# Northwood Space

> Northwood Space is an El Segundo, California company building the ground side of the space economy: rapidly manufactured, software-defined phased-array ground stations that pull data down from satellites. Its flagship product, Portal, electronically steers beams to track many satellites at once instead of mechanically pointing a single dish, which the company argues removes the bottleneck choking modern satellite constellations. Founded in 2023 by CEO Bridgit Mendler, CTO Griffin Cleverly, and head of software Shaurya Luthra, Northwood has raised $136.4M total, including a $100M Series B in January 2026, and holds a $49.8M U.S. Space Force contract to modernize the Satellite Control Network.

- **Founded:** 2023
- **Headquarters:** El Segundo, California, United States
- **Founders:** Bridgit Mendler (Co-founder & CEO), Griffin Cleverly (Co-founder & CTO), Shaurya Luthra (Co-founder & Head of Software)
- **Team size:** ~80 employees
- **Products:** Portal, Ground Network
- **Notable:** Raised $136.4M total across seed, Series A, and Series B rounds, Won a $49.8M U.S. Space Force contract to upgrade the Satellite Control Network, Connected a prototype antenna to Planet Labs satellites on its first major test (Oct 2024)

## Products & services

- **Portal** — A multi-beam phased-array ground station that electronically steers beams to track and communicate with multiple satellites at once. Supports 8 simultaneous links per site, with next-generation versions targeting 10-12 beams. Demonstrated 1 kilowatt of transmit power while simultaneously receiving very weak signals.
- **Ground Network** — A vertically integrated, software-defined ground network offering dynamic connectivity across orbits with full visibility and control, designed for rapid manufacturing and deployment.

## Achievements

- Raised $136.4M total across seed, Series A, and Series B rounds
- Won a $49.8M U.S. Space Force contract to upgrade the Satellite Control Network
- Connected a prototype antenna to Planet Labs satellites on its first major test (Oct 2024)
- Tested its first production-ready phased-array system, Portal, in July 2025
- Portal demonstrated 1 kW transmit power while simultaneously receiving very weak signals

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — CEO Bridgit Mendler outlined Northwood's vision for rapidly deployable ground infrastructure at an industry event (Via Satellite).
- **2026-01** — Closed a $100M Series B led by Washington Harbour Partners and co-led by a16z, and announced a $49.8M Space Force contract.
- **2025-07** — Tested its first production-ready phased-array ground system, Portal.
- **2025-04** — Raised a $30M Series A led by Alpine Space Ventures and a16z.
- **2024-10** — Prototype antenna successfully connected to Planet Labs satellites in a key first test.
- **2024-02** — Emerged from stealth with $6.3M in seed funding.

## Links

- Website: https://www.northwoodspace.io
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/northwood-space
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/NorthwoodSpace

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/northwood
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Last updated: 2026-06-08