Introducing Dabba
A DePIN for internet connectivity in emerging markets
TLDR:
- We enable anyone from around the world to lease out a wifi hotspot miner in India.
- Started in 2017, $5M raised from YCombinator, Multicoin capital and Borderless capital
- Our mission is to bring a billion consumers super fast, super cheap wifi
- Our team helped power Google wifi in India and have been instrumental in shaping India’s telecom policies advocating for a decentralized internet infrastructure.
- We’re driven by high data demand and paying customers, a PMF-ready real-world utility token.
- Launching on Solana soon.
- Our network is live:
Over 1500 wifi hotspot already deployed in India and soon the rest of the world- Over 20,000 data consumers on the network
- Season 2 of hotspot sales now open with 10,000 hotspot miners & selling out fast.
Explore the live network map: https://explorer.dabba.network/
The vision: Democratizing the future of internet connectivity
For eight years Wifii Dabba has spearheaded internet access solutions. Now, fueled by DePIN and our understanding of user needs, we’re building a network where:
- DePIN made easy: Anyone from around the world can lease a dabba hotspot miner in India. It’s deployed and managed for you in areas of high data demand and with paying customers.
- Billions Connect: We bridge the digital divide, bringing high-speed internet to every corner of society, fostering growth and opportunity across all economic and social sectors.
Introducing Dabba
For nearly a decade, Dabba has been on a relentless mission: to bridge the digital divide and empower communities with the transformative power of high-speed, affordable internet access. We partnered with Google to run parts of the largest public Wifi network across our country and helped create a national framework to promote a decentralized model of the Internet infrastructure, enabling over a hundred new small businesses to co-create an entirely novel sector.
Since 2022, we have embarked on a new chapter, leveraging DePIN to scale our solution. This strategic shift allows us to connect with a vibrant, global community who shares our vision of a world where everyone, everywhere, can access the limitless opportunities of the internet.
The problem
Globally, 35% of the population lacks access to the internet, hindering their ability to access education, healthcare, economic opportunities, and information. Traditional infrastructure solutions are often expensive and trickle down from the rich to poor at a painfully slow rate, leaving many communities underserved.
Fixed high speed, reliable broadband connections are expensive undertakings for companies with traditional business models resulting in an even lower number of wired connections which act as primary source for most of the world reading this.
These problems are further exacerbated in the developing world where infrastructure development is still in its infancy. India, the most competitive telecom market, serves as a crucial test bed for refining and building this model which can then be adapted and deployed across emerging markets globally.
Solution
Following the lead of disruptive platforms like Uber and Airbnb, WiFi Dabba is pioneering a new internet service model by aggregating field experts who have worked in this sector for years (LCO - Local cable operator), these experts are stakeholders on the Dabba network and are rewarded for their contributions to the network.
Think of them as micro ISP’s who primarily provide internet connectivity in rural and suburban India. Starting with the 150,000 LCO’s across India, Dabba will aggregate and leverage these LCO’s to deploy, install and maintain WiFi Dabba Hotspots in areas with high data demand.
The first pilot LCO on the network, “Swami Wifi” operates out of Pune and Sangli, Maharashtra. Over the coming months Dabba will be onboarding more LCO’s through a stringent verification process in order to achieve its goal of deploying 100,000 hotspots in year 1 of the network.
Importantly, anyone can join the network by owning a hotspot. As a hotspot owner you have access to these on field experts to make DePIN mining easy. From the comfort of your home you can passively manage your devices through our explorer and grow your DePIN empire.
We consider the internet as the foundation for growth within the DePIN ecosystem. Our managed deployment model is highly scalable, allowing seamless integration of various DePIN projects over time. This fosters the development of smart cities and villages across the globe.
Team
Our tight-knit team of 25 engineers, designers, operations, and customer support staff has collaborated for eight years building towards a common vision under the leadership of:
- Karam Lakshman, CEO - A seasoned programmer with 25 years of experience, Karam dropped out of college and successfully sold his first startup co-founded with Shubhs.
X/Twitter:@karamlakshman
- Shubhendu Sharma, COO - A graduate from IIM-B, Bangalore, Shubhs chose to start his own telecom company instead of staying at British Telecom, co-founding a successful startup with Karam.
