Starry Scoops Up $30M as Fixed Wireless Field Heats Up

Starry, a wireless broadband startup based in Boston and New York, has raised $30 million in new equity funding, according to a regulatory filing. The investors in the round weren’t named, but the company’s previous backers include KKR, IAC, Tiger Global, and other venture capitalists.

The startup is led by CEO Chet Kanojia, the founder of Aereo, a streaming-TV service that was shut down after losing a U.S. Supreme Court battle with broadcasters in 2014.

Starry is developing a new system for providing fast wireless Internet to homes in dense metropolitan areas (via the antenna device pictured above). The company’s first product is a Wi-Fi router that can help manage connected devices in the home. Other companies working on so-called “fixed wireless” technologies include Webpass (acquired by Google Fiber this year), NetBlazr, and Rainbow Broadband.

Starry has now raised a total of $63 million in funding and has just under 100 employees, according to the Boston Business Journal.

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.