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Mobile-device connectivity startup M87 raises $5 million

By Rachel Lerman, The Seattle Times
Published: November 20, 2016, 4:19pm

A new technology from a Bellevue startup could help you get better phone reception in an area where you are struggling to surf the web.

M87 raised $5 million to develop technology that allows devices to connect to each other and make use of the strongest network connection.

Seattle investment firm Madrona Venture Group led the round. Qualcomm Venture Partners and Trilogy Equity Partners also invested.

Led by Cole Brodman, a former T-Mobile executive and a partner at Trilogy Equity, the startup has just relocated its headquarters to Bellevue from Austin, Texas.

Brodman, who joined the 4-year-old company last week, said M87 moved to Bellevue because of the region’s deep roots in the telecom industry.

“Austin has a great software base, but what we believe it lacked was experienced people on the telecom side,” Brodman said.

Seattle also has a deeper base of midround investors, he said.

The company is named for the massive Messier 87, a super-dense galaxy. Brodman said it represents the global smartphone network, which is full of untapped resources.

M87’s software connects devices that are near each other, then allows a device with a weaker wireless connection to use the stronger device’s network. The piggybacking device doesn’t affect the stronger device’s network use, Brodman said.

The company is testing the technology with wireless carriers and app developers. App developers can use the software to let their apps talk to each other from nearby devices without a cellular or wireless connection.

“Connections from device to device are more powerful than those made between device and cellular network,” Brodman said.

The company has eight employees and plans to double during the first part of 2017.

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