X/Twitter: @shubhendusharma
The Jupiter Ecosystem X Dabba
We chose Solana as our blockchain platform for its high transaction speeds (TPS) and low fees. This ensures a smooth user experience for the vast network of end users we anticipate throughout the year. Solana’s scalability aligns perfectly with our vision of mass retail adoption
We champion a “Player Pump Player” (PPP) community culture, which we aim to cultivate alongside Jupiter within the Solana ecosystem. In this collaborative model, we strive for every member to thrive and contribute towards a shared, long-term vision.
Season 2 of the Dabba network will onboard over 100,000 data consumers through the 10,000 hotspots that will be sold over this season; these are also new users to the web3 ecosystem.
These numbers are set exponentially multiply with the growth of the network, our year 1 target for the network is to deploy 100,000 hotspots across India.
Through the Dabba network we will be able to expose these data consumers to web3 in a manner that is beneficial to them, beyond just crypto. This will lead to better adoption of web3 products and services across masses that have not been seen in this space before.
We believe that the existing Jupiter ecosystem partners and Dabba’s aggregation model will make Solana a natural transition to new blockchain users that we onboard through the network.
What does it mean if Wifi Dabba were to succeed?
India has the world’s largest population of 1.4+ billion people and yet 40% do not have access to the internet. 75% do not have access to fixed broadband connections essential for commerce and entertainment.
India is the most competitive telecom market in the world and serves as a crucial test bed for refining our DePIN service. Decentralized communities that co-own and shape the growth of Internet Infrastructure is the foundational layer that removes the digital divide created by Big Telco.
This Is a critical step towards a more inclusive, equitable, and interconnected world. It empowers individuals, strengthens communities, and unlocks a world of possibilities for global progress.
This is our way of contributing to the vision of Financial Inclusion with Cryptocurrency.
The problems of connectivity are not unique to India but seen across emerging markets. Dabba aims to expand the network to other nations that would greatly benefit like Vietnam, Nigeria, Thailand, the Philippines and many more.
Designing a Token with Real World Utility $DBT
The Dabba Token’s primary utility used to reward all the network stakeholders that contribute to running and growing the Dabba Network.
A few ways DBT is utilized:
- FIAT Revenue generated from data consumption will be used to buyback and burn the circulating supply.
- Dabba tokens are used by hotspot owners to reward LCOs for installing and maintaining their hotspot
- Onboarding fees per hotspot consume $100 USD equivalent in $DBT.
- DBT rewards can be burnt to claim discounts and avail other services on a marketplace built into the network for end consumers and network participants.
These mechanics in combination incentivize network growth, user participation, and value creation within the WiFi Dabba ecosystem.
Token launch
- We aim to launch our token by August ‘24.
- Total token supply: 10B - emitted on a regular fixed basis
- Tokenomics deep dive - https://gitbook.dabba.network/
Token Distribution
-
Token warrants: 8.46%
To initial capital providers. 2 year lock-in, 2 year linear vesting -
Dabba Foundation: 8.00%
For network governance, future grants and growth incentives -
Wifi Dabba Inc: 18.00%
Used for team, software, hardware development and future fundraise. 2 year lock-in, 2 year linear vesting -
Liquidity incentive pool: 5.54%
Managed by foundation, used to help incentivize ecosystem contributors -
Hotspot owners: 60.00%
Rewards for hotspot owners
The Dabba quest
Join the 5 million $DBT airdrop dabba quest and help Dabba break the DePIN stratosphere. Get started here - Jupiter Space Catdets | WiFi Dabba
Links:
- Website: https://dabba.com/
- Watch a podcast with Karam here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqeQYVBKiss
- Gitbook: https://gitbook.dabba.network/
- Network explorer: https://explorer.dabba.network/
- Discord community: Official Dabba Community
- Dabba X Twitter: x.com
- Quests: Jupiter Space Catdets | WiFi Dabba
- Karam Linkedin - Karam Lakshman - Wifi Dabba | LinkedIn
- Shubhs Linkedin - Shubhendu Sharma - Y Combinator - Bangalore Urban, Karnataka, India | LinkedIn
Media
Catch @Dabba (Karam) on the JUP & Juice Podcast alongside @wake and @SaxWEB3 HERE
Proof of Coverage podacst
Hashrate Podcast
Catch us on stage at Breakpoint '24
