2017 Tech Impact Awards, New Technology: Kymeta Corporation

Location: Redmond | Employees: 165

If, after five years of development, there were doubts that the world was ready for Kymetas lightweight, flat-panel antenna that connects buses, ships, trains and planes to satellite internet, those misgivings are now dispelled.

In its first months of release, President and CEO Nathan Kundtz reports, There are more people that want it faster than we can deliver right now. The highly engineered metals at the heart of the 28-inch, $25,000 mTenna pizza box support bandwidth speeds comparable to cable modems. Customers connect through Kymetas Kalo service and partner Intelsats network of 52 satellites, gaining internet service while riding transportation or in remote areas.

Its important for us to solve the whole solution for our customers, Kundtz says, emphasizing that people seek access, not antennas. For now, Kymeta is selling with restricted availability, but Kundtz assures that its supply-chain partners, such as Sharp Electronics, are ready to scale with it.

As Kymeta works to shrink its pizza box to a jewelry box, what it learns now creates the proof points for the next-generation opportunity.

Silver Award

Echodyne
Location: Bellevue | Employees: 45

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night will stay tomorrows drones, robots and autonomous cars. Echodyne wants to make this possible through a breakthrough radar sensor system that will help autonomous vehicles navigate safely through the world.

Weather conditions foil most conventional systems, but Echodynes technology measures range, velocity and position in all weather. Spun out from patent developer Intellectual Ventures in 2014, Echodyne has drawn $44 million in funding, riding plans to be a vital part of the new wave of self-driving machines.

See the rest of the 2017 Seattle Busineess Magazine Tech Impact Award winners here.