Funding of Innovative Startups
Company Spotlight
Clearwire As wireless-communications entrepreneurs go, few can claim more distinguished records than Craig McCaw. His biggest coup came in 1994, when he sold McCaw Cellular Communications to AT&T for $11.5 billion. Now, as CEO and chairman of Clearwire, McCaw is challenging cable and DSL service providers with wireless broadband service.
Last year, Clearwire bought NextNet Wireless, which supplies it with wireless equipment. Also last year, McCaw made a large investment in Microcell Telecommunications, a Montreal-based provider that could provide a foothold in the Canadian market. Currently, Clearwire offers its wireless broadband service in Daytona Beach, FL, Jacksonville, FL, Abilene, TX, and St. Cloud, MN.
The scope of McCaw’s project is daunting. Not only is Clearwire acting as service provider, but it is also making hardware. And rollouts in relatively small cities might not prove to be the wisest strategy. Meanwhile, incumbent DSL and cable providers have spent millions to market their broadband services. Is Clearwire up to the challenge?
Nanomix When Technology Review profiled Nanomix in September 2002, the company was more of a promising R&D operation based on strong academic research and prestigious founders than a viable commercial concern. However, with a fresh $16 million infusion of cash, the company is now poised to introduce its first commercial products.
Nanomix plans to begin selling its nanotube-based sensors by the end of this year. The company has indicated that its first products will include hydrogen sensors, which typically detect explosive conditions, and a carbon dioxide sensor for respiratory monitoring.
To initiate the transition to its commercial phase, the company hired David Macdonald as CEO in March 2004. Previously, Macdonald was senior vice president for global operations at Nanogen, a San Diego, CA-based supplier of molecular-diagnostic-testing equipment.
Keep Reading
Most Popular
The inside story of how ChatGPT was built from the people who made it
Exclusive conversations that take us behind the scenes of a cultural phenomenon.
How Rust went from a side project to the world’s most-loved programming language
For decades, coders wrote critical systems in C and C++. Now they turn to Rust.
Design thinking was supposed to fix the world. Where did it go wrong?
An approach that promised to democratize design may have done the opposite.
Sam Altman invested $180 million into a company trying to delay death
Can anti-aging breakthroughs add 10 healthy years to the human life span? The CEO of OpenAI is paying to find out.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.