Celebrating the Aurora Cohort: A Milestone for Vana and the Future of DataDAOs

On Thursday, November 14th, Vana hosted a celebratory dinner at Nusara in Bangkok, a venue that overlooks the awe-inspiring Wat Pho, the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. Wat Pho, known as Thailand’s first public center for education, symbolizes the spread of knowledge and enlightenment—an ideal setting to honor Vana’s journey and the milestones achieved by the Aurora Cohort, while looking ahead to the next chapter of the project.

The evening was a commemoration of years of work and dedication that will soon culminate in the launch of the Vana mainnet and VANA token. It was also an opportunity to celebrate the remarkable progress of the Aurora Cohort, the first wave of DataDAOs building on Vana. 

The Aurora Cohort exemplifies the transformative potential of DataDAOs, addressing some of the most pressing challenges in healthcare, genomics, social discourse, and financial innovation. 

The dinner also welcomed candidates for the second cohort of Vana DataDAOs, who are preparing to carry this momentum forward 🚀 The Blink Cohort are an emerging group of builders who are already laying the groundwork for their own DataDAOs. With over 300 applicants expressing interest in this next phase, the Blink Cohort represents the future of data ownership and AI innovation on Vana. 

DataDAO Founders attending the dinner included: 

• Asterisk DataDAO: Focused on women’s health and equity in medical innovation.
• Prime Insights DataDAO: Leveraging Amazon purchasing data to reveal consumer trends.
• DNA DataDAO: Pioneering user-controlled genomics and sequencing data.
• BioHacker DataDAO: Advancing collective intelligence for personal optimization.
• Social Truth DataDAO: Exploring social facts and tackling disinformation.
• IoT DataDAO: Monetizing insights from connected devices.
• DataPig: Driving innovation in financial predictions and trading models.

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The dinner brought together a diverse group of individuals, including key partners such as Paradigm, SCB10x, and Coinbase Ventures, alongside the DataDAOs and prominent members of the Vana ecosystem. The atmosphere was filled with excitement, fueled by the shared belief that the work being done today will shape the future of industries, solve critical global challenges, and empower individuals with control over their data.

Overlooking Wat Pho, the parallels between the temple’s legacy and the vision of Vana were clear. Just as Wat Pho became a center for spreading knowledge and advancing society, the Aurora and Blink cohorts are building a foundation for a decentralized and user-owned data economy—one that will revolutionize how data powers AI and solve real-world problems.

The evening served as a reflection of Vana’s history and the tremendous progress made, but also as a reminder of the work that lies ahead. With the support of a vibrant and engaged community, Vana is positioned to lead the way in redefining data ownership and its applications.

For those inspired by this movement, the opportunity to join a DataDAO is just beginning. Builders and contributors can explore how to get involved by visiting the Vana documentation.

The future of data and AI is here, and it is being built collectively.