Movandi just dropped a signal the industry can’t ignore, $40M in strategic funding to push intelligent connectivity into overdrive. Led by ITHCA Group with $20M on the table, joined by Phaistos Investment Fund, VT Alliance, and Murata, plus returning heavyweights Cota Capital, Celesta Capital, DNX Ventures, and Sierra Ventures, this round feels less like a check and more like a co-sign from the future. The Irvine-based semiconductor force is engineering the next era of 5G, satellite comms, and fixed wireless access, and they’re doing it with the precision of people who’ve been building wireless empires since most of us were still buffering.
Founded in 2016 by Broadcom legends Maryam Rofougaran (CEO) and Ahmadreza “Reza” Rofougaran (CTO), Movandi isn’t a startup playing catch-up, it’s the sequel from the team that helped build Broadcom’s wireless business from zero to $3B+. With 130+ issued patents and technology that’s already live with operators like Verizon, Qualcomm, NXP, Kyocera, and KDDI, they’re not just scaling, they’re sculpting the global spectrum itself.
The $40M raise fuels an expansion that’s both geographic and generational. From their Irvine HQ to a new Muscat, Oman office, Movandi’s aligning with Oman’s Vision 2040 deep-tech mission to cultivate regional talent and connect underserved corners of the map. Fixed Wireless Access, non-terrestrial satellite systems, and next-gen RF networks sit at the center of their roadmap, a trifecta aimed at making ultra-fast, intelligent connectivity less of a luxury and more of a global baseline.
The Rofougarans lead a cast of wireless heavyweights: Craig Ochikubo steering marketing and sales after decades in semiconductors, Reza Khan engineering operations with 100+ patents under his belt, Farid Shirinfar turning deep RFIC expertise into scalable product architecture, and Brima Ibrahim driving systems innovation with academic firepower out of King’s College London. This team doesn’t chase trends, they create them, patent them, and turn them into infrastructure.
Movandi’s BeamXR Smart Repeaters and BeamX software aren’t hype, they’re the quiet backbone behind expanding mmWave coverage in places like Tokyo, where a recent Kyocera collab boosted 5G reach from 33% to 99%. That’s not marketing fluff; that’s math meeting ambition.
The 5G mmWave market is tracking from $3.2B in 2024 to $7B by 2030, a 14.1% CAGR climb that’s tailor-made for Movandi’s mix of CMOS innovation and AI-driven beamforming. This is what happens when precision meets persistence, the kind of play that turns connectivity from a service into a global standard.
