Nova Labs
Nova Labs operates the Helium Network, a decentralized wireless platform where community-hosted Hotspots provide Wi-Fi and cellular coverage in exchange for HNT token rewards, serving carriers (notably AT&T), ISPs, and individual operators globally.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What Nova Labs does
Nova Labs, Inc., doing business as Helium, is a San Francisco-based private company that operates the Helium Network, a decentralized wireless communications platform. The network replaces traditional cell tower infrastructure with community-hosted Hotspot devices that provide affordable Wi-Fi and cellular coverage, coordinated through a proprietary blockchain protocol and incentivized by the HNT token. Nova Labs generates revenue through hotspot hardware sales, enterprise carrier offload services (anchored by an AT&T partnership covering 93,000+ hotspots as of April 2025), and the Helium Plus premium tier for advanced operators; the company previously operated a direct-to-consumer mobile service under the Helium Mobile brand.
The company's technology stack combines blockchain-based coordination, proprietary wireless protocols, and the 2022-acquired FreedomFi DIY 5G software, enabling crowdsourced deployment of both Wi-Fi and cellular coverage. Go-to-market spans community-driven product-led growth (individual hotspot hosts earning HNT), enterprise field sales to carriers and ISPs, and self-serve onboarding through the helium.com storefront and global waitlist. Key strategic moves include the August 2022 FreedomFi acquisition (adding a 30-person 5G engineering team previously funded by Qualcomm and Samsung), the April 2025 AT&T carrier offload partnership, geographic expansion into Mexico, and the June 2026 divestiture of Helium Mobile to Noble Mobile, after which Nova Labs is refocusing on its carrier offloading and data services business while retaining the Helium Network and HNT token infrastructure.
Nova Labs is incorporated in the United States, employs 51-100 people, and is privately held with no public listing or disclosed cap table. No independent revenue figure is publicly available; operating data is limited to network scale metrics (93,000+ hotspots, ~600,000 historical consumer sign-ups transferred to Noble Mobile) and ecosystem breadth (AT&T, ISPs, SMBs, individual operators). SEC regulatory clarity that HNT tokens are not securities materially de-risks the underlying token economics model.
Nova Labs firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Nova Labs
- Legal name
- Nova Labs, Inc.
- Website
- https://nova.xyz
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Nova Labs operates the Helium Network, a decentralized wireless platform where community-hosted Hotspots provide Wi-Fi and cellular coverage in exchange for HNT token rewards, serving carriers (notably AT&T), ISPs, and individual operators globally.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Nova Labs industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Decentralized Wireless Telecommunications
- NAICS
- Wired and Wireless Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite) (51711), Wireless Telecommunications Carriers (except Satellite) (517112)
- SIC
- Radio & Tv Broadcasting & Communications Equipment (3663)
- akta.pro primary industry
- NFV Infrastructure (NFVI), Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) & Cloud-Native Network Functions (CNFs) (HDAIAIAB)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) (HDAFANAA)
Keywords
Where Nova Labs is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Nova Labs business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Personnel, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Hardware Sales (Hotspots): Sale of Hotspot devices to individuals and businesses who host them on the network. Hosts earn HNT tokens for providing connectivity.
- Carrier Offload / Data Services: Enterprise agreements with mobile carriers (e.g., AT&T) to provide offload services using Helium's community-built hotspot network.
- Direct-to-Consumer Mobile Service (formerly Helium Mobile): Consumer wireless service using crypto-powered hotspot network. Acquired by Noble Mobile in June 2026.
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels4 records
Nova Labs product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Nova Labs, operating as Helium, operates a decentralized wireless network powered by the HNT token, replacing traditional cell towers with community-hosted Hotspots that provide affordable cellular, Wi-Fi, and IoT connectivity. The company sells Hotspot hardware to individuals and businesses while providing carrier offload and data services to telecom operators and ISPs using its community-built network.
Product overview
Nova Labs, operating as Helium, offers a decentralized wireless network platform built on community-operated Hotspot devices. The core offering is the Helium Network, which encompasses both a Mobile Network (cellular service) and an IoT Network. The ecosystem is powered by HNT (Helium Network Token), the native cryptocurrency that incentivizes hotspot operators and enables participants to earn rewards for providing connectivity. Additional offerings include Helium Hotspots (the hardware devices that form the network infrastructure) and Helium Plus (a premium subscription tier). The platform enables individuals and businesses to host Hotspots, share their internet connection, and earn HNT tokens for every connection made.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Helium Mobile: Nova Labs' direct-to-consumer cellular wireless service brand, subsequently sold to Noble Mobile in June 2026.
- Helium IoT Network
Products and services
- Helium Network A decentralized wireless network owned by community members and powered by the HNT token, replacing traditional cell towers with small devices called Hotspots that provide affordable connectivity and expand coverage wherever people gather, work, and move.
