goTenna

goTenna
Privately held company
Founded November 2012 (2012-11)
Founders Daniela Perdomo, Jorge Perdomo
Headquarters Brooklyn, New York, United States
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

goTenna was founded by 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] 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.”[4]

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][5] The company started taking pre-orders for its first product in July 2014.[6] These orders started shipping in October 2015.[7] In March 2016, goTenna closed a $7.5MM Series A financing and started to sell its product in retail channels beyond its own website.[8]

In September 2016, goTenna announced the release of a second-generation device: goTenna Mesh, the first consumer-ready mesh network of its kind, as well as plans to follow it with devices meant to address professional mobile radio communications needs. In addition to hardware developments, 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. The company also released its software development kit, enabling software developers to create new applications using goTenna hardware.[9]

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.[10] As a term of the grant, goTenna will provide devices to roughly 10,000 small businesses who suffered damage from Sandy in 2012 or are otherwise in the FEMA-designated 100-year floodplain.[11]

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. ↑ "About Us". gotenna.com. goTenna. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  5. ↑ Moritz, Scott. "How Superstorm Sandy Gave Rise to Wireless Startup". Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg Business. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  6. ↑ Crook, Jordan. "The GoTenna Will Let You Communicate Without Any Connectivity". TechCrunch. TechCrunch. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "It's #goTime: goTenna pre-orders are shipping!". gotenna.com. goTenna. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  8. ↑ Ha, Anthony. "GoTenna, the startup that lets you text without cell signal, raises $7.5M and launches with REI". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ "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.
  11. ↑ Farinacci, Amanda. "Start-Up's Antenna Technology Recognized by City". twcnews.com. Time Warner Cable Enterprises LLC. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  12. 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)
  13. ↑ "Going for the Gold: #IDSAIDEA Reveals Global Design Winners". www.idsa.org. Industrial Designers Society of America. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  14. ↑ "2016 Edison Awards Winners". www.edisonawards.com. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
  15. ↑ Kumar, Ajay. "GoTenna". pcmag.com. PC Magazine. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  16. 1 2 "2015 CES Innovation Awards" (PDF). CE.org. Consumer Electronics Association. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  17. ↑ "goTenna". reviewed.com. USA Today. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  18. ↑ "The 2015 Innovation By Design Awards Winners: Product Design". fastcodesign.com. Fast Company. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  19. ↑ "goTenna". core77.com. Core77. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  20. ↑ Cox, Edward. "2015 Best in Class Awards: Meet the Finalists". inc.com. Mansueto Ventures. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  21. ↑ Jackson, Joe. "Gear of the Show: Summer Outdoor Retailer 2014". outsideonline.com. Outside Magazine. Retrieved 27 October 2015.

External links

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