Hello, we’re GYOC. We store data in plants.

Grow Your Own Cloud (GYOC) has been developing green data applications since 2018. Our mission is to make the exponential rise in data benefit the planet. So we combine DNA data storage technology with plants and trees, to enable regenerative data storage.

And it works

We’ve created proof of concepts that demonstrate we can store and retrieve digital files from plants. We’ve won international awards from the UN and EU. We’ve showcased GYOC across the world at places like SXSW, WSJ Future of Everything and Telefonica Foundation. We’ve worked with leading companies including LVMH. We’ve even been featured on Netflix.

Our team is a squad of technologists, creatives and scientists building with an ethics and environment first mindset. To help us enable the next step in our growth, we’re supported most notably by Ginkgo Bioworks, a leading biotech company, David Kong from MIT, our senior scientific advisor, Seed Club, with whom we completed the SC04 Web3 accelerator program and Polygon Studios.

Now we’re looking to take our idea further

DNA data storage technology has the potential to revolutionise the way we store data and regenerate ecosystems. Just think about it for a second:

You might think of DNA as the language of life. It’s also a system for information storage. In fact it’s the most dense, most durable and cleanest technology for long-term data storage that we know of.

Best of all, it’s compatible with organisms like plants and trees that make their own energy and absorb CO2. So what might happen if we can start to store some of our carbon emitting data in the DNA of plants?

• Could we build data storage that absorbs greenhouse gases?

• Could we create an economic rationale to plant forests that are also data centres?

• Could storing data also generate carbon credits?

• Could storing data encourage us to take better care of other organisms and ecosystems?

While our work triggers many evocative questions and unlocks a vision of green data futures, it is based on scientific reality.

Imagine if we could replace server farms with data forests

For the past 4 years we’ve been researching how we can store data in plants and trees. We’ve actually managed to do it. We can store data like photos, and songs in the DNA of plants. We’ve even figured out how to retrieve the data. This work was recently recognised by Falling Walls and named amongst the scientific breakthroughs of the year for 2022.

Our long-term goal is to develop data infrastructure that is carbon negative, based on DNA data storage technology. For example data forests replacing server farms, with the potential to bring new value to nature. Forests which not only carry an environmental value, but an economic value through data storage, natural capital and carbon credits.

To get there will take time, but through incremental steps of product development and research, we’ve mapped a path to build data systems that work in harmony with living systems for maximum impact.

Where Web3 meets WebTree

GYOC sees Web3 as an enabler for community led growth. By running more decentralised and distributed operations, we seek to gradually transform into something which more closely resembles a public good than a traditional tech company.

To enable our vision, within Web3 we are forming GYOC DAO: an internet native organization dedicated to accelerating the transition to truly green data storage. Together we can create a future where server farms could be replaced by data forests. A world where the exponential increase in data production positively contributes to the environment.

Our approach is rooted in DeSci (decentralized science), as we seek to develop and fund an unconventional idea through a community led approach that serves the public interest. We combine this with a ReFi (regenerative finance) spirit, developing regenerative applications that will boost natural capital, enhance biodiversity and improve the quality of life for all beings.

The organization we are building is a community of reflective, regenerative and strategic thinkers and doers. Members will collectively make decisions, ultimately sharing in the benefits as GYOC DAO develops new projects, products and initiatives.

So how can we make this a reality?

This all begins with a first product. A unique Web3 offering we call Non-Fungible Plants.

Non-Fungible Plants or NFPs for short are physical plants with data encoded within their DNA. Data like JPEGs and MP3s. They’re the first truly plant-based NFTs ever created.

We’ll be working with major artists and luxury brands to select the most precious artworks, musical creations and more to be encoded within our first generation of NFPs. To help us do this, we’re supported by Ginkgo Bioworks, scientists from the University of Washington, MIT, and Cornell. We’re also working with our partners at Seed Club.

We will grow NFPs on a new platform called NFP.Garden - a creative space where artists and creators can launch and preserve works in the data format of the future: DNA. We link their works to the greenest technology out there: plants.

More details on NFP.Garden will follow in a dedicated post.

A Seed Round that is literally a Seed Round

We intend to grow from the ground up. Planting the first seed. Which in our case means a very literal community-led seed round.

It will feature the release of GYOC Seeds: Membership pass NFTs that take the form of beautiful animated seeds. The artwork is created by the highly talented and renowned 3D artist Chris Golden.

Owning a GYOC Seed NFT means:

• You’ll be a founding member of GYOC DAO.

• You’ll have priority on future launches ft. major artist and brand collaborations.

• You’ll be involved in governing the future of GYOC DAO.

• You’ll be eligible to receive exclusive Airdrops.

• You’ll have access to a members only community at the intersection of Web3, biotech and regenerative futures.

And much more - full details to come in a dedicated post.

A GYOC Seed in your wallet means you are helping to power the green data revolution. Benefits will evolve over time with GYOC. As an early member, you are supporting the degen regen vision of GYOC as we assemble the human, technical and economic capital necessary to grow clean, biological data storage.

Rooting for this idea? Get involved:

Through GYOC DAO we can align incentives so that everyone shares in the success and growth. We can create an organization that is oriented around a collective mission, but that can grow from various sources. What will this look like?

We think it looks a lot like a living ecosystem such as a garden. For a garden to thrive, the relationships planted must be symbiotic and mutually beneficial. We see our community growing in this way, guiding the future of GYOC DAO by facilitating precious collaborations with scientists, ecologists, artists, technologists, like-minded organisations and anyone who wants to encourage and enable truly green futures.

As a community we will collectively work towards the long-term dream of rebuilding data storage in a regenerative way, working with nature as technology.

Join us on this adventure and help grow a global decentralised community committed to building the next evolution of a regenerative internet.

We hope to grow our garden with you.