>>Okay, welcome back everyone. It's the Cube's coverage of AWS, Amazon re Mars machine learning, automation, robotics, and space. I'm John Prairie host of the cube. We're here for two days, live coverage, and we're getting all the stories and story here is our entrepreneur hot startup making things happen, making more connectivity, go Diana GenZ, founder and CEO of El speed, El or L speed. Welcome to the cube. >>Well, speed represents how fast we can transfer the data. And so an L is a upper electro sort of magnetic phenomena that lives above thunderstorms and it moves very, very fast. It looks like it moves faster than the speed of light. So we play on the speed of elves. >>Well, let's get into it cuz I love the love, the approach you take. And this is consistent with the theme of the show, a lot of industrial change and innovations sometimes recycling old technology to help invent new ones, integrations platforms coming together, little bit more, open, less proprietary. You're in an area where you're gonna solve the bandwidth problem with unique new ways. Yeah. Pick them in to explain what you're working on. What's the project and what's the ambition. >>Yes, exactly. I think we fit really well in that concept of taking something that has a lot of heritage reliability. We are very familiar with this technology. We've used it for more than 50 years. We like it. Um, and the problem with that technology has been that it's very expensive. It's not affordable, not affordable to people like you and me such that that amount of bandwidth can actually be available to us. So what we have done is really focused on advanced materials and manufacturing techniques to make this new technology significantly more affordable. So like, >>And technology is >>So we make power amplifiers that are based on TTS. So TTS are in amplifiers that actually like are currently being operated on the Voyager way back, long time ago. Um, it's a very old technology and we have taken it and really revamped it and looked at it differently. And how can we make it to technology over the future? Um, so we specifically operate in millimeter wave frequencies, um, and at millimeter wave frequencies, we can provide significantly more bandwidth than what you can do at lower frequency. >>Okay. So the folks that aren't wireless say, what does millimeter wave mean? >>Millimeter wave is the amount of frequency that you have sort of in space. So the wavelength of that frequency is a millimeter wave range. So sort of the size of your nail or something like that, thickness of your nail. And so because of that, when you start operating at those frequencies, you can send significantly more information, right? The frequencies that we use today are sort of on a order of, you know, centimeters, you know, 10 centimeters, something like that. So about like this. And so, and that doesn't allow you to send as much data as you can at these higher frequencies. >>So more bandwidth >>Significantly more >>Than so the problem you're solving is taking something that's actually high bandwidth and has long ranges, >>Correct. >>Should bring it to the common price points to be deployed. >>That's >>Right, >>Correct. That's right. So this particular technology allows you to generate enough power so you can send the data over long distances. So if you are on the ground, you can create 40 plus kilometer links or you can send that information straight to space all the way to the geo stations, right? So you actually have enough power, um, to provide that amount of bandwidth. So the, the challenge has been is affordability, which is what we have done is focus specifically is how do you reduce that cost? >>Well, I love anything that gets me more bandwidth, more, no one ever went out of business for providing more bandwidth. Well maybe the app <laugh>, um, than monopolies. Um, talk about how you got here. What was the origination story? Um, you work at slack, not confused with slack as in the messaging application, the Stanford linear accelerator in technically Menlo park. I think >>It is in Menlo park, in Menlo >>Park up Palo. Okay. >>So, so it's right on sand hill road, right? Right. >>Sand hill road next, all the VCs that drive past it all the time, what's it like there? And how was it like, were you guys working on this at slack? Was it like something that you had a lot of interest in? Were you scratching this itch so to >>Speak? So this particular technology has many applications. Um, and so particle accelerators are one of the applications of this technology. So, and, um, right. So some of the users for particle accelerators are of course facilities like slack, where we do some amazing science. Um, but you can take that same particle accelerator. Right. And we use it for cancer treatment. So one technology doesn't just apply to sort of one solution, you know, I'm using in my company for communications, right. And this is how it related to the work that I was doing at slack. So at slack, my focus was on materials and manufacturing of these particular devices. And I really focused on what is fundamental limitation of how much power you can really pack into the size of the device. If you can really shrink the size of the device, you know, what can you do? And that applies whether it's particle accelerators or these millimeter wave amplifiers that I'm working on today. Um, and yes, slack <laugh> without the K yes. Is, is a, uh, particle accelerated laboratory that's operated, uh, by Stanford for the department >>And all the geeks know about it's it's it's folklore certainly in Silicon valley. Yes. And I didn't even know they had the hidden tunnels behind in the >>Mouth. They do, they >>Too kind of >>Stuff up there. I think they're back to having tours. So that's, it's always worth visiting. >>Let me get a little kind of camera crew in there. All right. Let's talk about back to the, back to your opportunity there. Um, how many people do you have working for you? What's the funding status? Where are you in your journey? >>So I hired my first person last