About Airgain

Airgain, Inc. (Airgain) is a leading provider of wireless connectivity solutions that creates and delivers embedded components, external antennas, and integrated systems across the globe. Airgain simplifies wireless connectivity across a diverse set of devices and markets, from solving complex connectivity issues to speeding time to market to enhancing wireless signals. The company’s product offering includes three distinct sub-brands. Airgain Embedded represents the company’s embedded modems, antennas, and development kits that help design teams bring connected products to market quickly. Airgain Antenna+ represents the company’s external antennas, such as its fleet and Internet of things (IoT) antennas, that help enhance wireless signals in some of the harshest environments. Airgain Integrated represents the company’s fully integrated products, such as its asset trackers,5G connectivity solutions, and AirgainConnect platform, that help solve connectivity issues in an organization’s operating environment. Airgain’s core business primarily focuses on the following three key markets: Enterprise: Within this market the company’s antennas are deployed across a wide range of systems, devices, and applications that include access points and gateways, fixed wireless access infrastructure, small cells, massive multiple-input multiple-output, and remote radio heads. In addition, the company’s embedded modems are deployed across various markets with high demand for connectivity, including packaging and logistics, EV charging, smart city and smart building applications, agriculture, asset tracking, and more. The company continues to deploy its asset trackers across a variety of transportation, supply chain, cold chain, and other unique applications and it continues to develop WiFi access and other custom products for multiple commercial uses. Consumer: The company’s antennas are deployed in consumer access points, wireless gateways, Wi-Fi Mesh systems and extenders, smart TVs, smart home devices, and set-top boxes. Additionally, the company’s antennas support a comprehensive array of technologies, including WLAN, Wi-Fi, LTE, 5G and LPWAN. The company plans to roll out of its new 5G connectivity product lines, improving 5G access and customer experience through fixed wireless access (FWA) and repeaters for its service provider customers. Automotive: In the automotive market, the company’s products are deployed in a wide range of vehicles in the fleet and aftermarket segment, supporting a variety of technologies that include Wi-Fi, LTE, 5G, Satellite and LPWAN. The fleet and aftermarket segment of the automotive market typically consists of applications whereby rugged vehicular wireless routers are paired with external antenna systems to provide connectivity to fixed and mobile assets. Within this unique market segment, there has been a rise in the number of antennas per vehicle, which is especially true in the first responder, utility, agriculture, and service fleet markets where in-vehicle equipment increasingly demands connectivity. As a wireless connectivity solution provider with a rich history in radio frequency (RF) technology, the company is leveraging its expertise in embedded antennas and embedded modems to effectively transition from a component provider to a wireless systems provider. In 2020, the company announced its patented vehicle networking flagship platform – AirgainConnect. The company’s first product from this platform, the AC-HPUE antenna-modem offers a novel solution for its public safety and automotive fleet markets by improving vehicle networking capabilities and it is developing its next generation products directed towards a broader vehicle market size. The company has also designed an entire line of cellular-based, ruggedized asset trackers that deliver real-time location and condition data on assets, whether they are indoors, outdoors or in transit. In addition, the company has a robust custom products offering where it designs and builds integrated products, such as cellular routers, large venue WiFi access points, and external cellular modem modules for major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Finally, the company’s advanced development team expect to roll out several new products this year designed to improve the 5G customer experience, further helping enable its move into a leadership position in the new wave of technologies and platforms. After a significant shift in 2022, the company transitioned to a fabless model where it uses third parties to manufacture its products while maintaining oversight for critical quality, test, and calibration functions. In addition, the company maintains a deliberate intellectual property strategy that includes patent and trademark filings in multiple jurisdictions including the United States and other commercially significant markets. As of December 31, 2022, the company had over 281 issued and pending patents worldwide. Products The company’s products are found in a broad range of applications and end-user devices that are deployed in carrier, fleet, enterprise, residential, private, government, and public safety wireless networks and systems, including set-top boxes, access points, routers, modems, gateways, media adapters, Wi-Fi extenders, portables, digital televisions, sensors, and fleet and asset tracking devices. The company’s product portfolio is organized into three distinct sub-brands, depending on the distinct needs of each end customer. These sub-brands are Airgain Embedded, Airgain Integrated, and Airgain Antenna+. Airgain Embedded This sub-brand is targeted towards design teams, such as design engineers, system architects, and software engineers. Generally, this audience is designing a product that requires connectivity but needs a simplified radio frequency design either due to lack of expertise or resources or is simply looking for a shortened time to market. The products within this brand include: Embedded Antennas: The company engages with chipset providers, carriers, original design manufacturers (ODMs) and OEMs to develop highly integrated and customized embedded antenna solutions. While the company has over a thousand models of embedded