25-50% of advertising budgets being squandered on fraudulent clicks and non-human interactions. Additionally, identifying valuable brand ambassadors and leveraging the creator economy in a cost-effective manner remains difficult. Consumers are increasingly bombarded with advertisements, often feeling treated more like commodities than customers.

When you combine these issues with the complexities of ever-evolving GDPR laws, the result is an acquisition funnel that is both increasingly ineffective and expensive. In this context, brands are now pushing for results-based marketing, turning the headwinds of the industry into tailwinds for growth and adoption.

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The Solution

EarnOS revolutionises the $1T digital advertising landscape by realigning incentives to ensure cost-per-result marketing with guaranteed outcomes tailored to each campaign's objectives. By partnering with global brands like Uber, The North Face, and Lacoste, EarnOS onboards typical internet users into a system that abstracts complex web3 infrastructure, allowing users to effortlessly create non-custodial wallets, engage in brand missions to earn USDC, and spend it using an EarnOS debit card without any direct interaction with web3 technologies. During its beta test, EarnOS successfully onboarded 5 global brands, amassed over 300,000 verified users, and achieved 3.2 million brand outcomes.

Post initial setup, EarnOS operates on a zero-cost growth model where creators are compensated based on the effectiveness of their community's mission completions, with all growth funded through brand advertising budgets. This platform empowers companies to instantly reward anyone on the internet, enabling the seamless assignment, verification, and payment for tasks online. By incentivising brands to fund users' first wallets, EarnOS not only tackles the inefficiencies of traditional ad spend but also opens up web3 participation to billions, addressing the challenges of bot traffic, wasteful ad expenditure, and the complexities of user engagement in digital marketing.

How it works?

EarnOS introduces innovative engagement mechanisms to the digital marketing sphere:

• Questing: People are rewarded for their engagement with brands. For instance, Sunglass Hut might reward users for sharing user-generated content (UGC).
• Bringing web3 Growth Mechanics to web2 Companies: Using zero-knowledge proofs (zkTLS), powered by another GD1 Crypto portfolio company, Opacity, EarnOS enables web2 data to be placed on-chain in a verifiable manner. Integrating zkTLS to provably verify users' identity and engagement across platforms, driving better unit economics for brands. This opens up new avenues for mainstream brands to engage and expand their audience:
  • Vampire Attack: Brands can target users of competing products. For example, Robinhood might focus on high-volume Sharesies users to convert them.
  • Loyalty Airdrop: Brands can directly reward their most loyal customers with cash airdrops. Uber, for instance, could reward its top drivers and riders.
  • Creator Verification: This feature allows brands to verify and reward creators for their contributions. An example would be The North Face rewarding a creator for effectively sharing a campaign.

Through these methods, EarnOS aligns the interests of brands, users, and creators, fostering a more interactive, rewarding, and growth-oriented digital ecosystem.

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The Visionaries

EarnOS is brought to life by a world-class team of builders and former founders with deep roots in web3, fintech, and consumer platforms. Wayne Hughes (Co-founder | Growth), Phil George (Co-founder | CEO), Tom Riordan (Co-founder | Product), and Reece Johnson (Co-founder | Engineering) come from esteemed backgrounds including Aave, Uber, BCG, Lens Protocol, and Typeform, collectively driving the vision of integrating innovative technology with user-centric solutions.

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Why We’re Excited

We are really excited about EarnOS because it's tackling a huge market with a great web3 twist. Seeing them pull off their beta test, getting over 300,000 users on board, and making a real impact for five big brands, shows their experience and ability to execute. It's also super exciting that blockchain technology has evolved to a point where apps like this can take off. Plus, knowing they're going to use Opacity's tech for zkTLS, another company from GD1's family, makes me think they're leveraging all the right tools for some serious growth.

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We are actively looking to support more web3 projects. If you’re building something in the space, please do get in touch. Our DMs are open. :)

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