Fon, a free “crowdsourced” WiFi network that is created out of people sharing a portion of their private WiFi connections, is today announcing another $14 million in funding led by Qualcomm Ventures. It’s a strategic investment: sometime in the first half of 2014, Fon will be shipping a new, “social-music” router, called Fonera, based on a chipset from Qualcomm subsidiary Atheros. Qualcomm will also be integrating Fon into other Atheros chipsets, making it available as part of the SDK.
“The amount of this round and the caliber of investors will propel us into our next stage of growth,” said Martin Varsavsky, CEO, Fon, in a statement. “We are excited about our new relationship with Qualcomm, which is an amazing company and a leader in mobile data communication. By integrating Fon into Qualcomm Atheros’ chipsets, more devices and systems will be automatically equipped to be part of Fon’s global Wi-Fi network.”
The investment is part of a big push that Madrid-based Fon, which now has some 12 million hotspots worldwide, is making to tackle the U.S. market. As part of that, it will be partnering with Facebook to provide a Fon integration — Facebook friends of Fon users will now be able to use their friends’ Fon connections, when they are in the same physical space as their friends.
(The advantage of doing this is that you don’t have to give out your password to your own WiFi network, making it easier for people to connect when they are visiting you at home or in your office.)
The company has to-date had an extensive rollout across Europe, with partnerships with companies like BT in the UK giving BT’s broadband subscribers the ability to access WiFi outside the home. It says that its grown by 50% this year, and claims 10% penetration in markets like Belgium and the UK.
Perhaps that plus the success of other collaborative consumption startups like Airbnb has made Fon and its investors more bullish on the prospects of the company repeating that success in the U.S. It will also be announcing carrier partnerships in the country, we understand.
Others in this round include existing investors Index Partners, Google, Coral and Atomico and Deutsche Telekom (DT). Fon has raised nearly $72 million since being founded in 2006.
“Fon’s unique approach to crowd-sourcing Wi-Fi is going to play an increasingly instrumental role in the future of mobile data,” said Miles Kirby, senior director for Qualcomm Ventures, in a statement. “Qualcomm is leading the 1000x mobile data challenge, and Fon fits perfectly into our vision to solving the increasing demand for data.”
Fon is projecting that it will be touching some 35 million hotspots by 2016. “Our recent expansion in the U.S. and projects such as our work with the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership to provide downtown Brooklyn residents, businesses and public with free Wi-Fi are all a part of the strategy to reach that goal,” said Varsavsky in a statement.
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