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Helium Systems Inc., a cryptocurrency startup focused on the wireless networking segment, has raised $200 million in funding at a valuation of $1.2 billion, Axios reported today.
The funding round reportedly included the participation of Tiger Global and FTX Ventures. Helium is believed to have previously raised about $110 million from investors including Khosla Ventures, Alphabet Inc.’s GV venture capital arm, Multicoin Capital and others.
Founded in 2013, Helium provides networking devices known as Helium hotspots that can be used to connect “internet of things” systems such as parking meters and sensors to the web. A Helium hotspot resembles a deck of cards with an antenna, the New York Times reported last week. The device can reportedly provide internet connectivity in a range up to 200 times greater than that of a Wi-Fi router.
Southern Connecticut State University and micromobility startup Neutron Holdings Inc., better known as Lime, are among the organizations that have adopted Helium’s hotspots. More than 500,000 hotspots are in use around the world, the Times reported, and thousands are added every week.
Helium hotspots mine a cryptocurrency called HNT. The more a hotspot is used, the more cryptocurrency is mined for the device’s operator.
Though it is not yet traded on many of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges, Axios reported that the HNT cryptocurrency has a market capitalization of $2.9 billion.
Investment firm Skybridge Capital is reportedly seeking to purchase Helium equity at a valuation of $1.27 billion, as well as HNT cryptocurrency, through a special purpose vehicle. Previously, Helium is said to have held a $111 million cryptocurrency token sale last year that was led by Andreessen Horowitz.
Startups in the blockchain ecosystem have raised a significant amount of funding in the last few weeks. Alchemy Insights Inc., which helps developers build blockchain applications, raised $200 million earlier this month. Previously, Figment Networks Inc. closed a $110 million Series C funding round. Overall, venture funding in the cryptocurrency ecosystem grew from $3.7 billion during 2020 to more than $21 billion last year, according to Crunchbase data.
The increased funding activity is driven partly by growing interest in the blockchain segment from the tech industry’s leading startup investors. Earlier this week, Axios reported that storied venture capital firm Sequoia Capital is launching a $600 million cryptocurrency fund. Last June, Andreessen Horowitz raised $2.2 billion for a fund focused on blockchain and cryptocurrency.
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