Kymeta News

April 6, 2016

The Antenna Disrupting Connectivity with Bill Gates’ Help

Why Bill Gates is betting on this mobile Wi-Fi revolution

Nathan Kundtzn, CEO of Kymeta Corp. in Seattle, Washington wi-fi revolution

A Bill Gates-backed mobile Wi-Fi bet  

Imagine driving cross country in a car with such good Wi-Fi, you’d be able to binge on your favorite Netflix shows along the way — assuming, of course, that you are in the passenger seat. Kymeta, based in Redmond, Washington, is proving the concept doesn’t have to be a pipe dream.

The company has created a flat electronically steered satellite antenna that’s out to revolutionize the world of mobile communications. The company was launched out of Intellectual Ventures — the venture capital firm of former Microsoft chief technology officer Nathan Myhrvold — in 2012.

Kymeta replaces dish technology with a flat antenna that can be steered electronically and, as a result, track a moving satellite. It aims to eventually replace the spotty Wi-Fi available today in, for example, the air, on cruise ships and more — places where it is clunky and more expensive.

The start-up’s goal is to “solve the global mobile communications problem,” said CEO Nathan Kundtz, adding, “Most of the world doesn’t have global mobile connectivity.”

In January, Toyota announced their decision to partner with Kymeta to use its satellite technology for its next-generation connected vehicles.

The Toyota 4Runner recently took a 20,000-mile cross-country road trip, stopping along the way to demonstrate its technology to partners, potential partners and universities.

Ross LeClair | CNBC
The Toyota 4Runner recently took a 20,000-mile cross-country road trip, stopping along the way to demonstrate its technology to partners, potential partners and universities.

“We were very excited to learn about Kymeta, because their flat antennae technology could solve the challenge of vehicle-based satellite communications,” said Toyota’s senior managing officer, Shigeki Tomoyama, in a statement.

To test-drive the technology, Kymeta’s mTenna was embedded into the roof of a Toyota 4Runner, which zigzagged 20,000 miles throughout the country to show the antenna’s connectivity capabilities. The SUV is now covered in stickers and signatures from potential partners and fans of the tech.

Read the article at CNBC