{"id":17610,"date":"2020-12-30T01:44:28","date_gmt":"2020-12-29T17:44:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/korean-tech-conglomerate-will-invest-30m-in-gates-backed-kymeta-antenna-venture\/"},"modified":"2020-12-30T01:44:28","modified_gmt":"2020-12-29T17:44:28","slug":"korean-tech-conglomerate-will-invest-30m-in-gates-backed-kymeta-antenna-venture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/korean-tech-conglomerate-will-invest-30m-in-gates-backed-kymeta-antenna-venture\/","title":{"rendered":"Korean tech conglomerate will invest $30M in Gates-backed Kymeta antenna venture"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_597810\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-597810\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-597810\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/kymeta3-630x377.png\" alt=\"Kymeta antenna on car\" width=\"630\" height=\"377\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/kymeta3-630x377.png 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/kymeta3-1260x755.png 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/kymeta3-768x460.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/kymeta3-1536x920.png 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/kymeta3.png 1539w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-597810\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kymeta\u2019s next-generation antenna can fit on top of a vehicle to provide hybrid cellular-satellite connectivity. (Kymeta Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Hanwha Systems, a smart-technology company headquartered in South Korea, has agreed to make an $30 million investment in Redmond, Wash.-based Kymeta Corp. \u2014 with an eye toward getting a foothold in the market for antennas capable of linking up with satellite constellations in low Earth orbit.<\/p>\n<p>The equity investment deal follows up on an $85 million funding round led by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in August. Gates has backed Kymeta since its launch as a next-generation antenna venture in 2012.<\/p>\n<p>Kymeta is in the midst of the commercial rollout for its latest connectivity offering, a hybrid cellular-satellite broadband service known as Kymeta Connect.<\/p>\n<p>The service relies on an innovative flat-panel antenna called the u8. Metamaterial-based electronics allow Kymeta\u2019s antenna to lock onto satellites without the need for moving parts.<\/p>\n<p>Kymeta Connect currently takes advantage of satellites in geostationary Earth orbit, or GEO. But its system can be upgraded for compatibility with the broadband satellite constellations that are taking shape in low Earth orbit, or LEO \u2014 including OneWeb, SpaceX\u2019s Starlink and Amazon\u2019s future Project Kuiper constellation.<\/p>\n<p>That meshes perfectly with the plans being laid by Hanwha, a global conglomerate involved in industries ranging from telecommunications to aerospace and finance. Hanwha Systems Co. focuses on smart technologies in defense electronics and information infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe objective of our investment in Kymeta is to enter the LEO satellite antenna market early on, and diversify our technology portfolio,\u201d Youn Chul Kim, CEO of Hanwha Systems Co., said in a news release. \u201cWith the expertise of HSC\u2019s top-notch defense communication and radar technologies, we are joining hands with this promising U.S. satellite antenna company. All these efforts will further strengthen HSC\u2019s aerospace systems capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Assuming that the investment deal wins regulatory approval, Hanwha Systems will receive a seat on Kymeta\u2019s board of directors.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Introducing the Kymeta u8 Terminal\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Xia4Us3yJbM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Kymeta said the fresh funding will support increased hardware production as well as enhancements in its system\u2019s capabilities and customer experience, and \u201cimprove the overall growth trajectory of the company.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSupport from HSC will help us expand our reach and drive the development and productization of our metamaterial-based antenna technology,\u201d said Doug Hutcheson, Kymeta\u2019s executive chairman.<\/p>\n<p>Like Kim, Hutcheson emphasized the outlook for broadband satellite services in low Earth orbit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLEO antenna solutions will become preferred for latency-sensitive and highly mobile applications as additional LEO satellites are launched and constellations are deployed,\u201d Hutcheson said. \u201cKymeta\u2019s solutions work on existing GEO networks and are LEO upgradeable. We look forward to working with HSC to develop technologies and solutions that are reliable and critical for communications on the move.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kymeta\u2019s next-generation antenna can fit on top of a vehicle to provide hybrid cellular-satellite connectivity. (Kymeta Photo) Hanwha Systems, a smart-technology company headquartered in South Korea, has agreed to make an $30 million investment in Redmond, Wash.-based Kymeta Corp. \u2014 with an eye toward getting a foothold in the market for antennas capable of linking [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4591,4776,354,4726,20,442],"class_list":["post-17610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-antennas","tag-hanwha-systems","tag-kymeta","tag-metamaterials","tag-satellite","tag-satellites"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17610"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17610\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}