DAWN, a decentralized protocol designed to provide multi-gigabit broadband services that is owned and operated by users, said it raised $13 million in a Series B funding round led by Polychain Capital.
According to an announcement shared with CoinDesk on Thursday, the funding will be used to expand the Solana-based protocol’s network coverage in the United States and launch international deployments.
The New York-based project allows individuals and organizations to act as network hosts, deploying wireless nodes that provide Internet access. Moderators are rewarded based on coverage quality and demand. The model aims to eschew the centralized ownership structures that dominate traditional broadband and instead allocate infrastructure ownership to the edge of the network.
The funding highlights investor interest in bringing decentralization to real-world services, an approach known as decentralized physical infrastructure (DePIN).
DAWN isn’t the only company identifying communications as a DePIN app. Another well-known project, Helium, allows users to install hotspots that act as small mobile sites. The platform, also built on Solana, expanded to the Brazilian market this month in partnership with local WiFi provider Mambo.
DAWN has reached more than 4 million homes in the United States, and the first international rollout in Accra, Ghana, targets underserved areas where fiber deployment has been slow and costly.
The project has also introduced consumer hardware, including its Black Box device, which doubles as a router and decentralized infrastructure node. The device supports multiple blockchain ecosystems, allowing households to participate directly in broadband delivery while earning rewards.