Eridan, a company reimagining wireless transmission to improve the performance of connected devices, announced $46 million in financing for further development and production of a next-generation transceiver. With more than 29 patents issued and pending, Eridan and its next-generation RF transceiver technology enable improved connectivity for more people, using less energy, less expensive infrastructure and less spectrum. The company’s latest funding was led by Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund and Monta Vista Capital with additional participation from Social Capital, Diamond Edge Ventures and Pilot Grove Management. 

Today's wireless connectivity infrastructure consumes 2.3 percent of the world's electricity. Expanding access to broadband connectivity by replacing today's 4G networks with 5G will require 9x more power, and genuinely universal 5G connectivity will consume as much as 48x more electricity—a prohibitively expensive, environmentally unsound and economically infeasible number. 

Based on his time at DARPA, where he worked closely with U.S. Special Forces, Eridan CEO and Co-founder Doug Kirkpatrick, with fellow co-founders Dubravko Babiç and Earl McCune, developed a concept for a lighter and more efficient military radio. Shortly after, the team realized that the radio they were creating had utility far beyond the defense sector. 

“Accessible, efficient and reliable wireless connectivity is critical to our future economic, environment and social well-being,” said Doug Kirkpatrick, CEO and co-founder of Eridan. “Achieving that reality, however, is impossible without a major technology breakthrough to reduce the spectrum and power needed. That’s how Eridan will provide improved and expanded connectivity for everyone, everywhere, using a fraction of the power.”

Eridan’s Differentiators:

• Eridan is the first and only company to build a direct polar transmitter in gallium nitride and silicon, which provides multiple advantages over current solutions based on linear amplifiers, including:
• 10x less input power to provide the same coverage
• 60 to 100x reduction in power consumption in sparsely-populated areas, due to improved spatial efficiency
• Equipment that's smaller, lighter and less expensive to install, and doesn't require specialized power sources or heavy heat sinks.

“The work Eridan is doing represents the biggest cellular technology innovation in the last 20 years,” said Dipender Saluja, managing partner of Capricorn’s Technology Impact Fund. “Their modules have the potential to expand connectivity on a mass scale without the unsustainable power requirements that previously made it impossible.” 

In its initial stages of deployment—slated for late 2023—Eridan’s MIRACLE RF Front-End Module will be utilized by telecom equipment manufacturers building small cells and massive MIMO systems for urban and suburban locations. The module, which is about the size of a paperback book, sits between the modem and the antenna, and will be available with OpenRAN standard interfaces. 

The company’s latest financing will be used to advance the commercialization of its modules, and hire additional engineers in California and Croatia—Eridan’s two primary locations—to advance their development and engineering. 

Eridan’s technological applications expand far beyond daily wireless connectivity. The company’s patented technology is also being developed for enterprise and municipal wireless, IoT and defense and public safety. Eridan has already received over $30M in contracts funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. 

The Eridan MIRACLE RF Front-End Module is currently available for laboratory evaluation in limited quantities.