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Rebrand to Nova Labs Helium crypto wireless network founders raised $200M updated valuation to $1.2 billion

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Indrani bose Follow

INDIA

Apr, 01 2022

Apr, 01 2022

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Helium Crypto Wireless Network declared that it brought $200 million in Series D equity funding round which was led by Tiger Global including Andreessen Horowitz’s a16z firm. This round led firm’s valuation to $1.2 billion. Helium Inc which is the original creator of the Helium decentralized wireless network, has also rebrand itself and announced a new name Nova Labs.

Seven Seven Six, the VC firm from Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Deutsche Telekom, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Liberty Global, NGP Capital, and Goodyear Ventures who are the VC arm of the major tire manufacturer are the other participants of this funding round.

The new funds will be used in investing in the Helium ecosystem. Funding additional development resources and hiring will be done using this fund to improve the Network; driving continued wireless protocol assistance and creating new applications on top of the Helium Network that will be powered by cryptocurrency. Investment will also be done to grow user base team so that it long run driving growth for the HNT crypto, because healthy community allows the network to operate seamlessly. Additionally, it will work further towards a decentralized future of wireless connectivity. The company further announced about rebranding itself to Nova Labs, a new name, which will be part of an initiative to assist in resolving confusion between the Helium decentralized network/project, the blockchain behind it, the Helium token (HNT), and the core team that had started it all.

As part of this funding, 5G deployment will be consistently outperformed by traditional ISPs which is another priority for this funding. Since September 2021, Helium has rapidly expanded its own 5G network to compete. Over the world there are over 650,000 hot spots connecting to Helium network till now.

The Helium trademark has been granted to the Decentralized Wireless Alliance, which will now be renamed as the Helium Foundation. Helium's network is managed by a community elected governing body called the Decentralized Wireless Alliance, which supervise aspects including proposal for network improvements.

About Helium:

In 2013, Shawn Fanning (of Napster fame) and Amir Haleem co-founded Helium. Its initial wireless network was developed for Internet of Things (IoT) devices like sensors and trackers. The Helium miner/node shares home internet service over miles. Users are rewarded in the form of HNT tokens for contributing to the network. The network has grown rapidly. In 2021, Helium in partnership with FreedomFia, declared about the launch of a 5G network designed for devices like smartphones, laptops, and tablets.

At the beginning of 2021, there were 14,000 active nodes which became more than half a million by the end of the year. Today there are 680,000 nodes up and running in Helium network. In August 2021, Andreessen Horowitz also led Nova Labs’ $111 million funding round, which was executed as a token sale.


Also Read | Augmented reality glasses creator Nreal raises $60 Million Fund through Series C+ Financing round


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Indrani bose

CBW - External Analyst

INDIA

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