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Satellite startup Kymeta announces $50 million in funding from Bill Gates and other backers

It's been nearly a year since Intellectual Ventures announced its satellite communications spinoff Kymeta, but a recent round of funding from heavyweight backers is about to give the company some serious momentum. In a press release today, Kymeta announced $50 million in Series C financing from Bill Gates, Liberty Global and Lux Capital, among other high-profile investors. The company, which is developing a portable satellite broadband receiver under the mTenna brand, currently counts Gates among its board members. Though its products have yet to hit the market, Kymeta's A-list backing has generated significant interest in its tech, which utilizes metamaterials to deliver stronger broadband signals in a more affordable, energy-efficient package. The company is already in talks with several service providers, and this latest influx of cash should only help expedite development agreements and a commercial launch.

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Kymeta Corporation announced today that it has successfully closed a $50 million Series C financing to accelerate the company's growth plans. Kymeta, a privately held technology company, designs and manufactures satellite communication antennas and systems. Existing Kymeta investors including Bill Gates, Lux Capital and Liberty Global were joined in the financing by Osage University Partners and The Kresge Foundation.

The company is pioneering the use of patented metamaterials technology that dynamically steers antenna beams with no moving parts, resulting in flat, thin, light, and highly adaptable antennas and communication terminals. This unique capability opens numerous new opportunities in the satellite industry to provide new broadband mobile services and highly-flexible portable and fixed services to a wide range of applications. Both CNBC and MIT Technology Review recently recognized Kymeta as one of the "Top 50 Most Disruptive Technology Companies in the World."

"We are fortunate to have earned this level of sponsorship," said Kymeta Chief Executive Officer Vern Fotheringham. "It is a clear testament to the progress we've made to date proving our unique technology is poised to make significant contributions to the advancement of global broadband connectivity enabling high-speed communication services to businesses, consumers, governments and NGOs regardless of their location worldwide."

"Lux Capital is extraordinarily excited about the market potential for Kymeta's technology," said Josh Wolfe, managing partner at Lux Capital and a Kymeta board member. "In just the past few months, Kymeta has entered into commercial development agreements with several of the satellite industry's leading service providers and we're really only getting started."

In addition, Fotheringham announced several key promotions on Kymeta's senior leadership team, including the promotion of Bob McCambridge to president and chief operating officer. Co-founder Dr. Nathan Kundtz was promoted to executive vice president and chief technology officer, and John Schilling to executive vice president and chief financial officer.

"Our leadership team has executed flawlessly since inception, and exceeded every metric that we established to measure our progress," said Fotheringham. "I have tremendous confidence in their capabilities. Their combined contributions have underscored our rapid progress that inspired the confidence our existing and new investors have demonstrated with this significant financing. Kymeta is now positioned to move from our period of technology refinement into the product development stage leading to the commercial launch of our game changing solutions."

"Kymeta is leading the commercialization of metamaterials-based innovation in satellite communications," stated Casey Tegreene, executive vice president at Intellectual Ventures and a Kymeta board member. "We are thrilled to see the rapid progress since the spinout from Intellectual Ventures in August 2012."

About Kymeta Corporation

Kymeta Corporation is commercializing a new, innovative metamaterials-based antenna for satellite communications. The Company is based in Redmond, Washington and operates on a worldwide basis. For more information, please visit www.kymetacorp.com.