Pantera-Backed Solana Treasury Firm Helius Raises $500M, Stock Soars Over 200%

Group 1 - Helius Medical Technologies (HSDT) is raising over $500 million in a private financing round to establish a Solana-focused treasury company, aiming to expand to more than $1.25 billion through stock warrants [1] - The financing round is led by Pantera Capital and Summer Capital, with participation from investors such as Animoca Brands, FalconX, and HashKey Capital [1] - Following the announcement, Helius shares surged over 200% to above $24 in pre-market trading, while Solana's value decreased by 4% in the past 24 hours [2] Group 2 - Helius is set to compete with Forward Industries (FORD), which has a $1.65 billion fund backed by Galaxy Digital, and has already purchased 6.8 million tokens for approximately $1.58 billion [3] - The company plans to utilize Solana's yield-bearing design to generate income from its holdings, targeting staking rewards of around 7% and exploring decentralized finance (DeFi) and lending opportunities [4] - Incoming executive chairman Joseph Chee, along with Pantera's Cosmo Jiang and Dan Morehead, will lead the digital asset strategy for Helius [4] Group 3 - Pantera Capital's Cosmo Jiang highlighted the firm's expertise in establishing digital asset treasury strategies, having previously worked with notable companies like Tether and Softbank [5] - Jiang emphasized the potential to enhance shareholder value by accelerating Solana adoption, referencing strategies pioneered by Michael Saylor [6]