Helium builds a peer-to-peer wireless network that rewards anyone to become a network operator and simplify connecting devices to the internet. The company is developing and rolling out a decentralized 5G network product called Helium 5G intended to support MNOs and MVNOs. It plans to use its recent funding to accelerate that 5G rollout and expand coverage partnerships. Helium's network is live in more than 11,000 cities globally and is used for asset tracking, air and water quality monitoring, and smart infrastructure. Partners and customers named in the article include Abeeway, Airly, Agulus, Careband, Conserv, Digital Matter, Invoxia, LoneStar, NexMachina, Nobel Systems, NOWi, Barnacle, Victor®, and Southern Connecticut University. The company was co-founded by Amir Haleem and Shawn Fanning and is based in San Francisco, CA. Helium has developed LongFi, an open-source, low-power wireless protocol and network of consumer Helium Hotspots that relay tiny IoT transmissions (about 5 kilobits per second) over hundreds of meters. The company sells $495 Helium Hotspots that owners connect to Wi‑Fi; hotspot operators earn a cryptocurrency token when their devices carry traffic. Helium positions LongFi as a low-cost alternative to cellular for use cases like tracking scooters and bikes, pet collars, agriculture sensors, Coolers refill monitoring, and building occupancy/air-quality sensing. Partners named in the article include Lime, InvisiLeash, Agulus, Nestle and Stay Alfred, and the company envisages additional uses such as wildfire or radiation tracking. Helium says it pre-sold 80% of its hotspots for its first market in Austin, Texas, and that 150–200 hotspots are sufficient to blanket a city. The startup was begun in 2013 by Amir Haleem with Shawn Fanning and Chris Bruce and has raised capital to support network deployment and product rollout. Helium builds deployable enterprise smart sensors and a software-centric IoT platform for monitoring physical assets. Its sensors are designed to be deployable in minutes and targeted at demanding use cases such as cold chain compliance, preventative maintenance, and indoor air quality. The company announced Helium Green™, a multi-parameter environmental smart sensor (temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, light and motion), and Helium Pulse™, a web and mobile application for centralized monitoring and alerting. Helium says its applications are currently in trials across healthcare, food and beverage, transportation, grocery, restaurant chains and several top hospitals. Founded in 2013, Helium emphasizes a software-first approach and aims to scale its platform across multiple industries. The Series B financing is intended to accelerate its smart sensing solutions and product roadmap. Helium Systems is developing low-power wireless connectivity and a distributed data network to link Internet of Things devices without depending on WiFi, Bluetooth, or cellular networks. The company is building a proprietary wireless data protocol and wireless modules that device manufacturers can embed. It plans to deploy a highly distributed network of ultra-affordable base stations, called Helium bridges, to receive and transmit small amounts of device data. Helium’s approach targets devices that deliver bytes rather than megabytes, which it says makes the connection model cost-effective at scale. The startup operated in stealth for two years and has assembled a 20-person team of radio-frequency and distributed-network experts. It recently raised $16M and hired former Qualcomm executive Rob Chandhok as president and COO; Chandhok and others joined the company’s board alongside Shawn Fanning, co-founder Amir Haleem, and Joi Ito.

Total raised

$162M

Funding rounds

4

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Aug 2021