That’s what some people are saying.
Maybe you’ve heard it too.
- “DeSci is just hype.”
- “Where are the results?”
- “It’s not delivering anything real.”
But here’s the thing: they’re not paying attention.
Because if they were, they’d know that DeSci isn’t dead, it’s just getting started. And at ValleyDAO, we spent Q1 proving exactly that.
While the critics tweet, we build.
Here’s what ValleyDAO achieved in Q1 2025 👇
🔬 Scientific Research Milestones
Here are key updates from our funded research projects:
🌿 Hempy: Enzyme-Treated Hemp Fibers
The research collaborators at ACIB in the Hempy project successfully achieved a major research milestone by using enzyme treatments to remove lignin from raw hemp fibers. The result: softer, more flexible fibers suitable for sustainable textile applications.
We’ve also kicked off early business development for a Hempy-branded clothing line, which will serve as the distribution channel for these enzyme-treated hemp textiles further down the line.
🍫 Imperial College London (Cocoa Butter Replacement)
In February 2024, we funded our first project at Imperial College London, led by Dr. Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro, to produce cocoa fats using engineered microbes. Driven by climate, ethical, and supply chain challenges, this work aims to provide a sustainable alternative to traditional cocoa, which faces rising prices and limited scalability.
The team recently hit a key milestone by engineering yeast strains that produce fats mimicking the melting point and texture of real chocolate. We’re now scaling up and partnering with chocolate manufacturers to test the fats in actual formulations. This project could lead to the first DeSci-enabled chocolate bar.
🧬 SiriusBio (Computational Biology Expansion)
SiriusBio is a stealth spinout from INRAE in Paris focusing on computational biology tools for metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. The startup recently managed to secure a €65,000 contract with one of the largest chemicals manufacturers in Europe.
As part of its expansion we’re currently hiring an Entrepreneur in Residence with Product and Executive experience. You can find the job description here.
💻 ValleyDAO Product Update: Phlo
Phlo is ValleyDAO’s AI-powered research assistant designed to bridge the gap between technical science and entrepreneurship. In DeSci, one of the biggest challenges is ensuring research is fundable, and Phlo tackles this by helping researchers, builders, enthusiasts, and even non-scientists turn raw ideas into actionable, investor-ready research plans.
Powered by advanced AI agents, Phlo can generate literature reviews, identify research gaps, suggest experiments, and run early-stage technoeconomic analysis in minutes, dramatically reducing time and expertise barriers. Whether you’re a seasoned scientist or a curious newcomer, Phlo is built to accelerate your ideas and bring science closer to real-world impact.
If you attended our recent community town hall, you caught the first glimpse of our Deep Research Copilot, designed to streamline the discovery and development process for researchers.
Over the last few weeks:
- We began building the front-end interface, evolving Phlo from a text-based tool to a full AI-powered project management assistant.
- Users will soon be able to run AI-powered research pipelines directly on their biotech projects to gain deep insights into development pathways.
- Early user testing begins soon, with the first public reveal at DeSci London during an interactive workshop.
🎥 Watch the demo:
👥 New Talent, New Momentum
We kicked off the year by growing our core team:
This quarter, we welcomed two key hires to help push ValleyDAO’s mission forward:
Leading the development of Phlo, ValleyDAO’s AI-powered research tool.
“It’s been super exciting working with ValleyDAO, everyone’s passionate and driven, and we’re building tools that actually make a difference. I’m looking forward to seeing how far we can take Phlo to help researchers unlock new breakthroughs in biotech and climate, and to all the new ideas we’ll bring to life along the way.”
- Gunjan Paul, AI Software Developer
Bringing deep web3 marketing experience to amplify ValleyDAO’s voice and narrative.
“Since joining ValleyDAO, it’s been a fantastic journey so far. There’s so much potential here, and we’re already proving that DeSci works. We’re on a mission to change how science is funded and brought to life. If there’s one team in Web3 I believe in with all my heart, it’s this one-and I’m incredibly proud to be part of it.”
- Tom Fraczak, Head of Marketing
📈 Roadmap Progress
We’ve hit several critical roadmap milestones this quarter:
✅ Successfully launching two IPTokens $HEMPY and $FORGE with exciting research results delivered already 1 month into each project.
✅ $GROW token enabled on Solana and the launch of $GROW/$BIO liquidity pool, further deepening liquidity for GROW across chains.
✅ We also managed to achieve the Q2 milestone “Data drop on sustainable chocolate project” ahead of time.
🪙 Tokenomics
We’re actively working on refining our tokenomics for $GROW to make emissions, future mintings, and distribution of the token much more predictable for existing holders and future investors. What holders can expect is a reduction in the total supply through a burn mechanism.
🗺️ What’s Next for Q2?
As we head into Q2, we’re prioritizing the public launch of Phlo, our AI-powered research platform, at DeSci London in April. Alongside this, we’re gearing up to launch a new IPToken in May. The coming months will also bring research data drops from KardaForge, Hempy, and Imperial, the first Hempy project merch drop, and our participation in the Bio AI Hackathon.
🎙️ Media & Community Growth
Proof of DeSci Podcast Launched
We officially launched our podcast series, Proof of DeSci, highlighting real science and real results.
Tune in to our first episode as we dive into the science behind enzyme-softened hemp fibers & how DeSci made it possible. Featuring Filippo from the Hempy project, Ella from Molecule, Albert and Morgan from ValleyDAO.
Proof of DeSci by ValleyDAO is now streaming live across all major platforms.
👉 Spotify
👉 Deezer
👉 Castbox
10,000 Followers on X
We hit a major milestone, 10K followers on X. A huge thank you to our $GROW community of researchers, builders, and supporters. You can follow ValleyDAO on:
X | Discord | Bluesky | Telegram | Newsletter | Website
So… is DeSci dead?
Scroll back.
Read again.
DeSci is not dead. It’s growing, shipping, and evolving.
