Northwood Space Corp., a company developing ground infrastructure to connect satellites with Earth, has raised $375 million in Series C funding. The investment will support existing contracts, hiring, and expansion of its global ground network for commercial, U.S. government, and allied space missions.
The round was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and DFJ Growth. Other investors included Washington Harbour Partners, Alpine Space Ventures, StepStone, and In-Q-Tel (IQT). Northwood also secured a separate multi-year credit facility from HSBC Innovation Banking to support working capital and network expansion.
Since its Series B round less than nine months ago, Northwood has deployed six multi-orbit-capable sites across two continents. It has also demonstrated geosynchronous command capability using a commercial phased-array antenna, developed and launched a high-throughput antenna system, and opened a new 185,000-square-foot headquarters and factory in Torrance, California.
“The world is hungry for more data movement through space and that is what Northwood is building for with scalable network capacity for the most challenging use cases.” said Bridgit Mendler, co-founder and CEO of Northwood. “We look forward to growing the business with new and existing capital partners as we scale production and expand the network.”
“We’ve backed Northwood in every round since seed because we believe ground infrastructure is essential to making space infrastructure more abundant,” said Katherine Boyle, board director of Northwood and general partner at Andreessen Horowitz. “Northwood is building the ground network of the future and has become an indispensable partner to government and commercial customers alike.”
“What goes up must come down … this is a universal truth of sending data to and from space-based networks. Northwood plays an essential role in an oft-forgotten, yet critical segment, of that ecosystem — purpose-built to ensure mission-critical signals are delivered to and from satcom constellations reliably and securely. Northwood has emerged from a raw startup to a new-generation leader over the past year, changing the game with innovation and speed of execution to quickly surpass legacy incumbents,” according to Randy Glein, Founder and Managing Partner at DFJ Growth. “Northwood’s advanced phased array technologies, innovative systems, and vertically-integrated manufacturing approach are delivering robust capabilities to demanding commercial and government customers. We are thrilled to join the team at Northwood!”
Northwood develops and manufactures modular antenna systems for satellite communications. Its Portal phased arrays support command and control, while its Prism high-throughput dishes are designed for payload data. The company’s software combines antennas to increase network capacity and allows satellite operators to search, reserve, update, and cancel communication passes.
The platform is designed to help satellite operators access ground network capacity without building and maintaining their own infrastructure. Northwood says its standardized systems can be deployed more quickly than traditional ground stations, with new sites taking around three months to establish.
The company has added customers and contracts across U.S. government agencies, commercial space operators, and traditional satellite operators. It currently employs more than 140 people and plans to add 400 jobs in Torrance and Washington, DC, over the next three years.
Northwood will use the latest funding to scale manufacturing, expand its ground network, and meet growing demand for satellite communications and data services across multiple orbits.
