(Image via twitter.com)
Staff Writer: Olivia Beaudette
Email: obeaudette@umassd.edu
Ex-Disney star Bridgit Mendler has just announced that she is the co-founder and CEO of Northwood, a company aiming to make more efficient satellite technology.
Mendler is known for her role in the Disney show Good Luck Charlie, where she played Teddy Duncan. She had this role from 2010-2014. She was also in Wizards of Waverly Place from 2009-2012.
Mendler’s most recent role was in 2019 in a show called Merry Happy Whatever. Along with her acting roles, Mendler was also a singer.
During this time, Mendler was getting her bachelor’s degree at the University of Southern California. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in anthropology in 2016.
Mendler’s accomplishments don’t stop there. After completing her bachelor’s degree, Mendler went on to get her master’s degree and Ph.D. at MIT in 2020 and 2024.
While getting her Ph.D. at MIT, Mendler was also attending Harvard, where she graduated with her J.D. in 2024. She was also the co-president of the Harvard Space Law Society.
All these impressive degrees lead to where Mendler is now, a CEO.
On February 19th, Mendler announced on X that she and her husband, Griffin Cleverly, had created a new satellite data company called Northwood.
In this announcement, Mendler excitedly states, “Expect the unexpected!” As her introduction to announcing the company she has been developing over the past year.
Mendler also posted her announcement on Linkedin.
Northwood was founded in 2023 with Bridgit Mendler as CEO, Griffin Cleverly as CTO, and Shaurya Luthra as Head of Software. Northwood is operated in El Segundo, CA.
Mendler told CNN that the name Northwood came from a lake in New Hampshire. Mendler also stated that she came up with the goal and idea of Northwood during the COVID-19 pandemic when she was spending time with her family.
On Northwood’s website, their mission statement says, “Northwood is building a data highway between earth and space. To meet the needs of today’s space industry, the one-lane rickety road for space data needs to adapt to a ten-lane highway routing continuous traffic across the globe.”
The data that is collected and sent to scientists by Northwood’s “data highway” is data from the climate, deep space, and data about how the Earth’s systems are functioning.
For the data collected when a satellite orbits Earth to be sent to scientists (downlinking), they need ground stations. This is where Northwood comes in.
Northwood plans to mass produce the ground stations so that satellite technology is faster and more accessible.
To make the process of downlinking information more efficient, Northwood has gotten a lot of attention from high-profile investors. Mendler stated in her announcement that Northwood has already received $6.3 million in funding.
These high-profile investors include Founders Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, and Also Capital.
Not only did Mendler start a company and get two doctorate degrees in her time off the internet, she also adopted a child.
After she made her post announcing Northwood, she made another post sharing that she is a mom to a 4-year-old boy.
In this post, Mendler explains that she started fostering in 2021, and near Christmas of 2022, she adopted her now 4-year-old son.
After going quiet on the internet and then making her return on X with the launch of her company and the exciting news of her motherhood, Mendler finished her posts on February 19th, saying, “That’s my news for now folks.”
Bridgit Mendler is changing the science world, and she is living proof of the endless opportunities in the world. Mendler is more than a Disney star and a singer; she is a successful mom and CEO.