Bill Gates-Backed 5G Vendor Pivotal Commware Raises $102M

Pivotal Commware, a telecoms equipment supplier that bills itself as a “global leader in 5G mmWave infrastructure products,” has raised $102 million in Series D funding from Bill Gates’ Gates Frontier and Tracker Capital.

Funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group LLC and Blue Investment Group join them as co-leads. Existing investors in the round included Verizon Ventures, Devonshire Investors, Thermo Companies, DIG Investment XV AB, and Lux Capital.

In 2019, the Bothell, WA-based company secured $10 million in financing and in 2021, it announced the closing of a $50 million C-round investment.

“As data demand grows, a country’s economic success and social development will require widespread access to the Internet, and mmWave is foundational to bring this about,” said Glenn Lurie, Pivotal Board Member, and former President & CEO of AT&T Mobility.

The company recognized the fixed wireless access (FWA) sector as one that is ideal for its millimeter wave (mmWave) product line, and it is raising cash to expand on that aim.

The fresh funds will allow Pivotal Commware to “invest aggressively” in Pivotal Turnkey, its solution for planning and installing FWA on existing mobile mmWave networks.