Google, Skype, Index Ventures and Sequoia Capital will have today announced $21.7m in 1st round funding for Madrid-based Fon, the Wi-Fi sharing network that went live two months ago.
Fon's users of the service, Foneros, are known as either “Bill”, “Linus” or “Alien”. Bill members – after Bill Gates – download secure software from Fon that turns their home wi-fi network into a hotspot anyone within its range can use to connect to the internet for a fee.
Linus members – after Linus Torvalds, creator of the free Linux software – allow their hotspots and bandwidth to be shared for free and can use any other members’ without charge.
Aliens pay to connect to the Fon network and do not share their own networks. Fon and Bills will share the revenues earned from Aliens and other Bills.
The service went live in November and has registered 3,000 users in 53 countries in two months. Fon aims to be the largest Wi-Fi hotspot provider in the world.
It is not clear yet whether Google or Skype will assist Fon other than providing them with financing, but if they did, this would be a major boost for the company. Just securing the backers that they have secured at such an early stage in the company's existence bodes well.
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