Motus Ventures is a seed venture capital fund and business accelerator focusing on innovation in the Transportation Industry and Internet of Things.  Transportation is one of the oldest and largest businesses in the world and greatly in need of innovative solutions that improve safety, reduce congestion, energy usage and pollution, increase efficiency and resource utilization, provide entertainment, and reduce costs.   A combination of recent technology shifts and emerging consumer trends – internet connected cars, vehicle to vehicle communications, crowd sourcing and resource sharing - have opened up a world of new opportunities for innovation in Transportation.  Motus Ventures aims to generate superior returns for its investors by providing the funding and resources needed to establish new innovative businesses that capitalize on these new opportunities.

Motus Ventures

Khosla Ventures invests in companies that are bold, early, and impactful. The firm was started in 2004 by Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, to provide venture assistance to entrepreneurs. Khosla Ventures invests in a range of areas including AI, climate, sustainability, enterprise, consumer, fintech, digital health, medtech and diagnostics, therapeutics, and frontier technology.

Khosla Ventures

Thyra Global manages private equity funds that invest in the technology, consumer, and real estate sectors.

Thyra Global Management

Western Technology Investment is a venture capital firm that specializes in offering acquisition financing to revenue-generating firms. The firm provides debt and lease financing to venture capital backed technology companies.

Western Technology Investment

SAIC Venture Capital Corporation is a venture capital investment arm of SAIC, Inc. It specializes in investments in seed, startup, early stage, and mid stage companies. The firm seeks to hold equity investments in publicly-traded and private emerging technology companies. It prefers to make balance sheet investments.

SAIC Venture Capital

Rising Tide their technological advancements in big data analytics, computer-aided design, optical sensors, mobile applications in vertical markets, community-connected networks, and services.

Rising Tide

Autotech Ventures is a venture capital firm that manages more than $400 million to invest in start-ups that aim to generate financial returns in the vast $3 trillion ground transportation industry. Connected, autonomous, shared and electrified vehicles and related mobility services have created tectonic shifts in the incumbent ground transportation industry. Vehicle manufacturers, parts suppliers, dealerships, repair shops, parking operators, ground logistics firms, and road infrastructure providers are all being impacted by ground transportation startups. Autotech Ventures provides startup companies with 1) capital to execute on their business plan, 2) access to its industry contacts - including dozens of ground transportation corporate investors who together represent a global market capitalization of over $500 billion dollars, 3) up-to-the-minute market intelligence on the ground transport landscape, 4) support in recruiting ground transportation industry talent, and 5) fundraising support to raise additional capital from other financially-motivated investors and strategic investors. Start-ups typically innovate quickly then scale slowly, while corporations typically innovate slowly then scale quickly. Autotech Ventures brings startups and corporations together to bridge this gap and build a new transportation future.

Autotech Ventures

Reshape is a next-generation investor in technology-enabled companies that need real estate to scale.

Reshape

Bold Capital Partners is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in life sciences, healthcare, and frontier tech companies.

Bold Capital Partners

letters Capital is a private investment firm focused on venture capital.

letters Capital

DENSO is a supplier of advanced automotive technology, systems and components for major automakers. They are committed to making the world a better place through their world-first products and technologies.

Denso

NTT DOCOMO Ventures is the venture capital arm of NTT DOCOMO, Inc. specializing in investments in incubation, early stage, middle stage, and later/pre-IPO stage companies. It prefers to invest in the field of information technology, telecommunications, content platform services, battery power, authentication security, BigData, a solution with devices, cloud, and communication platforms. The firm invests in and outside of Japan. It seeks to invest up to about USD $2 million to USD $3 million per investment. It prefers to seek minority stakes of around 20% or less per portfolio. The firm seeks to exit its investments through sales of stocks or transfer of shares to DOCOMO and NTT Group companies. It also runs an accelerator program called DOCOMO Incubation Program. Docomo Innovation Ventures, previously known as NTT Investment Partners Inc., was established on February 20, 2008, and is based in Minato, Chiba, Japan.

NTT DOCOMO Ventures

South Korean investment firm, headquartered in Seoul.

