Bulletins

Plume raises $300 million for smart Wi-Fi

Routers and pucks running its software are being used across more than 31 million homes worldwide.

Plume Wi-Fi pod

Plume is selling Wi-Fi pods to consumers, but the company is also working with some of the world's largest operators.

Photo: Plume

Wi-Fi platform provider Plume has raised a new $300 million round of funding led by SoftBank's Vision Fund 2. The new cash infusion brings the company's valuation to $2.6 billion; altogether, Plume has raised nearly $700 million to date.

Plume provides Wi-Fi mesh networking to operators like Comcast, Charter and Vodafone, and routers and pucks running its software are being used across more than 31 million homes worldwide. The company has also been working on using Wi-Fi for advanced IoT features, including presence detection and home security.

Plume CEO Fahri Diner recently told Protocol that his company is now looking to build its own smart home data and intelligence platform. "We've really become the operating system of the smart home," he said.

Janko Roettgers

Janko Roettgers (Twitter, Mastodon) used to be a senior reporter at Protocol, reporting on the shifting power dynamics between tech, media, and entertainment, including the impact of new technologies. Previously, Janko was Variety's first-ever technology writer in San Francisco, where he covered big tech and emerging technologies. He has reported for Gigaom, Frankfurter Rundschau, Berliner Zeitung, and ORF, among others. He has written three books on consumer cord-cutting and online music and co-edited an anthology on internet subcultures. He lives with his family in Oakland.

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Bulletins