antennas supporting the common wireless standards, its embedded solutions are designed specifically to optimize the connectivity of an individual device, and therefore they are usually unique for that specific customer device as a solution set. It is common practice for the company to draw from its existing antenna design library when implementing embedded antenna programs, which drives constant improvement and evolution in performance, while reducing time to market. NimbeLink Embedded Modems: The company’s patented NimbeLink modems are end-device certified, meaning further carrier certifications by its customers are normally unnecessary for intended products. The company offers a full line of LTE solutions, as well as products with integrated GPS/GNSS radios. All NimbeLink products are 20-pin-compatible, enabling easy integration and simplifying the process of changing technologies in the future as they become available. This time-to-market advantage allows developers to quickly design-in connectivity to cellular networks around the world. The company also engages in turnkey design and manufacture of custom modems. Cellular Internet of things Development Kits – The company offers a range of cellular Internet of things development kits that can help design teams implement rapid prototyping by plugging into most major boards and incorporating major interfaces like Raspberry Pi, Mini-PCI, Arduino, and BeagleBone. Whether for designing a circuit board, adding cellular connectivity to an existing product, or building onto one of today’s sophisticated microprocessors or microcontrollers. The company’s NimbeLink brand Internet of things development kits simplify cellular modem connectivity and product prototyping. The company’s kits allow direct modem connection to a circuit board with everything needed for successful prototyping. The company’s kits plug into boards from Renesas, Texas Instruments, ST Micro, NXP, and more, offering not just easy addition of a NimbeLink modem but advanced capabilities to complement those of the microprocessor board. Airgain Integrated The company has leveraged its expertise in antennas and cellular modems to shift from exclusively manufacturing components to delivering fully integrated systems that work within current infrastructure to improve coverage, enhance data collection, and deliver a return on investment (ROI). The products within this brand include: Asset Trackers – The company’s asset tracking solution leverages a cellular backbone with WiFi and GPS triangulation along with a myriad of sensors that include temperature, motion, distance, tilt, humidity, and more to track the location and condition of an asset indoors, outdoors, or in-transit. The focus of the company’s asset tracking solutions is tracking non-powered assets that move around geographically in and out of areas without a local network. The solution combines low power, battery operated edge devices, with its NLink cloud-based device enablement platform, providing an asset tracking solution that can be deployed quickly and in many different applications. NLink is not only able to perform remote-device management and pull data from the devices, but is also able to deliver that data to any enterprise system through a set of open APIs, making it adaptable in any environment. AirgainConnect – In 2020, the company introduced the AC-HPUE product, the first antenna-modem from its break-through AirgainConnect platform. The AC-HPUE integrates a high-power LTE modem with high gain antennas in one enclosure to reduce signal loss and support transmission of the maximum allowable radiated power. The company is developing the next generation products in the AirgainConnect platform, which is intended to address a broader vehicle market size. 5G Connectivity – In 2023, the company announced a new line of products that address common 5G connectivity issues in order to reduce deployment costs and improve the customer experience. As network operators look to compete with broadband providers for home and office internet service, fixed wireless access devices provide the connecting link that converts 5G cellular signals to WiFi and ethernet. However, the fixed wireless access devices in-market do not provide the coverage or signal to remain competitive with existing broadband offerings. Airgain’s outdoor fixed wireless access devices provide a much stronger signal along with an easy installation kit and a network management software stack. In addition, as the 5G network grows, it becomes more difficult to provide the same coverage with the existing infrastructure. Airgain’s Lighthouse smart repeaters are able to receive the 5G signal, clean up any echo, and power the signal forward. The company’s unique features, such as beamforming antennas and carrier aggregation, allow the network operators to reduce deployment costs even further. White Label – The company also engages in turnkey design and manufacture of white label industrial internet-of-things (IIoT) solution services, enterprise-class wireless products, fixed wireless access products, and more. Airgain Antenna+ This sub brand is targeted toward both design teams and end-users looking for the quickest and easiest way to enhance their signal. The Airgain Antenna+ brand, an iteration of the company’s Antenna Plus brand, offers a full line of external fleet, Internet of things, and fixed antennas that are rugged, reliable, and flexible to meet almost any need. Designed for all environments, the company’s broad range of highly integrated and multi-band products support a variety of applications from kiosk and ATM connectivity to government and public safety vehicular applications. The company has over 20 years of experience designing mission critical automotive fleet and mobile antenna applications. As the original inventor of the low-profile cellular antenna, the company is known for its market leading performance, quality, and long product life and its antennas connect to almost any vehicular router or modem. Fleet Antennas: A full line of high-performance, low-profile multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) fleet and public safety antennas that mount on the roof, trunk, windshield, or dashboard