Helium Renamed as Nova Labs Raised $200M in Series D
The company will also invest in growing the Nova Labs team, and working towards a decentralized future of wireless connectivity.
Helium has been renamed as Nova Labs and has recently raised $200M Series D equity round led by Tiger Global and Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Seven Seven Six, Goodyear Ventures, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Liberty Global, NGP Capital (backed by Nokia), Pantera Capital, Ribbit Capital, and Deutsche Telekom’s strategic investment fund Telekom Innovation Pool (TIP).
With the new funds, Nova Labs will invest in the Helium ecosystem through hiring and funding additional development resources to improve the Network; driving continued wireless protocol support, and building new applications on top of the Helium Network powered by cryptocurrency.
“With Helium Inc. we built the foundation for the world’s first decentralized wireless network, leveraging the power of blockchain to democratize access to the internet at a global scale,” said Amir Haleem, founder and CEO of Nova Labs. “Through Nova Labs, we are expanding our mission, pioneering a cultural movement towards the decentralization of all wireless protocols, and we’re grateful to Tiger Global, a16z, Goodyear Ventures, and others for backing our vision.”
“Nova Labs enabled the technology to decentralize wireless while providing a blueprint for leveraging crypto and blockchain to scale real-world infrastructure at an incredible pace,” said Evan Feinberg, Partner, Tiger Global. “We are proud to support Nova Labs is pioneering this effort.”
“Helium’s clever use of crypto-enabled incentives spurred the creation of the world’s fastest-growing wireless network; a perfect example of how crypto applications go well beyond currencies,” said Ali Yahya, General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz. “We’re excited for this next phase in Helium’s evolution, as Amir and team build out Nova Labs to compete directly against top-down and centralized internet service providers.”
The company will also invest in growing the Nova Labs team, and working towards a decentralized future of wireless connectivity.
Alongside the investment, Helium Inc., the corporate entity that was founded in 2013, today has been renamed Nova Labs, providing a clearer distinction between the corporate entity and the open-sourced Helium Network that is owned and operated by the people.
Nova Labs will continue to develop and support the advancement of decentralized wireless technologies on the Helium Network.
The community approved the expansion of the Helium Network into 5G.
In the first public-private partnership of its kind, the City of San Jose announced they would leverage the incentive model to cover internet plans for 1,300 low-income families in the heart of Silicon Valley, working to close the digital divide.
