Bridgit Mendler, known for her roles in Disney Channel hits like Good Luck Charlie and Wizards of Waverly Place, is embarking on a new venture: launching a startup called Northwood Space.
Describing it as a “data highway between Earth and space,” Mendler, now CEO of the El Segundo-based company, aims to mass-produce ground stations or teleports, to facilitate connections with satellites in space.
Space is getting easier along so many different dimensions but still the actual exercise of sending data to and from space is difficult,” Mendler told CNBC. “You have difficulty finding an access point for contacting your satellite.”
After studying at MIT and Harvard Law, Mendler revealed that the concept for the company emerged during her time with family in New Hampshire amid the pandemic. The name “Northwood” is inspired by a local lake in the area.
“While everybody else was making their sourdough starters, we were building antennas out of random crap we could find at Home Depot … and receiving data from [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] satellites,” Mendler said. “For me, why the ground-side matters is because it actually is about bringing the impacts of space home to people.”
Northwood, which Mendler is co-founding with two former engineers from Lockheed Martin, has secured approximately $6 million in initial funding. The team aims to establish connectivity with a spacecraft in orbit by the end of this year.
Mendler, a trained singer, is best known for her role as Teddy Duncan on Good Luck Charlie and as the lead in the Disney Channel original movie Lemonade Mouth. Her debut album, “Hello, My Name Is…”, was released in 2012.
