Startup profile · funding coverage
Here Not There Labs
Builder of Towns — decentralized, E2E-encrypted group chat protocol for online communities.
Stage
series b
Status
private
Coverage
full
Why Here Not There Labs is interesting
Founded by Houseparty/Meerkat's Ben Rubin; transitioning governance to Towns DAO.
Key facts
- Series A (2023): $25.5M led by a16z crypto; Benchmark participated — CoinDesk / FinSMEs
- Series B (2025): $10M with Benchmark and Coinbase Ventures — CB Insights
- Founded by Ben Rubin (Houseparty / Meerkat); governance transitioning to Towns DAO
Investors in our directory
Funds linked from Here Not There Labs's profile — open a fund page for stage focus and related deal articles.
Industries
Crypto & Web3
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FAQs about Here Not There Labs
Funding context and why this company shows up in venture coverage.
Here Not There Labs builds Towns — a decentralized, E2E-encrypted group messaging protocol for online communities with on-chain governance.
Andreessen Horowitz (see /fund/andreessen-horowitz) led the Series A; Benchmark (/fund/benchmark) participated in Series A and B.
The company raised a $25.5M Series A in 2023 and a $10M Series B in 2025.
Community platforms face moderation and portability tradeoffs; Towns bets encrypted, user-governed chat can serve crypto-native and online communities.
Here Not There Labs remains private as of July 2026.
Last updated: 2026-07-24