Kymeta, a company that develops satellite antennas and to provide connectivity to any vehicle or ship, has raised $85.2 million in an investment circular led by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
Construction occurs when several high-level corporations are creating low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems, adding to Amazon, which recently won Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approval to launch a satellite network to offer broadband as a component of Project Kuiper. Other notable players come with SpaceX from Elon Musk, which comes with its Starlink Internet service, and OneWeb, which is coming out of bankruptcy with the BRITISH government.
With the advent of more and more satellite Internet in the coming years, Kymeta is well placed to provide the infrastructure needed to capture this connectivity and deliver it to consumers across all sectors. “When those microsatellite constellations move into space, our antenna will be critical to building connectivity from a moving satellite to a moving vehicle,” Kymeta’s chief strategy officer, Bill Marks, told VentureBeat.
Kymeta’s latest product, the Kymeta u8 terminal, is an electronically directed flat panel antenna designed to be fixed seamlessly in any vehicle, adding military trucks, ambulances, trains, buses and yachts, in what is known as “mobile communications” (COTM). .
“The initial orientation of the visitor is the army, the government, law enforcement and the first to respond,” Marks said. “These consumers want perfect, uninterrupted cellular connectivity.”
However, Kymeta generation can be used anywhere it is difficult to download Internet connectivity through traditional means, adding constant sites, such as wind and solar farms. Marks said Kymeta satellite terminals have been deployed in more than 20 countries on “dozens” of other types of platforms.
“Kymeta’s request comes from consumers looking to get connectivity where they’ve never had it before,” Marks said.
Founded in 2012, Kymeta, founded in Redmond, Washington, has gone from a hardware company to “services and solutions” for the following year. For a monthly subscription starting at $999, Kymeta Connect provides equipment, connectivity, and network software to provide a 24/7 global policy for any installation. In addition, the u8 terminal supports satellite and cellular, allowing Kymeta to transfer between the two connectivity options, depending on which one has the most powerful signal at any given time.
Kymeta does not sell its hardware and directly to the end user, but operates through specialized distribution channels in a fast market sector or geographic region.
Kymeta had raised nearly $220 million in the past, with Bill Gates contributing to the company’s first circular of $12 million in 2012 and leading its $62 million D-Series circular in 2016. With $78.5 million, Gates’ contribution to Kymeta’s final circular represented the lion’s percentage of the investment, Kymeta did not reveal the other participants.
“As a personal company, we do not disclose data about an investment or our investors,” Marks said. “That said, Bill Gates has obviously been and remains our biggest support.”