Borderless Capital, the venture firm focused on expanding the Algorand ecosystem, has announced the closure of the $10 million HNT.Fund designed to mine and stake HNT, the native tokens of The People’s Network, an IoT-centric parallel network based on LoRaWAN technology and the Helium blockchain.
Limited Partners who joined the HNT.Fund include Adam Bain, former COO of Twitter; Sandeep Nailwal, Co-founder of Polygon; Woodrow Levin, CEO and Founder of Extend; Alvin Tse, General Manager of Xiaomi (OTC:XIACF) Indonesia; Jawad Ashraf, CTO and Founder of Terra Virtua; Aries Wang, Founder of Bibox exchange; Steven Tannanbaum, Deeb Salem and Joseph Naggar, partners at GoldenTree; CalChip Connect, major distributor of Helium hotspots; and Youbi Capital.
The HNT.Fund will focus on supporting the Helium blockchain by both mining and staking HNT. The network’s mining system is based on Proof-of-Coverage, an algorithm rewarding users who place and operate Hotspots connected to the Helium blockchain, physical LoRaWAN-enabled devices that support The People’s Network. The Hotspots are designed to create a low-power radio-based network that connects IoT devices to the internet, thus supporting the HNT blockchain ecosystem.
HNT Validators engage in block production and confirmation via a Proof of Stake mechanism where users commit HNT. Block production is performed by the Consensus Group, a group of validators chosen in a semi-probabilistic manner after each epoch. The HNT.Fund has committed to launching about 100 Helium validators, seeking to directly support the Helium blockchain Consensus The People’s Network has seen tremendous growth recently, with over 70,000 Hotspots supporting across 90 countries, while the network is getting close to expanding to 5G / CBRS devices later this year.
With Borderless’ core focus on Algorand, one of the primary upcoming initiatives for the HNT.Fund is creating a Wrapped HNT on Algorand, thus opening the token up to financial opportunities on the Algorand smart contract blockchain. With Algorand’s flexibility and high performance, Wrapped HNT will be used in both DeFi and CeFI applications, letting users earn yield or trade them on decentralized exchanges.
“We are connecting very synergic ecosystems. We see the Helium blockchain as the connectivity layer for hardware networks where it is possible to build the next generation of IOT devices and IOT applications and we have an unique opportunity to connect this with the future financial software provided by the Algorand network. Helping to bridge both ecosystems (hardware IOT network and software financial network) will make us to be a step closer to the society of the future and create value for both ecosystems at the same time” said David Garcia, CEO and Managing Partner at Borderless Capital
"We welcome Borderless Capital to the Helium Ecosystem and are glad to have their support on our vision of building global decentralized wireless infrastructure. We appreciate how this initiative can bring together both the Helium and the Algorand ecosystems and create opportunities for collaboration." said Scott Sigel, Head of Operations at The Decentralized Wireless Alliance, the Foundation arm of the Helium blockchain.
About Borderless Capital
Borderless Capital is a modern financial institution investing capital and co-building financial products that accelerate access, bootstrap adoption, and create value globally through the Algorand Borderless Economy. We do not stop with just investment. We also provide guidance and mentorship to grow our portfolio companies into successful and category leading businesses. As a thought leader in blockchain with deep expertise in the Algorand ecosystem, we advise our portfolio companies on go-to-market strategies to effectively build their network effect. In short, we leverage the synergy of our portfolio, partners network, and domain expertise to create value for everyone.
About the Decentralized Wireless Alliance
The Decentralized Wireless Alliance (DeWi) serves as the Foundation arm of the Helium ecosystem. The Helium Blockchain provides both an economic incentive and security mechanism to build peer-to-peer wireless networks that simplify connecting devices to the internet by allowing anyone to become a network operator and be rewarded for providing wireless infrastructure. DeWi provides a governing framework for the Helium Network, drives the Helium Improvement Proposal (HIP) process, hosts monthly community calls, and funds Helium ecosystem development through its grant program.