goTenna

goTenna
Privately held company
Founded November 2012 (2012-11)
Founders Daniela Perdomo, Jorge Perdomo
Headquarters Brooklyn, New York, United States
Brands goTenna, goTenna Mesh, goTenna Pro, goTenna Plus
Website gotenna.com

goTenna (goTenna Inc.) is a Brooklyn, New York-based startup that designs and develops technologies for off-grid and decentralized communications. goTenna devices pair with smartphones and, through intelligent mobile ad hoc networking protocols, enable users to send texts and share locations on a peer-to-peer basis, foregoing the need for centralized communications infrastructure of any kind.[1]

History

The idea for goTenna came to siblings Daniela and Jorge Perdomo in November 2012 after Hurricane Sandy knocked out 25 percent of cell towers, and caused outages for 25 percent of Internet services, across 10 states on the East Coast.[2][3] Officially incorporated in April 2013,[4] the company’s stated goal is to build “people-powered peer-to-peer communication systems…reducing our reliance on cell towers and wifi routers, and providing anyone the ability to create a network on their terms.”[5]

goTenna’s first prototype was built out of hardware hackerspace NYC Resistor. The company was bootstrapped until it raised a seed round of venture capital late in 2013.[1][6] The company came out of stealth by announcing pre-orders for its first product in July 2014.[7] These orders started shipping in October 2015.[8] In March 2016, goTenna closed a Series A financing and started to sell its product in retail channels beyond its own website.[9]

In September 2016, goTenna launched goTenna Plus, a, subscription-based upgrade to the goTenna applications, which includes the capability to use other goTenna users as gateways to relay messages through to traditional SMS networks.[10] The company also released its software development kit, enabling developers to create new applications using goTenna hardware.[11] Around the same time, goTenna unveiled a second-generation device: goTenna Mesh, the first consumer-ready mesh network of its kind, available to 49 countries.[12] In March 2017, the company announced its goTenna Pro line, for professional mobile radio communications needs.[13]

In April 2017, goTenna closed a Series B financing led by Union Square Ventures.[14]

Partnerships

In April 2015, goTenna won a grant through the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s RISE:NYC competition, aimed at increasing resiliency among small businesses either affected by Hurricane Sandy or susceptible to similar natural disasters resulting from climate change.[15] As a term of the grant, starting in 2017, goTenna will provide 20,000 devices to up to 10,000 small businesses who suffered damage from Sandy in 2012 or are otherwise in the FEMA-designated 100-year floodplain.[16][12]

goTenna has received various non-recurring engineering grants from entities like Google and the U.S. Department of Defense, which provide non-dilutive capital for the research and development of new products.[17]

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 Statt, Nick. "GoTenna creates a cell network out of thin air anywhere on Earth". CNET.com. CNET. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  2. ↑ Rhodes, Margaret. "A Pocket-Sized Antenna That Lets You Text Even in a Disaster Like Sandy". wired.com. Wired. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  3. ↑ Goldman, David. "Sandy knocks out 25% of cell service in its path". money.cnn.com. CNN. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  4. ↑ "Division of Corporations - Filing". icis.corp.delaware.gov. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
  5. ↑ "About Us". gotenna.com. goTenna. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  6. ↑ Moritz, Scott. "How Superstorm Sandy Gave Rise to Wireless Startup". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg Business. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  7. ↑ Crook, Jordan. "The GoTenna Will Let You Communicate Without Any Connectivity". TechCrunch. TechCrunch. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  8. ↑ "It's #goTime: goTenna pre-orders are shipping!". gotenna.com. goTenna. Archived from the original on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  9. ↑ Ha, Anthony. "GoTenna, the startup that lets you text without cell signal, raises $7.5M and launches with REI". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  10. ↑ Rose, Brent (2016-09-30). "The New GoTenna Could Make the Backcountry Safer—If People Use It". Outside Online. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
  11. ↑ Weller, Chris. "These portable antennas let you send texts with friends, even when you don't have service". businessinsider.com. Business Insider. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  12. 1 2 Flamm, Matthew. "Sandy-inspired texting tool now helping Sandy survivors". Crain's New York Business. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  13. ↑ Coldewey, Devin. "GoTenna Pro meshing radio aspires to deploy next to rescue, fire and security teams". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  14. ↑ Mannes, John. "goTenna Series B fuels vision to make local communication possible anywhere on the planet". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  15. ↑ "Mayor de Blasio Announces Selection of Rise: NYC Technologies to be Deployed at Sandy-Impacted Small Businesses Across New York City". NYC.gov. City of New York. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  16. ↑ Farinacci, Amanda. "Start-Up's Antenna Technology Recognized by City". twcnews.com. Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  17. ↑ "GoTenna raises $7.5 million to enable off-the-grid communications on your smartphone". VentureBeat. 2017-04-13. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
  18. ↑ "The 100 greatest innovations of 2017". Popular Science. Retrieved 2017-10-18.
  19. ↑ Editors, The (2017-01-10). "Gear of the Show: The Best of Winter Outdoor Retailer 2017". Outside Online. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
  20. 1 2 ces.tech. CTA http://www.ces.tech/Events-Experiences/CES-Innovation-Awards-Program/CES-Innovation-Awards.aspx. Retrieved 28 November 2016. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  21. ↑ "Going for the Gold: #IDSAIDEA Reveals Global Design Winners". www.idsa.org. Industrial Designers Society of America. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  22. ↑ "2016 Edison Awards Winners". www.edisonawards.com. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  23. ↑ Kumar, Ajay. "GoTenna". pcmag.com. PC Magazine. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  24. 1 2 "2015 CES Innovation Awards" (PDF). CE.org. Consumer Electronics Association. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  25. ↑ "goTenna". reviewed.com. USA Today. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  26. ↑ "The 2015 Innovation By Design Awards Winners: Product Design". fastcodesign.com. Fast Company. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  27. ↑ "goTenna". core77.com. Core77. Archived from the original on 7 September 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  28. ↑ Cox, Edward. "2015 Best in Class Awards: Meet the Finalists". inc.com. Mansueto Ventures. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  29. ↑ Jackson, Joe. "Gear of the Show: Summer Outdoor Retailer 2014". outsideonline.com. Outside Magazine. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
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