# Towns Labs

> Towns Labs is the New York developer studio behind Towns Protocol, an open, encrypted messaging network built on Base where online communities own and govern their own group chats instead of renting them from a platform. Founded by serial social-app builder Ben Rubin, it turns Discord-style 'Spaces' into onchain, token-gated, monetizable communities - backed by a16z crypto, Coinbase Ventures and Benchmark, with a live $TOWNS token that shipped in August 2025.

- **Founded:** 2020
- **Headquarters:** New York, New York, United States
- **Founders:** Ben Rubin (CEO & Co-Founder)
- **Team size:** ~16 employees
- **Products:** Towns Protocol, Spaces & Memberships, Towns App, $TOWNS Token, Developer Hub & SDK
- **Notable:** Founded by Ben Rubin, serial founder of Meerkat and Houseparty (acquired by Epic Games in 2019), Raised roughly $59M total from a16z crypto, Coinbase Ventures, Benchmark and Framework Ventures, Shipped the River Layer 2 chain and off-chain stream node network on Base

## Products & services

- **Towns Protocol** — An open-source protocol for building decentralized, real-time, encrypted messaging apps. Combines an EVM-compatible Layer 2 chain, off-chain stream nodes, and smart contracts deployed on Base.
- **Spaces & Memberships** — Programmable, ownable group chats ('Spaces') with onchain subscriptions ('Memberships'), token-gated access, moderation rules, and an extendable reputation system.
- **Towns App** — The consumer group-chat application built by Towns Labs on top of the protocol - a Discord-style interface for creating and joining ownable communities.
- **$TOWNS Token** — The network's utility and governance token used for staking to Spaces, rewarding node operators, and protocol governance. Launched August 5, 2025 with a ~10.1 billion initial supply.
- **Developer Hub & SDK** — Tools and documentation letting developers build permissionless clients and bots without rebuilding node coordination, membership verification, or payment infrastructure.

## Achievements

- Founded by Ben Rubin, serial founder of Meerkat and Houseparty (acquired by Epic Games in 2019)
- Raised roughly $59M total from a16z crypto, Coinbase Ventures, Benchmark and Framework Ventures
- Shipped the River Layer 2 chain and off-chain stream node network on Base
- Launched the $TOWNS token on Binance and Gate in August 2025 with 57% allocated to community and ecosystem
- Open-sourced the protocol on GitHub, enabling permissionless client and bot development

## Latest updates

- **2025-08** — $TOWNS token launched via airdrop and listed on Binance and Gate; ~10.1 billion initial supply with 57% allocated to community and ecosystem.
- **2025-05** — Here Not There Labs / HNT Labs rebranded to Towns Labs, clarifying the split between the dev company, the protocol, and the app.
- **2025-04** — Closed a $10M Series B led by a16z crypto with new backing from Coinbase Ventures and continued support from Benchmark.

## Links

- Website: https://towns.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/townslabs
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/TownsProtocol
- GitHub: https://github.com/towns-protocol

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/towns-labs
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-20