Community-powered decentralised weather network WeatherXM, IoT provider Qnectd and food safety firm KitchenOS have all selected the Helium Network to power their IoT services.

Built by a community of operators around the world, the nonprofit Helium Network is the largest LoRaWan delivering secure, reliable, accessible and cost-effective decentralised wireless coverage.

With nearly one million hotspots deployed since launch and coverage in more than 77,000 towns and cities around the globe, the Helium Network powers IoT devices from air quality monitors, to smart agriculture, smart cities, resource management, weather forecasting and more.

The three companies are the latest to select the Helium’s community-powered global wireless network. WeatherXM, Qnectd and KitchenOS join a growing number of companies that have chosen to power their devices through the network, offering decentralised, reliable, secure and accessible connectivity.

WeatherXM is building a community owned weather network, with more than 3500 weather stations deployed by individuals around the world already. Backed by blockchain technology, WeatherXM leverages token rewards to incentivise the creation of a comprehensive and accurate weather network. With Helium, WeatherXM can expand its reach, delivering hyper-local weather data to individuals and services worldwide while keeping down wireless communication costs.

“By leveraging the power of the Helium Network and latest IoT hardware, we have developed a series of Web3 enabled weather stations that provide agricultural and other weather-sensitive industries hyper-local weather forecasts, as well as cryptographic proofs on weather conditions,” said Manolis Nikiforakis, CEO of WeatherXM. “This is particularly important in emerging markets that lack weather monitoring infrastructure as it enables multiple other businesses to flourish, like parametric weather insurance. With more accurate weather data, the World Bank estimates that countries can save $13bn in asset losses annually, $22bn in losses to well-being, and $30bn through a resulting increase in productivity.”

Bulgaria-based Qnectd is an IoT provider for smart cities, farms and buildings. By leveraging the global connectivity of the Helium Network, the company can deliver its services across cities, towns and villages. Recently, the company launched a What Do You Breathe? campaign to raise awareness about indoor air quality issues in elementary schools by deploying Helium-compatible air quality monitoring. Beyond air quality monitoring, Qnected’s IoT offerings include water level monitoring, smart city lights, sanitation management and smart farming.

“With the Helium Network, our team at Qnectd can deliver impactful IoT to areas that were previously inaccessible due to a lack of wireless infrastructure,” said Hristo Atanasov, CEO of Qnectd. “From cities to farms and everywhere in between, the Helium Network has been a vital partner in providing reliable and accessible connectivity to our customers.”

Based in the UK, KitchenOS is a food safety provider that leverages sensor-powered technology to monitor the temperature of food items across the cold chain. With real-time temperature monitoring powered by the Helium Network, users can know their food and produce are safe to consume, reducing food poisoning, spoilage and waste. Using Helium, KitchenOS can provide accurate and reliable temperature data to over 100 businesses across the UK, Austria, Malta and the USA.

“The Helium Network made the most sense to connect our sensors and provide our customers with real-time data about temperature across the cold chain,” said Neil Bradley, CEO of KitchenOS. “I was a chef before I founded KitchenOS, and I struggled to understand why so little effort was made to prevent food waste. We are excited to continue our mission, powered in part by the Helium Network.”

Abhay Kumar, CEO of the Helium Foundation, added: “The permissionless, ubiquitous and affordable nature of the Helium Network has lowered the barriers to entry, empowering more businesses to benefit from IoT and the products it enables. We are thrilled to see continued ecosystem growth with impactful IoT developed by companies like Qnectd, KitchenOS and WeatherXM.”