Recently, Armada announced a $40M funding round, led by M12, Microsoft’s Venture Fund, that will help the company further its mission to bridge the digital divide and bring connectivity, compute, and AI capabilities to the outermost edges of the world.
In this edition of Founders Feature, we sat down with Armada Co-Founder and CEO Dan Wright to learn more about what’s on the horizon for the company and the global problem that they are working to solve. Here’s what he had to share:
What problem were you trying to solve when you founded your company?
Dan: The problem we set out to solve ties directly to our mission: bridging the digital divide. For much of the world, until recently, access to the internet and compute infrastructure has been limited, especially in what we call the remote edge. That’s an area where a huge amount of data is now being generated by cameras, sensors, drones, and more—on oil rigs, mining sites, battlefields, factories, ports, trains, and beyond. All of that data is being created at the edge, and according to Gartner, 75% of all data is generated at the edge.
That said, there hasn’t been the infrastructure to actually create value from that data. So what we have done is extend many of the benefits that people in other parts of the world have enjoyed in terms of the internet and compute infrastructure to that remote edge. And how we’re doing that is through our software operating system, Commander. We also have modular data centers, which we call Galleons, that can actually use Starlink and other satellite internet providers for backhaul to push data back to the cloud when it’s needed.
That’s the progress we’re making towards bridging the digital divide.
Can you share a mistake you’ve made along the way and what you learned from it?
Dan: One thing we learned early on is the importance of meeting customers where they are in their digital transformation journey. Everyone’s at a different stage and has different expectations. Some are just trying to get reliable internet, while others are pushing to implement cutting-edge AI systems around the world.
At first, we developed a one-size-fits-all product, but we quickly hit roadblocks. That’s when we created the Commander platform, which can support customers at any stage of their journey. If they’re focused on getting internet access, we offer our Connect product, which handles connectivity and IoT management. For those wanting to implement AI at the edge, we provide our Galleons, which are essentially “AI in a box” that can be deployed anywhere. The big lesson for any company is the importance of building a platform that meets customers where they are.
How do you see your company evolving in the next 5-10 years?
Dan: I see us scaling quickly because we’re a horizontal platform company, meaning we can serve a wide range of customers across both the public and private sectors. We’re already working with many states, government agencies, and a number of Global 2000 companies in industries like oil and gas, mining, manufacturing, logistics, and others. We’re also partnering with major real estate holders, including operators of large resort chains. Our platform can help customers from office buildings to cruise ships, all of which need reliable internet and, increasingly, AI at the edge. We’re the platform company that delivers on these needs and solves customers’ most important problems at the remote edge.
Our mission to bridge the digital divide is our north star. This is, of course, true for companies, but also for people. In the coming years, you’ll see a lot more from us in partnership with nonprofits and major players like Starlink, as we work to bring internet access to communities, schools, and provide connections to healthcare and education. To me, this is about creating access to opportunity—one of the main reasons I founded Armada in the first place. You’ll hear us talk a lot about this because we’re solving real-world problems that matter not just for companies, but for individual people too.
How do you decide which investors to bring on board?
Dan: We’ve been fortunate to have a wide range of investors interested in what we’re doing from the beginning, and that interest has only grown since we came out of stealth. This puts us in the favorable position of not needing to seek investors just for capital. We focus on those who bring more to the table, like M12, which offers a strategic partnership. One of the reasons I was so excited when I started talking with Michael Stewart, Chris Young, and others about this partnership is the potential to solve big, meaningful problems in the world—and do it faster together.
But more than that, the synergy beyond dollars and cents is clearly there. With many of our other investors, we see overlaps with companies in the industry like SpaceX, or potential distribution partners. We’re always looking for investors who bring more to the table than just cash.
What legacy do you hope to leave through your work?
Dan: I hope Armada inspires entrepreneurs and anyone working in technology to focus on solving problems that truly matter—where if the company succeeds, the world is better for it. There are so many talented people working on impressive things, but not all of them are addressing the biggest challenges we face today. I’d love for Armada to inspire people to think, “Hey, that’s the kind of problem I want to tackle,” and actually change lives while solving some of the biggest problems in our world.