and are optimized for 5G, 4G, Wi-Fi, and GPS. Fleet antennas have a 5-year limited warranty, which is the longest in the industry, and most are IP67 rated and offer flexible connectors to allow for custom cable harnesses. Internet of things Antennas: A full line of Internet of things and M2M antennas to fit almost any application, whether user need a simple dipole or paddle antenna or need a ruggedized IP67 multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna that can mount on almost any surface. Fixed Antennas: Branch antennas for CBRS and lower C-Band that help improve signal to a fixed office or branch, whether in a point-to-point of point or multipoint application. Growth Strategy The company is in the process of transitioning from exclusively a component manufacturer to a wireless system solutions provider, targeting higher levels of integration and complexity. Climbing the value curve and expanding the company’s presence in adjacent markets are key ingredients to its growth strategy. In terms of markets, the growth strategy is centered around targeting three key markets: consumer, enterprise and automotive. Consumer The company continues to penetrate an increasing scope of adjacent wireless device applications within the consumer market, such as home security, smart appliances, and connected healthcare devices. The company is also expanding its footprint in these markets through support of an increasing range of Internet of things wireless standards, such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, Z-Wave, Thread, NB- Internet of things and LoRa WAN. The company’s engineering team provides custom antenna solutions to support a variety of device constraints, including flexible antenna technology for curved and smaller form factors, and specific absorption rate, (SARs), compliant antennas for body worn applications. The company offers three options for fixed wireless access, which include custom antenna designs for dozens of devices on the market, supplementing deployed indoor fixed wireless access devices with external antennas for a better signal, and a complete reference design for an outdoor fixed wireless access device. The company plans to offer multiple go-to-market pathways to monetize this design. Automotive The company has a significant portfolio of automotive antenna connectivity solutions, from embedded solutions for OBD II, IHU and connected car gateways, to custom ‘shark fin’ style antennas for automotive applications, mainly targeting mobile and automotive fleet applications for government, public safety, and enterprise applications. The strategy is to continue to leverage the Airgain Antenna+ sub-brand in the North American fleet and public safety automotive aftermarket segments. For longer term revenue growth opportunities, the company is pursuing the European and other international aftermarket fleets. The patented AirgainConnect platform with the company’s initial antenna-modem product, the AC-HPUE, and its future derivatives are expected to be the key growth contributor to the automotive market in the longer term. The company is developing the next generation AirgainConnect platform products to be carrier independent, as well as include additional features that improve functionality and ease of use to address a broader portion of the vehicle market. Enterprise Within the enterprise market, the company is targeting new 5G devices, primarily sub-6GHz for integrated smart antenna systems, as well as integrated devices. The company is developing intellectual property with its 5G and WiFi 6/6E/7 antenna designs. The company’s strategy in the enterprise Wi-Fi submarket is to focus on custom embedded and external antenna systems for the top global OEMs in this market. The company has replicated this success in white label development with both WiFi and cellular devices, offering it a significant opportunity in custom products. Airgain has partnered with major chipset and radio unit manufacturers to build reference designs for massive multiple-input multiple-output antennas that can deliver significant spectral efficiencies over standard multiple-input multiple-output systems. This allows Airgain to target network operators with an even broader portfolio of 5G products and services. With the addition of NimbeLink products in 2021, the company has greatly expanded its footprint in the enterprise market. As demand for connected products continues to grow, time to market becomes a competitive advantage. The company’s NimbeLink Embedded Modems save hardware and software designers months of delay and tens of thousands of dollars invested in carrier certification. This appeals to high growth markets, such as EV charging, video-surveillance-as-a-service (VSaaS), oil and gas, and heavy equipment. NimbeLink modems also require little radio frequency design knowledge as they are easy to integrate into any product design. With the addition of its standard 20-pin connector to the board, the device manufacturer is able to add significant flexibility to the overall design with the ability to exchange technologies and module manufacturers to fit the connectivity needs and supply chain demand. In addition, the company’s line of asset trackers has increased its market share within the industrial internet-of-things market by offering a simple way to track the location and condition of organizational assets indoors, outdoors and in transit. In addition to location, the company’s asset trackers come with several built-in sensors that track status, such as temperature, humidity, tilt, motion, and others. The key elements of the company’s strategy are to transition from components to solutions; implement solution-selling; develop into new products and markets; leverage its technology leadership and global relationships to grow its presence in Europe, the Asia Pacific (APAC), the Middle East, and more; and acquire complementary technologies, assets and companies. Sales and Marketing The company’s sales and marketing organizations work together closely to improve market awareness, build a strong sales pipeline, and cultivate ongoing customer relationships to drive sales growth. Sales The company’s global sales effort consists of