June, uh, and we're at 14 people today. Um, we have just did the first close of our seed round. So we had our Pree round last year and we are sort of in the middle of our seed round right now. Um, and the plan is to get to series a sometime next year, depending on sort of performance >>And what we are already. So you're product building mode right now. >>We actually are in product building mode. We have, uh, product delivery scheduled in the next few months, >>You know? So you have customers ordering amplifiers. >>Yes. We actually have customer orders. >>What's the price point you're getting at what's cause that I could see people lining up in this >>Well. So because of our focus on manufacturing, we are also attaching customer interest to volume. So it depends on whether you're buying 10 of them or a thousand of them. So the price point varies <laugh> >>Course. >>So >>Buying bulk, Amazon <laugh> yes. You have a lot of outposts out there potentially. And you got the telecoms edge booming. Yes. Um, they got full blown data centers now at these absolutely. It used to be just, you know, monopoles or, you know, trust towers. >>Well, so this is one of the advantages of having a wireless technology. If you're trying to put a, a location that's remote or even semi remote for you to be able to put a fiber link, that spot is years an enormous amount of investment. So you can get the same amount of data movement if you switch to technology like ours mm-hmm <affirmative> um, and so, yeah, that's a, it's a great application for, um, for millimeter >>Weight. So things are going good. You got orders, you've got product being built. You're gonna get through your seat to soon to have series a >>Next year. Yeah. And so the next step for us is building a factory, uh, which is we are sort of doing a, a planned low rate, initial production, uh, starting probably at the end of this year, trying to scale to sort of tens of units per week. Um, and then after that, trying to get the factory, they'll be able to do sort of 10 times that, uh, but we are gauging that with a customer interest so that we are matching the production to the >>What's what's your current, uh, verticals that are most interested now. >>So our primary application space is communications and back holes specifically. Uh, I think we're very well positioned to enter that market. Um, it sort of the next focus is going to space. So actually being on the space vehicles and, but to do that, we have to go for the space qualifications. So we have a team focusing on how to space >>Qualified. It's all certifications, all kinds of security checks. >>Correct. So that will take a little bit of time. I think the earliest we'll get there is next year. Yeah. Um, and so, but there is a lot of interest and support from sort of current companies, the new space companies to sort of help move technology faster. Yeah. Otherwise you can't get access to something that's new, right. Space qualification >>Takes space. I'm space force, everyone I talk to here and all over the industry on NASA to space force, they want to move faster. They don't wanna be perceived as that old slow antiquated systems. Yes. They want to be cooler and faster, but secure. >>Absolutely >>Security is a huge deal right now. >>And that's one of the advantages that we provide. Right. We are relying on a heritage technology and also because it's millimeter wave, it provides you a certain amount of security, right. Because it's much, much harder to intercept than anything else. Right. >>Well, exciting news. Congratulations. Thank you. Um, if you wanna take a minute to go plug for your startup, you're gonna hire, um, what's status. >>Um, you mean for my new employees? >>Yeah. What are you looking for customers? What kind of customers you looking hire? >>Absolutely >>Put commercial out there from the company. >>Okay. So when it comes to customers, we are looking for people that are willing to move really fast, as fast as we are moving and willing to actually consider something like millimeter wave for their backhoe applications. So starting at K band and all the way to WB frequencies for those that are my customers, they will know exactly what I'm talking about. Yes. And so, and we are bringing a technology that's reliable and bringing their cost down by a factor of 10, meaning something that was half a million before is going to be significantly cheaper today. And you could afford to actually buy >>Thousand faster, cheaper. >>Exactly. That's that's, that's the thing. So when it comes to employees, so we are growing really fast. Um, and we have a very fun team that cares about people. So for example, we spend one hour every week to actually talk about growth and personal development as sort of part of our culture. It's something we're committed to is that you have to love what you do. And so when you come to work, you better be having fun. Yeah. And so we are looking for people that are very techy, but also sort of are human centered and are willing to make the world a better place, which is what sort of El is all about is, you know, making technology useful for people, right. When it comes to communications, right. Making me a, you connected or us connected to the rest of the world as we sit here. >>Yeah. And more empathetic and connected, like just connected emotionally >>Connected in Mo both ways. >>Yeah. Both ways. Exactly physical and emotional and more bandwidth, more connections. Right. >>And you can have that interaction to be significantly higher quality. Right. If you can actually recreate that environment with my >>Day, I work for you. Sounds like a great place. No, <laugh> no. I'll stay with Mike Day job. Thanks Dan. Thanks for coming on the queue. Appreciate >>It. Of course. Thank you for hosting me. >>Okay. We're here at re Mars. All the hot startups are here. Technologists. It's kind of a geeky nerd show and it's really cool because it's about industrial innovation and about space and all the cool things we love at the cube. I'm John for your host. Thanks for watching.