Development company Anode Labs has raised $4.2 million in a seed round to build a decentralized network that will pay individuals and small businesses for their energy storage assets.

The round is co-led by Lerer Hippeau and Lattice Capital, according to a company release. Other backers include VaynerFund, CoinShares and Digital Currency Group. Co-founded by Jason Badeaux, Dallas Griffin and Evan Caron, Anode Labs is building the React network, which will enable individuals and small businesses to connect their storage batteries to the network and in turn earn passive income in the form of cash and tokenized assets for their contribution.

Most data from those assets will live on web3 data warehouse Space and Time, which has raised $30 million this year. An oracle will then connect the relevant data from the warehouse to the React network. The Anode team does not plan to build its own chain for React but will instead deploy it on an existing network, Badeaux said. The React network is inspired by Helium, the decentralized internet protocol, which demonstrated how the supply side of a network could be bootstrapped, Badeaux said.