Peltbeam Inc. in Newport Beach is developing ways to speed up 5G mobile technology with a boost from private equity firm Optimal Investment Group (OIG) and partnerships including one with Irvine-based telecommunications pioneer Movandi.
5G is short for the fifth generation of cellular wireless technology on its way in the U.S, boasting speeds that are potentially up to 100 times faster than 4G systems in use today.
The signal—known as 5G mmWave bands—offers extremely high bandwidth and high speeds, but the coverage range is limited.
Peltbeam, founded two years ago, is developing box-like units known as repeaters, to increase that range, including bringing the signal indoors.
“We’re going to remedy a lot of these technical issues,” Peltbeam CEO Shervin Odabaee told the Business Journal on Aug. 24.
“We are the only one that is a network system.”
Peltbeam’s technology overcomes challenges such as limited range, signal blockage, and interference, which have traditionally hindered the widespread adoption of mmWave technology, according to the company.
“We are making a system of repeaters that are managed by the cloud,” Odabaee said.
PE Backer
Optimal Investment Group, a Sherman Oaks-based private equity firm, has invested $3.5 million in Peltbeam to date, including a funding round announced in June that Odabaee said totaled around $900,000.
OIG says it’s arranging an even larger funding round for the start of next year.
Managing Partner Joey Separzadeh said the private equity firm typically does not invest in pre-revenue technology companies, but “the combination of an impressive leadership team, transformative technology and market potential made Peltbeam a special situation investment for us.”
Peltbeam has over 20 patents and several partnerships with major corporations.
Odabaee said the current repeater units “are not for resale but for partners in telecommunications equipment manufacturing who can utilize our design for mass production.”
“The existing units are considered engineering samples and are built for both indoor and outdoor testing,” according to Odabaee.
He said brand-name telecommunications companies, one in Australia and the other in Japan, are testing the units and are considered to be “partners.”
“Once the qualification is completed, I will reveal partner’s names,” Odabaee said.
Peltbeam currently has four employees, along with eight consultants and an overseas team that does software.
Movandi Partnership
Peltbeam has a partnership with Movandi, the closely watched 5G wireless technology equipment maker in Irvine.
OIG is also an investor in Movandi, which has raised $110 million since its 2016 founding, including a $27 million Series C round in 2020.
“We are using Movandi’s SOC—silicon on chip—as a technology inside our system,” Odabaee said.
Movandi founder and Chief Technology Officer Reza Rofougaran, a leader in the 5G field with about 900 patents to his name, is an adviser to the Newport Beach company, officials said.
Peltbeam’s partnership focuses on Movandi’s 5G mmWave technology, according to a Movandi spokesperson.
“I would also like to take this opportunity and thank Maryam Rofougaran, CEO of Movandi and her team for supporting Peltbeam,” Odabaee told the Business Journal last month.
