NATIX Partners With Grab to Boost Superapp’s Coverage

NATIX, a Solana DePIN protocol providing real-time mapping data and powering autonomous vehicle training, has announced its strategic partnership with Grab, a Southeast Asian superapp boasting over 38M monthly active users.

Simultaneously boosting both NATIX and Grab’s mapping accuracy and accessibility, the collaboration marks a critical milestone for DePIN adoption and expansion in Southeast Asia.

With over 249k drivers across 171 countries covering over 166,000km of global roadways, NATIX leverages Solana DePIN to amass comprehensive street-level mapping data and disrupt existing coverage monopolies. In addition to providing daily coverage to consumer mapping applications, NATIX data is also used to train the self-driving vehicles of the future.

“We believe that by combining our worldwide data collection capabilities with Grab’s hardware and AI prowess, we can gain global market share. Leveraging Grab’s technology and experience saves us years of R&D efforts and the ability to have one of the strongest value propositions in the mapping industry.” - Alireza Ghods, NATIX CEO and co-founder.

As part of the collaboration, Grab will leverage NATIX’s coverage data to expand its mapping pipeline. Combining hardware, data, and software, both NATIX and Grab will work in tandem to enhance coverage and services across their respective networks.

According to the announcement, NATIX will use Grab’s existing hardware to launch its VX360, a proprietary device enabling Tesla owners to access, store, and monetize their vehicle’s comprehensive 360° imagery data. This high-fidelity real-world imagery is not only used to provide better map services to end-users, but will also spearhead valuable training, testing, and validation datasets for autonomous driving and Physical AI industries.

Speaking exclusively with SolanaFloor, NATIX co-founder Alireza Ghods confirmed that VX360s will not be distributed to Tesla drivers within Grab’s fleet. Rather, Grab hardware and image-processing software will be made available to NATIX mapmaking capabilities. Ghods further stipulated how Grab benefits from the collaboration.

“NATIX is not distributing VX360s to all Teslas in Grab's fleet. We get access to their hardware (which was the foundation for the VX360), and their AI-based image processing software, which also uses these images for mapmaking. Narix distributes VX360 in USA, EU, Japan , UK, and Middle East… Grab is already the best in SE Asia in terms of data collection and map making. With this [collaboration] we are entering the US, EU, and other markets together. Grab needs drivers for data collection. They have millions of them in SE Asia, but in Europe and US, they don't have ride ride-sharing business. So with NATIX, they can collect data at scale globally and be able to offer map services together despite not having ride sharing business there.” - Alireza Ghods, NATIX CEO and co-founder.

Ghods’ sentiments were echoed by Grab Head of Geo Product Pradeep Banavara, who asserted that the superapp’s partnership with NATIX represented a landmark milestone in the firm’s expansion outside of Southeast Asia.

“At GrabMaps, we believe the future of mapmaking lies in scale, speed, and community. This partnership combines NATIX’s decentralized global reach with Grab’s deep expertise in AI-powered imagery processing and hardware innovation. Together, we can accelerate the availability of fresher, more up-to-date, accurate street-level data – not just in Southeast Asia, but across the globe. Ultimately, this can empower governments, mobility platforms, and businesses to make smarter data-driven decisions. It brings us one step closer to creating a truly real-time map of the world.” - Pradeep Banavara, Grab Head of Geo Product

$NATIX, the protocol’s native token, has had a muted response to the collaboration. Despite a surge of volume following the announcement, $NATIX is up 2.45% in the last 24-hours.

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