Higher Ground LLC is a Palo Alto hardware startup that builds compact, secure satellite communication and navigation devices. Its flagship SatPaq turned a smartphone into a two-way satellite messenger by talking to geostationary Intelsat Galaxy satellites, and the company has since pivoted its expertise toward defense and government work - most notably GEOFix, a non-jammable backup to GPS. Led by founder and CEO Rob Reis, the company holds dozens of patents and counts the U.S. Department of Defense, DHS, NASA and the FAA among its customers.

Rob Reis is the founder and President/CEO of Higher Ground LLC, a Palo Alto-based satellite telecommunications company building the world's most compact, affordable, and secure satellite communicator. With roots at Stanford and a career spanning pioneering ventures in laser turntables (Finial Technology), RFID tracking (Savi Technology), and innovation leadership at Texas Instruments, Reis brings decades of deep-tech entrepreneurship to a mission-critical problem: keeping people connected and safe anywhere on Earth, from the backcountry to the battlefield. His flagship product, the SatPaq, uses geostationary satellites with AES-256 encryption and spread spectrum signaling to deliver two-way messaging, voice, and GPS-backup - independent of cellular infrastructure.