- Helium Mobile Network A mobile cellular network offered by Helium, providing direct-to-consumer wireless service powered by the decentralized hotspot network. The consumer mobile service was acquired by Noble Mobile in June 2026.
- Helium IoT Network An Internet of Things network within the Helium ecosystem, enabling connected devices to communicate via the decentralized hotspot infrastructure.
- Helium Hotspots Small physical devices that individuals and businesses host to provide affordable wireless connectivity. Hosters earn HNT for every connection made through their Hotspot, creating the world's largest decentralized wireless network.
- Carrier Offload with Helium Enterprise service that allows mobile carriers such as AT&T to offload subscriber traffic to Helium's community-built hotspot network, providing coverage expansion without building new infrastructure.
Quantifiable outcome
- 93,000+ community-built Wi-Fi hotspots deployed
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Nova Labs
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Nova Labs technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Nova Labs partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- AT&TcoreAT&T partnered with Helium to provide its subscribers access to over 93,000 community-built Wi-Fi hotspots across the U.S. The partnership is part of AT&T's wireless convergence strategy, allowing AT&T to expand coverage without building new infrastructure while Helium hotspot operators earn HNT token incentives.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Nova Labs competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Pollen Mobile: Decentralized mobile network that incentivizes 5G small-cell deployment with a token economy; competes directly with Helium's mobile data-offload and hotspot-hosting model for community operators.
- Nodle Network: Decentralized IoT connectivity network leveraging smartphones as Bluetooth gateways with token incentives; competes in the same decentralized, token-incentivized wireless-connectivity category as Helium's IoT Network.
- Wayru: Decentralized Wi-Fi hotspot network that rewards operators with a token for sharing bandwidth; overlaps with Helium's community hotspot and carrier-offload value proposition.
- Althea: Decentralized mesh networking protocol where users route and pay for internet bandwidth via token economics; directly comparable to Helium's people-powered connectivity and HNT-incentivized routing concept.
- World Mobile Token: Blockchain-based decentralized mobile network operating shared-spectrum small cells across underserved markets; mirrors Helium's token-incentivized, community-built wireless model with similar carrier-offload ambitions.
Emerging players
- FOAM: Blockchain-based proof-of-location protocol that uses crypto-incentivized nodes, intersecting with Helium's tokenized, community-operated wireless infrastructure model.
- Mysterium Network: Decentralized peer-to-peer VPN/node network paying operators in tokens for bandwidth; shares the crypto-incentivized connectivity paradigm with Helium, albeit focused on tunneling rather than carrier-grade wireless.
Broad incumbents
- Crown Castle: U.S. tower and small-cell/fiber infrastructure owner serving major carriers; traditional alternative to Helium's distributed hotspot-based coverage expansion.
- American Tower: Global cell-tower and wireless infrastructure REIT; represents the legacy centralized infrastructure model that Helium's decentralized network is positioned against in carrier offload.
- Boingo Wireless: Established carrier-Wi-Fi and venue connectivity provider offering offload and hotspot aggregation to major carriers; compete with Nova Labs/Helium for the same carrier-offload and venue Wi-Fi contracts at larger enterprise scale.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Nova Labs social profiles
Digital presenceNova Labs financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Nova Labs leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Nova Labs subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Nova Labs funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Nova Labs M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Nova Labs
What does Nova Labs do?
Nova Labs, operating as Helium, operates a decentralized wireless network powered by the HNT token, replacing traditional cell towers with community-hosted Hotspots that provide affordable cellular, Wi-Fi, and IoT connectivity. The company sells Hotspot hardware to individuals and businesses while providing carrier offload and data services to telecom operators and ISPs using its community-built network.
Is Nova Labs a public or private company?
Nova Labs is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Nova Labs founded?
Nova Labs was founded in 2013. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Nova Labs based?
Nova Labs is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Nova Labs make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Hardware Sales (Hotspots) is the primary driver. The others are carrier Offload / Data Services and direct-to-Consumer Mobile Service (formerly Helium Mobile).
Who are Nova Labs's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Pollen Mobile, Nodle Network, Wayru, Althea and World Mobile Token. Emerging players are FOAM and Mysterium Network. Broad incumbents are Crown Castle, American Tower and Boingo Wireless.
Does Nova Labs have an API?
No public API is recorded for Nova Labs.
What industry is Nova Labs in?
Nova Labs's product category is Decentralized Wireless Telecommunications. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAIAIAB, NFV Infrastructure (NFVI), Virtual Network Functions (VNFs) & Cloud-Native Network Functions (CNFs), with a secondary code of HDAFANAA, Virtual Network Functions (VNFs). Its NAICS code is 51711 and its SIC code is 3663.