Irvine-based Movandi Corp., a wireless technology equipment maker that counts deep ties to Broadcom, has linked up with one of that chipmaking giant’s biggest competitors and former acquisition target to expand deployment of the 5G advances for indoor and outdoor use.
The privately held firm, founded in 2016 and with nearly $70 million of funding announced to date, said it plans to collaborate with Qualcomm Inc., the world’s biggest maker of cellphone chips.
“It’s really a huge deal—it’s very advantageous for both companies,” Movandi founder and Chief Executive Maryam Rofougaran told the Business Journal on March 8. “Qualcomm is a leader in this wireless industry.
“Everyone needs alliances to push this market forward,” she added.
Qualcomm (Nasdaq: QCOM), San Diego’s most valuable publicly traded company with a market cap around $175 billion, has a 76% share of the 5G baseband shipments, according to Counter Point Research.
Movandi announced the collaboration on Feb. 28 at the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The financial term of Movandi’s deal with Qualcomm, which is investing billions into its 5G business, are confidential.
5G, short for fifth generation of cellular wireless technology, promises speeds potentially up to 100 times faster than 4G systems in use today.
Millimeter Wave Tech
Movandi specializes in 5G millimeter wave technology to enable multi-gigabit wireless speeds. The company aims to accelerate the adoption of 5G deployment while bringing costs down.
Under the partnership, Movandi’s “5G smart repeater” technology will be combined with “mmWave small cells” powered by Qualcomm platforms, for expanded 5G mmWave adoption and an increased flexibility in operator deployments, the two companies said.
The combination of the two companies’ technological advances “is positioned to offer mobile operators cost-effective and fast deployment of mmWave at scale and help unlock the full potential of 5G,” Movandi says.
Alex Katouzian, a senior vice president at Qualcomm, said in the collaboration announcement: “Our work with Movandi will focus on expanding the adoption of 5G mmWave to improve performance and user experience.”
Qualcomm has been working with Movandi and testing with the Irvine company’s solutions, according to Rofougaran.
“There is a lot of potential in many areas with them,” she said.
Besides cellphone chips, Qualcomm in recent years has expanded to make chips for cars, the internet of things and radio-frequency components.
Sibling Act
Maryam Rofougaran, who holds more than 280 patents, runs the company with her brother and co-founder, Chief Technology Officer Reza Rofougaran, who himself has at least 868 patents and is reported to be one of the top 30 patent holders in the world.
In 1998, the siblings co-founded Innovent Systems where they built the world’s first CMOS Bluetooth transceiver, an important milestone in wireless communications.
Innovent was acquired by Broadcom (Nasdaq: AVGO)—then based in Irvine, now headquartered in San Jose—in 2000 for what reports said was about $450 million in stock.
Reza Rofougaran’s work “literally changed the radio frequency industry,” Broadcom co-founder and Chairman Henry Samueli said in 2019.
Reza Rofougaran won a Business Journal Innovator of the Year Award in 2020.
Other Movandi execs with ties to Broadcom include CFO Bill Ruehle, who oversaw Broadcom’s IPO in 1998.
Broadcom, which still has a large operational presence in Irvine, is now valued around $245 billion.
In 2018, a bid by Broadcom to acquire Qualcomm for over $100 billion was halted by then-president Donald Trump on national security grounds.
Next Steps
Movandi says it will be looking for more strategic partners. Verizon (Nasdaq: VZ) said almost two years ago it would use Movandi’s equipment to help expand its 5G networks.
“Our goal is to innovate and empower our partners to solve the toughest 5G deployment challenges,” Maryam Rofougaran said.
“We’re leading this market.”
Movandi says its BeamXR smart repeater technology helps to close the gap in 5G mmWave deployments by amplifying coverage in public spaces and inside buildings and by penetrating physical barriers in dense urban environments.
The technology is also designed to extend the range and enhance coverage of the systems, while accelerating large-scale 5G commercialization.
“We do have our current generation of products and are working on the next generation,” the CEO said. “This market is growing.”
“Within the next couple of years, it’s going to start picking up a lot more.”