Mirae Asset Capital

Metawave

Metawave is a technology company that seeks to revolutionize the future of wireless communications. Leveraging adaptive metamaterials and artificial intelligence, Metawave’s primary market focus is to build intelligent beamsteering radars for autonomous driving. Changing the way automakers think about radar, Metawave is building high-performance radars capable of 3D imaging and vehicle-to-vehicle communications, making autonomous cars safer, smarter, and more connected. In parallel, Metawave is also developing smart beamsteering antennas for 4G and 5G networks to provide faster networks and near-instant connectivity for billions of users. Metawave’s current flagship beamsteering technology platform was developed at Xerox PARC. Founded in 2017, Metawave is located in PARC’s headquarters in Palo Alto, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley.

Metawave develops advanced radar sensing and perception technologies for autonomous vehicles and systems and 5G connectivity solutions. Metawave's SABER (Smart Antenna for Beamforming Electromagnetic Radiation) antenna is engineered to focus radio frequency beams and rapidly direct them toward a specific device. SABER has an adjustable beam with very low side lobes that can be focused and steered over wide angles in real time, covering broad bandwidths from 4G to 5G frequencies.&nbsp;SABER’s phase-shifting architecture is developed with proprietary adaptive metamaterials.&nbsp;

Revolutionizing the Future of Wireless Communications

Automotive radar startups review 2021

Radar Sensing & Perception Solution for US Army Autonomous Ground Systems

U.S. Army Funds Advancement in Perception Sensing for Autonomous Ground Systems

Metawave Awarded $1.7 Million Direct

Metawave Secures Additional $26M In Convertible and Debt Financing to Accelerate Delivery of Mobility Sensing Solutions

Top 5 Out Of 500 Sensor Startups In Automotive

A new generation for mobile connectivity with 5G and beyond

Next-gen Private Mobile Networks

Metawave Gets $26M In Bridge Financing

Metawave develops advanced radar sensing and perception technologies for autonomous vehicles and systems and 5G connectivity solutions. Metawave's SABER (Smart Antenna for Beamforming Electromagnetic Radiation) antenna is engineered to focus radio frequency beams and rapidly direct them toward a specific device. SABER has an adjustable beam with very low side lobes that can be focused and steered over wide angles in real time, covering broad bandwidths from 4G to 5G frequencies.&nbsp;SABER’s phase-shifting architecture is developed with proprietary adaptive metamaterials.&nbsp;SABER leverages antenna polarization and spatial multiplexing to scale networks efficiently, enhancing data speeds and supporting many users within a cell. It uses a single feed to operate across new frequencies and can integrate with wireless and network algorithms, including hybrid analog/digital beamforming, nulling, and MIMO (multiple-input multiple-output), to manage line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight scenarios with multipath interference.

Astranis is a San Francisco-based satellite manufacturer and operator that provides services to commercial customers and the US Government. The company specializes in building small, low-cost telecommunications satellites designed to provide broadband internet access to underserved areas worldwide. These satellites, which can operate from geostationary orbit (GEO) at an altitude of approximately 22,000 mi above Earth, are "MicroGEO" satellites, which are significantly smaller (~400 kg) and less expensive than traditional GEO satellites. The company owns, operates, and offers its satellites to commercial customers on a leasing basis.The company's proprietary technology includes software-defined radio payloads allowing frequency and coverage flexibility.&nbsp;In April 2023, Astranis launched its first commercial satellite, Arcturus, to provide internet service in Alaska. However, the satellite experienced issues with its solar array system, limiting its operational capacity.Astranis unveiled its next-generation satellite, Omega, in April 2024. Omega satellites are designed to deliver over 50 Gbps of throughput with an operational life of 10 years. The company aimed to manufacture 24 Omega satellites annually by 2025, launch its first Omega Satellite in 2026, and have over 100 satellites in orbit by 2030. Astranis also developed UtilitySat, a multi-mission commercial satellite capable of performing simultaneous connectivity missions and relocating to different orbital positions as needed.Key customers and partnershipsAs of April 2024, Astranis’ commercial customers for MicroGEO communications satellites spanned the US, Mexico, Argentina, the Philippines, and Thailand. Astranis also partnered with satellite services providers and telecommunications providers, including 1) Orbits Corp to provide connections to up to 5,000 rural locations in the Philippines (November 2023); 2) Apco Networks (AiTelecom) to launch two MicroGEO satellites in Mexico (September 2023); and 3) Anuvu to provide broadband services in Alaska (May 2023).

