Bridgit Mendler is now CEO of Northwood Space, a satellite data startup. she is an actress and singer who is best known for her parts in “Good Luck Charlie” and “Lemonade Mouth” on the Disney Channel.
Griffin Cleverly is the chief technology officer at Northwood Space in El Segundo, California, and Mendler is the CEO. Mendler founded Northwood along with her husband, Griffin Cleverly, and engineer Shaurya Luthra in October 2023. Saurya Luthra, an engineer, runs the software department. Cleverly and Luthra both used to work for Lockheed Martin, a well-known company that makes weapons and spacecraft.
Mendler wrote on X Monday that Northwood wants to “expand space access” by using shared ground facilities.
The startup will aim to build a “data highway between Earth and space,” Mendler told news hubs, and will focus on quickly producing and deploying ground stations to facilitate the large amount of data being sent as the space industry continues to grow.
Mendler said Northwood Space is launching with $6.3 million in initial funding, backed by investors including Founders Fund (which was founded by Peter Thiel, who’s worth $7.3 billion according to Forbes’ estimates), Andreessen Horowitz (cofounder Marc Andreessen is worth $1.8 billion), and Also Capital.
Mendler said she “fell in love with space law” at the Federal Communications Commission’s Space Bureau, where she worked in 2022, according to her LinkedIn profile, and came up with the idea for the company during the COVID-19 pandemic with her husband and co-founder, engineer Griffin Cleverly.
The startup will reportedly test its first connection to a satellite in orbit later this year. “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 news hubs.