2021 and what has it brought to RAK and its partners
It has been a very eventful year for us at RAKwireless, this is to no small part due to our involvement with Helium and the amazing network they have been and continue to build. There were ups and down, some minor losses, some great victories, like any road worth taking this one has also been a hard one to walk, however we have prevailed throughout 2021, together.
RAK and Helium’s partnership endures and is going strong into 2022, however while important it is just one aspect of the growth we as a company and as a community have experienced. Let’s take a look into what has been accomplished so far and perhaps a sneak peek into what is yet to come.
23k+ Hotspots shipped
The year started strong, with an important milestone, passing the 20k hotspots shipped mark, at the end of Q1. This has been an important threshold for both RAK and Helium to cross as it proved we could deliver on the hardware and on network functionality itself for Helium.
$10M Series a Funding Round
A huge win for RAKwireless, securing the future employment of the RAK team and the resources to keep growing and creating IoT solutions, whether for Helium or another partner. This was a validation that the quality of our work has been recognized and deemed worth investing in.
PINE64 Partnership
A seemingly minor partnership, to year major rewards. As it has always been the case, we continued supporting the open-source community in bringing IoT integration wireless networking produces. The first PINE64 LPWAN Gateway takes shape.
Datacake Partnership
Another partnership, this time with the popular cloud application platform. Datacake grew immensely in 2021, its popularity exploded with more than 7k registered users over 27 countries. Naturally as RAK is one of the biggest names in LoRaWAN—a partnership. It has already brought some good gains, especially working in tandem with our WisBlock platform. However, this is just the start; expect to see a lot more WisBlock + Datacake content in 2022.
Validators Online on Mainnet
A huge milestone for Helium and one that improved the network in a very significant way. With consensus groups gone and part of the hotspot’s functionality shifted to the network rather than the hotspots, Helium took a major step towards long-term network stability. An important building block to make the existence of Light Hotspots in 2022.
100k+ Hotspots Live
There was something almost iconic about reaching that number, a product of the efforts of several manufacturers, backing up the People’s network, as always RAK being a major one.
Microsoft Azure Integration
Helium integrates with Azure IoT Hub. The console can now take advantage of Microsoft’s cloud solution and add it to the rest of the platforms that are supported.
Mining for Data-Only Hotspots
Data-Only hotspots gain the ability to earn token via transferring sensor data. This is an important feature, which is a stepping stone to Light Hotspots and long-term network values for customers. Naturally, RAK's Edge and Developer gateways are fully capable of utilizing the Data-Only hotspots mechanics and became part of the initial device lineup.
MNTD. Launches
RAKwireless creates a separate brand to only focus on blockchain products and the crypto community. We recognize how important it is for IoT and Blockchain technologies to work hand in hand and we take steps to ensure customers have access to the hardware they need.
5k+ RAKwireless Discord Community Members
As we grow so does our community. We are now 5k strong and growing.
DISH Partnership for 5G Hotspot
The first major carrier in the telco industry to join the People’s network. An important step towards enabling 5G to integrate with blockchain technology and benefit from crypto transactions.
300k+ Hotspots Live
Helium is at this point way over just another IoT network, it is by far the largest and most widespread global LPWAN network. As the number of hotspots explodes so does network density. New opportunities for deployment arise, new challenges and issues are presented, feedback is gathered, knowledge is accumulated, the network learns, improves, and grows.
100k+ Helium Hotspots Shipped
At this point there are more RAK hotspots in the Helium network than the entire size of most of the competing networks. The company expands, creates more manufacturing facilities and gears up to tackle Light Hotspot and 5G manufacturing and deployment.
PoC11 Goes Live
There are so many hotpots now that improvements in power management and interference mitigation need to take place. Limits on EIRP are introduced, the networks are starting to take shape, and stricter adherence to regulations is enforced in order to ensure long term stability.
10k+ RAKwireless Discord Community Members
We end the year with a milestone, a community-centered one. This is how we started so it is fitting we wrap up 2021 in the same way. We have always cared about the community and we are proud so many members have become part of the RAK family. This might be the last major event to report for 2021, but it is in no way the least important one 😊
RAK is going strong in 2022 and so is Helium. Expect new goodies from both us and the People’s network.
Light Hotspots are coming to take the Helium Network to the next level, to tackle existing issues and create new opportunities for growth. RAK will be actively taking part in provisioning the hardware for this new class of hotspots and you can expect to see the same quality we brought with the original RAKs.
5G is going strong and it will become an even larger portion of the network, as always, we will be one of the 5G Hotspot manufacturers to build the new aspect of the network upon.
We are also improving on our existing and future devices, with RAK’s soon to be released remote monitoring dashboard for all RAK Helium hotspots, together with a custom new firmware.
While RAKwireless has taken a firm hold into the Crypto mining space, the company is about more than just blockchain technology.
We are actively working on end-to-end solutions and the edge aspects of the LPWAN networks. We have a ton of new WisBlock modules to offer, expanding even more on the possible solutions the platform can create.
Additionally, RUIv3 will take care of the software stack portion to go with our firmware, so stay tuned for some amazing rapid development opportunities it will present.
WisDM and WisGateOS will also take a step forward. They took their first steps in 2021 and successful as they were, 2022 will be where they will have the chance to truly take the remote gateway management spotlight.
The year has been great to us. RAKwireless has not only survived in the harsh IoT environment of 2021, but has managed to prosper. We are stronger, our team is larger and still growing, we are branching out into new partnerships and solutions while taking old ones to the next level. We have grown as a company and perhaps even more so as a team, a collective of professionals.
We are grateful to have been given the chance to accomplish so many of our goals this past year and we look forward to the adventure the coming one will bring. To our clients, partners and community members, our colleagues and friends, thank you for being there RAK would not exist without you. May we go strong in 2022 so we can support you in your endeavors and give you the tools to build amazing projects.
As always, we stand by our motto and we believe we have been and shall continue to deliver.