Astranis

Sateliot is a Barcelona-based company developing a constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) nanosatellites to provide global 5G NB-IoT (narrowband Internet-of-Things) connectivity. The company aims to offer seamless IoT coverage worldwide, especially in remote areas lacking terrestrial networks. Its technology allows standard NB-IoT devices to connect directly to its satellites without requiring specialized hardware.&nbsp;As of August 2024, Sateliot launched six satellites, including four deployed on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. These satellites, measuring 20 x 10 x 35 cm and weighing 10 kg, orbit at an altitude of ~600 km and have an expected lifespan of five years. As of November 2024, the company planned to expand its constellation to over 100 satellites by 2028. Sateliot's technology utilizes the 3GPP 5G NB-IoT NTN (non-terrestrial network) standard, allowing seamless integration between terrestrial and satellite networks. The company claims to be the first LEO satellite connectivity provider to work under the 3GPP standard. Sateliot uses a patented two-step authentication method called “Store &amp; Forward,” which stores data when a satellite is not in a position to connect with a ground station and forwards it when it enters the coverage range.Sateliot's business model involves partnering with mobile network operators to offer IoT connectivity as a roaming service. It targets agriculture, logistics, ocean logistics, livestock, infrastructure, energy, wearables, mining, military, and oil and gas industries.&nbsp;&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsAs of June 2024, the company had secured EUR 200 million in recurring revenue contracts from 400 clients in 50 countries. Sateliot’s mobile network operator partners included Telefonica, AWS, GSMA, Comfone, and GCF. Sateliot also partnered with t42, a freight software and analytics company, to deploy thousands of 5G-IoT sensors in shipping containers across more than 50 countries (November 2023). The company also partnered with Sensefinity to launch global 5G-IoT satellite connectivity to facilitate data transmission from smart containers for Maritime shipping (January 2023).&nbsp;Sateliot has partnerships with 1) SpaceX for a satellite launch (May 2024), 2) Exolaunch for launch services (May 2024), and Leaf Space for ground station support (June 2024).&nbsp;&nbsp;

Sateliot

Omnispace is a global communications company that has developed a non-geostationary satellite (NGSO) system to provide direct-to-device connectivity and Internet-of-Things (IoT) services worldwide. Omnispace's technology utilizes the S-band spectrum in the 1,980–2,010 MHz and 2,170–2,200 MHz ranges, which aligns with the 3GPP 5G NTN (non-terrestrial network) band n256 specifications. Omnispace's network is designed to provide ubiquitous 5G connectivity, enabling users to transition between satellite and terrestrial networks without needing multiple devices.Omnispace has secured regulatory approvals to provide services in multiple countries across Latin America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, including Brazil. As of May 2024, the company operated a few experimental satellites in low- and medium-Earth orbit and planned to deploy over 600 low-Earth orbit satellites, with initial services expected to begin in 2026 using 300 satellites.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsAs of November 2024, Omnispace’s mobile network operator partnerships included 1) Smart Communications in the Philippines to explore use cases such as 5G connectivity in remote areas and disaster relief (August 2022) and 2) MTN Group, Africa's largest mobile network operator, to develop and deploy satellite IoT and 5G services across MTN's markets in Africa and the Middle East (March 2024).&nbsp;Omnispace also collaborated with 1) Microsoft to deliver a 5G NTN network using its Azure services (April 2022) and 2) Ligado Networks to combine their licensed mobile satellite services spectrum to create a portfolio of licensed satellite spectrum for global direct-to-device connectivity (February 2023).&nbsp;&nbsp;

