New Nova Labs Layoffs Affect 36% of Employees

Key Points:

• Nova Labs, operator of Helium Mobile, laid off 36% of its workforce in August to refocus on core cellular and crypto-centric phone services.
• The Nova Labs layoffs affected about 105 employees across various departments.

According to Blockworks, Nova Labs, the company behind Helium Mobile, a decentralized wireless network built on the Solana blockchain, recently announced a significant workforce reduction.

Read more: Nova Labs Partnered With T-Mobile To Launch First Crypto 5G Network

Nova Labs Layoffs Take Place As Company Restructures

In late August, the company laid off 36% of its staff, with several departments affected by this move, including engineering. The Nova Labs layoffs affected about 105 employees because the company was supposedly refocusing on its core cellular business and crypto-centered phone plans.

The Nova Labs layoffs mark the company has moved away from its original ambitions of building decentralized wireless networks for IoT devices, as it is now focused on consolidating efforts around Helium Mobile’s mainstays of service.

Shifting Decentralized Wireless Network to Cellular Market Focus

The Helium wireless network first went live in July 2019, with the aim of providing wireless coverage to IoT devices on a decentralized, autonomous network model.

Helium is based on its Helium Consensus Protocol and Proof-of-Coverage. This incentivizes miners through rewards in Helium’s native token, HNT, as they provide coverage to the network. Miners provide wireless coverage over known physical locations, adding size and robustness to the network.

In addition to the blockchain protocol, Helium makes use of WHIP-Helium Wireless Protocol, a decentralized system that enables devices to send and receive data over the internet and vice versa through autonomous providers rather than any kind of central coordinator. It’s ambitious in trying to create a more approachable and affordable wireless network than models have been.