# Amir Haleem

> Amir Haleem is the co-founder and chairman of Nova Labs, the company behind Helium’s community-built wireless network. A former competitive Quake player and game developer, he co-founded Helium with Shawn Fanning and Sean Carey in 2013, led the company through its shift to crypto-incentivized infrastructure, and handed the CEO role to Mario Di Dio in June 2026.

- **Role:** Co-founder and Chairman at Nova Labs
- **Organizations:** Nova Labs, Helium, Diversion, DICE, ESReality, Global Gaming League
- **Nationality:** British
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence, University of Manchester
- **Known for:** Won CPL FRAG 3 in Quake III Arena in 1999., Co-founded esports community ESReality., Worked on the original Battlefield 1942 development team.

## Career timeline

- **1999** — Competed as Hakeem and won the CPL FRAG 3 Quake III Arena tournament in Dallas on October 31, receiving $10,000.
- **Before 2013** — Worked in video game testing and design, including on the original Battlefield 1942 team in Stockholm; later served as CTO at Diversion and co-founded ESReality.
- **2013** — Co-founded Helium with Shawn Fanning and Sean Carey.
- **2017** — Helium explored crypto incentives as a way to encourage independent wireless-network deployment.
- **2018** — Named co-author of Helium’s decentralized wireless network whitepaper, release 0.4.2 dated November 14.
- **2019** — Helium launched its public community-built network; the first HNT was emitted July 29.
- **2022** — Announced the Nova Labs corporate name and a $200 million Series D led by Tiger Global and Andreessen Horowitz.
- **2023** — Helium migrated to Solana on April 18 during his tenure as CEO.
- **2026** — Moved to chairman on June 4 as Mario Di Dio became CEO, following the June 2 acquisition of the Helium Mobile consumer carrier business by Noble Mobile.

## Achievements

- Won CPL FRAG 3 in Quake III Arena in 1999.
- Co-founded esports community ESReality.
- Worked on the original Battlefield 1942 development team.
- Co-founded Helium in 2013 and led the company through the 2019 public network launch.
- Co-authored the Helium decentralized wireless network whitepaper.
- Led Nova Labs when it announced its $200 million Series D in March 2022.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — Noble Mobile acquired the Helium Mobile consumer carrier business on June 2; Nova Labs and the Helium Network were separate from the sale.
- **2026-06** — Haleem moved to chairman on June 4 as Mario Di Dio became CEO.
- **2026-08** — At the company Haleem chairs, CEO Mario Di Dio announced an integrator-led US carrier pilot would disconnect, reducing daily active users.
- **2026-09** — The company introduced HeliumOS on September 1 for carriers, virtual network operators and venues; this is a company development during Haleem’s chairmanship.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amirhaleem
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/amirhaleem
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amirhaleem/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/amir-haleem
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-25