Bridgit Mendler's Northwood Space Raises $375 Million at a $2 Billion Valuation to Build the Ground Network for the Satellite Boom

Bridgit Mendler, the former Disney Channel actress who reinvented herself as a space entrepreneur, has led her company to one of the largest venture rounds of the year in the space sector, as investors pour money into the infrastructure needed to support the rapid growth of satellites in orbit.

Northwood Space, which builds ground stations that allow satellites to communicate with Earth, raised $375 million in a Series C funding round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and DFJ Growth, at a valuation of $2 billion, TechCrunch reported on Monday, November 2. Other investors include Washington Harbour Partners, which led the company's previous round, Alpine Space Ventures, StepStone and In-Q-Tel, the venture arm associated with the US intelligence community, according to Inc.

The round follows a $100 million Series B in January 2026, also co-led by Andreessen Horowitz. The latest funding includes a financing agreement with HSBC, according to TechCrunch.

"The world is hungry for more data movement through space," Mendler said, according to Inc.

From Disney to deep tech

Mendler is best known to many people for her role in the Disney Channel series *Good Luck Charlie* and for her music career. She later left entertainment to pursue an academic and technical path, studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Law School, and worked in the Satellite Division Policy Branch of the International Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission, according to Inc.

She co-founded Northwood in 2022 with her husband, Griffin Cleverly, and Shaurya Luthra, and serves as chief executive. Her journey from child star to the chief executive of a $2 billion space company makes her one of the most unusual founders in the technology industry, and one of a small number of women leading a high-valued space startup.

The ground segment bottleneck

Most attention in the space industry goes to rockets and satellites, but every satellite needs a way to send data back to Earth and receive commands. This is the job of ground stations, networks of antennas around the world that track satellites as they pass overhead.

As the number of satellites in orbit has exploded, driven by constellations such as SpaceX's Starlink and a growing number of Earth observation, communications and defence satellites, ground infrastructure has become a bottleneck. Traditional ground stations use large, expensive dish antennas that can track only one satellite at a time.

"The thousands of satellites launched each year need access to ground networks," said Tom Stroup, president of the Satellite Industry Association, according to Inc.

Northwood's technology

Northwood builds antennas, software and other technologies that allow satellites to communicate with the ground. Its products include Portal, a multi-beam phased array antenna for tracking and controlling satellites, which can communicate with several satellites at once, and Prism, a high-throughput dish antenna nearly eight feet across for downloading data from spacecraft, according to Inc. Northwood tested its first production-ready Portal system in July 2025.

The company offers ground systems as a service, allowing satellite operators to launch services without building their own ground infrastructure, a model that can reduce costs and speed up deployment.

Government contracts

Northwood has won a contract worth nearly $50 million with the US Space Force to help upgrade the nation's "satellite control network," according to TechCrunch. The network is used to communicate with and control military and government satellites, and much of its infrastructure is ageing.

The participation of In-Q-Tel in the funding round underlines the strategic interest of the US national security community in Northwood's technology.

Scaling up

Northwood has more than 140 employees and plans to add 400 jobs in Torrance, California, and Washington, DC, over three years, according to Inc. It opened a 185,000-square-foot headquarters and factory in Torrance in September 2026.

The company said it will use the new funding to scale its operations, hire staff and fulfil existing contracts.

Investor conviction

Katherine Boyle, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz and a Northwood board director, said the firm had backed the company at every stage. "We've backed Northwood in every round since seed because we believe ground infrastructure is essential," she said, according to Inc.

Boyle leads a16z's American Dynamism practice, which invests in companies working on defence, aerospace, manufacturing and other sectors considered important to national interests.

The space investment boom

Northwood's round is part of a surge in investment in space technology, driven by falling launch costs, growing commercial demand and rising defence spending. On the same day, China Money Network reported that hardware deals led venture funding, with Northwood's round among the largest.

Defence-related space companies have been particular beneficiaries, as governments in the United States and Europe seek to strengthen their space capabilities in response to growing competition with China and Russia.

Women in deep tech

Mendler's success is notable in a sector where women remain significantly underrepresented, both as founders and in technical roles. Women-founded companies receive a small fraction of venture capital funding globally, and the share is even lower in hardware-intensive sectors such as space and defence. High-profile examples such as Northwood can help inspire more women to pursue careers and entrepreneurship in science and engineering.

Lessons for India's space startups

Northwood's growth holds lessons for India's fast-growing space startup ecosystem, which includes companies building satellites, launch vehicles and ground infrastructure. Indian startups are also targeting the ground segment and satellite data services. As the global demand for satellite communication grows, Indian companies could find opportunities in supplying ground infrastructure, particularly in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

A customer base in orbit

Northwood's potential customers include satellite operators in Earth observation, communications and defence, as well as government agencies. As satellite constellations grow, operators need more frequent contact with their spacecraft to download data and send commands, increasing demand for ground station capacity.

By offering capacity as a service, Northwood aims to give operators flexible access to ground infrastructure, allowing them to scale their communications as their constellations grow without large capital investments.

What comes next

With $375 million in new funding, Northwood will expand production of its antennas, build out its ground network and pursue more government and commercial contracts. Its progress will be watched as a test of whether new entrants can transform the ground segment of the space industry, much as SpaceX transformed launch. For Mendler, the round cements her position as one of the most closely watched founders in the space industry.