Omnispace

Skyloom Global Corp. is a telecommunications company based in Broomfield, Colorado, focused on developing and deploying space-based telecommunication infrastructure for global data transport services. The company specializes in optical communication technologies, which enable high-bandwidth connections for satellite-to-satellite, satellite-to-Earth, and Earth-to-satellite transmissions.&nbsp;Skyloom's offerings include&nbsp;<ol><li>V’ger: Optical communications terminals (OCTs) that support high bandwidth connections from low-Earth orbit (LEO), LEO-ground to LEO-airborne, and LEO-maritime. It supports a speed of 1–10 Gbps. Skyloom's OCT technology reportedly can transmit 10–100x more data back to Earth than the current radio frequency (RF) systems.</li><li>Scotty: A user terminal for LEO satellites accessing Skyloom's network, which enables multi-Gbps data transfer from LEO to on-the-cloud. It connects satellites in LEO to multi-user optical relay satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO), supporting LEO-GEO links to up to 20 Gbps.&nbsp;</li><li>Uhura: A geostationary optical relay satellite for GEO-LEO and GEO-ground data transfer, which supports a speed of up to 20 Gbps for LEO to GEO OCT and GEO-ground OCT. Skyloom planned to deploy the first node for Asia-Pacific coverage in Q4 2024 (November 2024).&nbsp;</li><li>Kirk: An optical ground station that can be installed at a traditional ground station, co-located with existing or planned data centers.</li></ol>In September 2023, the company achieved the AS 9100 Certification for product assurance manufacturing. In September 2024, it passed the US Space Development Agency's (SDA’s) interoperability qualification process, confirming the interoperability of its optical terminals with SDA's ground interface and other optical terminal suppliers.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsSkyloom established several key partnerships and customer relationships in the aerospace and satellite communications sectors, including<ol><li>NEC Corporation to develop high-speed optical communication equipment for multi-orbit satellite networks (March 2024)&nbsp;</li><li>Satellogic, a company that offers sub-meter Earth observation data and satellite technology to integrate Skyloom's OCT onto Satellogic satellites to test new methods of high-resolution Earth observation data delivery (September 2023)</li><li>Axiom Space to integrate and showcase high data-rate optical inter-satellite links on the first module of a commercial space station (December 2023)</li><li>Space Compass, a joint venture between NTT and SKY Perfect JSAT, to develop GEO-based optical communications network infrastructure (September 2022).</li></ol>In October 2024, Skyloom announced a joint venture with Officina Stellare, an Italian space technology company, to establish Skyloom Europe. This venture aimed to create a high-throughput production plant in Italy for manufacturing optical communication terminals, focusing on advanced encryption techniques and quantum coding for airborne and space applications.&nbsp;

Skyloom Global

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an aviation and aerospace technology company founded by Elon Musk. The primary activities of SpaceX include the design, manufacturing, and launch of advanced rockets and spacecrafts; Rideshare; the operation of its Starlink satellite constellation; and human spaceflight.SpaceX’s Starlink operates a constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites providing global broadband internet services. It provides connectivity for residential, business, and mobile use, including options for fixed site, land mobility, aviation, and maritime connectivity. As of October 2024, Starlink had approximately 6,000 satellites in orbit, with plans to have as many as 42,000 satellites in its constellation.Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;SpaceX has partnered with several companies, including<ul><li>T-Mobile to provide cell service coverage in rural and underserved areas of the US through SpaceX’s Starlink satellite constellation. Under the partnership in January 2024, SpaceX launched its first six Starlink satellites with direct-to-cell capabilities.</li><li>SpaceX also partnered with Comcast Business to deliver high-speed internet connectivity to enterprise customers in underserved regions without access to fiber networks (June 2024).</li><li>SES, a satellite network provider, to deliver a combined medium-Earth orbit (MEO)-LEO satellite connectivity service for cruise ships (September 2023)</li><li>Ando Hazama and University of Tokyo to provide internet connectivity for local 5G networks in remote mountainous areas (October 2023)</li><li>John Deere to provide satellite communications service for farmers facing rural connectivity challenges (January 2024)</li><li>United Airlines (September 2024), Air France (September 2024), and airBaltic (April 2024) to provide in-flight connectivity.&nbsp;</li></ul>

SpaceX

Companies that offer 5G/6G connectivity solutions for enterprises to use in private telecommunications, using cell towers, base stations and other terrestrial infrastructure

Companies that offer 5G/6G connectivity solutions for enterprises for use in private telecommunications, using satellites and other space-based equipment

Companies that develop hardware and equipment for mobile service providers and enterprises to build, maintain and optimize private 5G/6G networks, including switches, antennas, microchips, and routers

Companies that develop next-generation software solutions for mobile service providers and enterprises to manage and optimize cloud infrastructure and network services

Provides 5G/6G telecom technologies to offer lower latency and increased capacity and coverage

Some network optimization companies offer a single network to connect users and IoT devices globally

Earth-based hardware and telecom software companies adopt AI/ML for design and RAN automation

Metawave

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