(intro music plays)
>> Okay, welcome back everyone.
It's the Cube's coverage of AWS,
Amazon re:Mars machine learning, automation,
robotics, and space.
I'm John Furrier, 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 Gamzina
founder and CEO of Elve Speed.
Elve or Elve Speed.
Welcome to the Cube.
>> Well, Speed represents how fast we can transfer the data.
And so an Elve 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 approach you're taking.
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,
a little bit more open, less proprietary.
You're in an area where
you're going to solve the bandwidth problem
with unique new ways.
>> Yeah.
>> Take a minute 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.
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 the technology is?
>> So we make power amplifiers that are based on TWTs.
So, TWTS are an amplifiers that are actually
like are currently being operated
on the Voyager way back, long time ago.
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 of the future?
So we specifically operate in millimeter wave frequencies.
And at millimeter wave frequencies
we can provide significantly more bandwidth
than what you can do at lower frequency.
>> Okay, so for the folks that aren't wireless savvy,
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 an 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 bandwidth.
>> 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
to provide that amount of bandwidth.
So 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.
(Diana laughs) Well maybe they have.
But then monopolies.
>> Talk about how you got here.
What was the origination story?
You work at SLAC, not confused with Slack as
in the messaging application. (Diana laughs)
The Stanford Linear Accelerator in,
technically, Menlo Park, I think?
>> It is in Menlo Park?
>> In Menlo park, not Palo Alto, okay, so
>> It's right on Sand Hill Road, right?
>> Right at Sand Hill Road, next to all the VCs.
>> Yep.
>> I drive past it all the time. What's it like there?
And how was it like, were you guys working on this at SLAC?
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
and so particle accelerators are one of the applications
of this technology
So, and
right, so some of the users for particle accelerators are
of course, facilities like SLAC,
where we do some amazing science,
but you can take that same particle accelerator, right,
and we use it for cancer treatment.
So one technology doesn't just apply
to 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 SLAC.
So at SLAC, 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.
And, yeah, SLAC
(laughs)
without the K, yes,
(John laughs)
is a particle accelerated laboratory that's operated
>> Yeah.
>> by Stanford for the Department of Energy.
>> And all the geeks know about it.
(Diana laughs)
It's folklore, certainly, in Silicon valley.
>> Yes.
>> And I didn't even know they had the hidden tunnels
behind in the mountains up there.
>> They do, they do. >> All kinds of stuff up there.
>> I think they're back to having tours.
So that's, >> Yeah.
>> it's always worth visiting.
>> I'll have to get on the list.
>> Let me get a little kind of camera crew in there.
All right, let's talk about,
back to your opportunity there.
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,
and we're at 14 people today.
We have just did the first close of our seed round.
So we had our pre-seed round last year and we are sort of
in the middle of our seed round right now.
And the plan is to get to Series A sometime next year,
depending on sort of performance and when we are ready.
>> So you're in product building mode right now.
>> We actually are in product building mode.
We have 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?
'Cuz that I could see people lining up for 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.
(both laugh)
>> Of course.
>> So
>> Buy in bulk, Amazon.
(both laugh)
>> Yes.
>> You got a lot of outposts out there, potentially.
And you got the telecoms edge booming.
>> Yes.
>> They got full blown data centers now at these,
>> Absolutely. >> What used to be,
just, you know, monopoles or trust towers.
>> Well, so this is one of the advantages
of having a wireless technology.
If you're trying to put a location that's remote,
or even semi-remote, for you to be able to put a fiber link
at 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.
>> And so, yeah, it's a great application
for millimeter waves. >> So things are going good.
You've got orders, you've got product being built.
You're going to get through your seed that
soon to have Series A.
>> Next year, yeah.
And so the next step for us is building a factory,
which is, we are sort of doing a planned,
low-rate initial production, starting probably
at the end of this year.
Trying to scale to sort of tens of units per week.
And then after that, trying to get the factory
that'll be able to do sort of 10 times that.
But we are gauging that with the customer interest
such that we are matching the production to the demand.
>> What's your current verticals
that are most interested now?
>> So our primary application space is communications
and backhauls, specifically.
I think we're very well positioned to enter that market.
It sort of the next focus is going to space.
So actually being on the space vehicles.
But to do that we have to go for the space qualifications.
So we have a team focusing on how to get space qualified.
>> That'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.
>> 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? If space qualification takes a long time.
>> I mean, 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 want to 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.
>> If you want to take a minute to go plug for your startup.
You looking to hire?
What's the status?
>> You mean for my new employees? (claps hands)
>> Yeah, yeah.
What are you looking for?
Customers?
What kind of customers?
You looking to hire?
>> Absolutely. (laughs)
>> Put a 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 backhaul applications.
So starting at K-band and all the way to W-band frequencies.
For those that are my customers,
they will know exactly what I'm talking about.
>> (laughs) 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 thousands.
>> Smaller, faster, cheaper.
>> Exactly. That's the thing.
So when it comes to employees, so we are growing really fast
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 Elve is all about is, you know
making technology useful for people,
right? >> Yeah.
>> When it comes to communications, right.
Making me and 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 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 more data. >> Can I work for you?
>> Please! (laughs)
>> Sounds like a great place.
>> Yes.
>> No, I'll stick with my day job, thanks.
Thanks for coming on the Cube, 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 Furrier, your host.
Thanks for watching.
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