[Research] Helium - Union Square Ventures

June 12, 2019

Executive Summary

One of the most important pieces of technology infrastructure is the telecommunications network. Unfortunately, it suffers from lack of accessibility in terms of coverage, cost and usability. Helium ($HNT) looks to solve these issues by creating an inexpensive and easy to connect low power wireless network for Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Examples of devices requiring this type of network are ones where the requirements are small size, low cost and intermittent low-data-rate connectivity such as wildfire detection, pet tracking, bike theft, supply chain uses and more.

The network innovates on both the supply and demand side by creating a novel incentive structure to run a hotspot and receive compensation in the native token as well as pay to connect to the network. A key characteristic is that it can be deployed by anyone and doesn't require users to trust a centralized provider.