direct and indirect sales teams, and indirect channel partners. The company’s direct sales team consists of inside sales personnel based in the United States, China and Taiwan and its outside field sales teams based in the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, China, and Taiwan. The company’s outside field sales teams consist of business, sales, account, technical marketing and program managers, and field application engineers, (FAEs). The company’s indirect channel partners consist of distributors, engineering design companies and outside sales representatives. The company has also recently begun to develop a presence on several online marketplaces where its target markets shop. The company’s outside sales team is engaged in pre-sales, account management, and creating partnership opportunities with third parties, such as service providers and semiconductor manufacturers. They are assigned quotas and have defined sales territories and/or accounts. The sales process includes meeting and qualifying potential programs and customers, and actively managing the planning stage of devices they plan to bring to market. The company’s FAEs assist these managers by providing technical support to existing customers. The company’s indirect channel partners provide lead generation, pre-sales support, product fulfillment and, in certain circumstances, post-sales customer service and support. This channel partner network often co-sells with the company’s inside sales and field sales teams. The company’s channel provides it with additional sales leverage by sourcing new prospects, providing technical support to existing customers, upselling for additional use cases, and maintaining repeat business with existing customers. Marketing The company’s marketing strategy focuses on building a competitive advantage for its brands and products in the marketplace. The company targets two types of customers. For Airgain Embedded products, such as its embedded antennas and NimbeLink modems, it targets design teams within OEMs and ODMs. For its integrated products, such as the company’s asset trackers, 5G connectivity products, and AirgainConnect AC-HPUE, it targets end user markets. The company uses both direct and indirect promotional methods to engage its audiences. Direct methods include advertising, web properties, marketing collateral, email campaigns, paid and organic social media, search engine marketing, media relations, content marketing, direct mail, tradeshows and events, and general lead generation tactics. Indirect methods include co-marketing efforts together with resellers, distributors, system integrators, hardware and software partners, and carriers. Both are areas where the company plans to invest greater efforts in the future. Seasonality The company’s operating results historically have not been subject to significant seasonal variations. However, the company’s operating results are affected by how customers make purchasing decisions around local holidays in China. Although it is difficult to make broad generalizations, the company’s sales tend to be lower in the first quarter of each year (year ended December 31, 2022) compared to other quarters due to the Lunar New Year. Competition Component Manufacturers This category represents companies that manufacture a broad array of components that compete both directly and indirectly with the company’s products. This includes Adant Technologies Inc., Asian Creation Communications Factory, AVX Corporation, Baylin Technologies Inc., Blues Wireless, Fibocom, Fractus S.A., Honglin Technology Group Ltd., MobileMark, Nordic Semiconductor, Panorama Antennas, Parsec Technologies, Inc, Particle Industries Inc., PCTEL, Inc., Pinyon Technologies Inc., Quectel, Sunwave Communications Co., Ltd., Telit, Ublox, Taoglas Limited, Wanshih Electronic Co. Ltd., WHA YU Industrial Co., Ltd, and 2J Antennas USA Corp., among others. Solution Providers This category represents companies that manufacture a wide variety of products across the value chain that include end-device hardware, software, components, services, and more. This includes Digi International Inc., Multi-Tech Systems Inc., Sierra Wireless, Laird Connectivity, Nextivity Inc., Pulse Electronics, and TE Connectivity, among others. With the company’s shift in business model towards solutions, many of these companies are direct competitors. In-house Design and Engineering Teams Several of the company’s existing customers, including OEMs and ODMs which design and build complete wireless devices, also have internal resources to design, engineer, and produce antenna and modem solutions. In such cases, the company competes against the captive resource of that ODM. Several ODMs, including Arcadyan Technology Corporation, Foxconn Electronics Inc., Gemtek Technology Co. Ltd., and Wistron Corporation, design, manufacture, and sell antennas, in direct competition with us. Intellectual Property As of December 31, 2022, the company had 239 issued U.S. patents covering its products with expiration dates ranging from 2023 to 2039, and 8 pending patent applications in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Outside of the United States the company has 19 issued patents and 15 pending patent applications with expiration dates ranging from 2025 to 2037, which entail counterparts of U.S. patent applications. The patents consist of several broad areas as summarized by various patent groups, such as antenna pattern selection; multiple stations connected to access point; associated methods; dynamically selected antennas for multiple-input multiple-output systems; switched directional antennas; antenna assemblies and systems for vehicles; and antennas and systems addressing 5G communications environments. Taken together, these patents with priority dates as far back as November 2003 form both a barrier to competition and a licensable asset for customers in the multiple-input multiple-output and antenna assembly categories. History The company was founded in 1995. The company was incorporated in the state of California in 1995 and reincorporated in the state of Delaware in 2016. The company was formerly known as AM Group and changed its name to Airgain, Inc. in 2004.