| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | RF Communications |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Headquarters | 1880 South Flatiron Court Suite F Boulder, Colorado 80301 |
| Key people | Steve Wulchin (CEO, co-founder) |
| Products | Spread Spectrum & Licensed Radios |
| Revenue | Undisclosed |
| Employees | Undisclosed |
| Website | www.FreeWave.com |
FreeWave Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is a B2B company based in Boulder, Colorado where it manufactures and designs frequency hopping spread spectrum (FHSS) and licensed data radios. Its wireless data radios are utilized in industrial, government and defense, scientific, and commercial applications. The U.S. Army is one of its biggest customers. It also is a trusted partner for leaders in oil and gas, utilities, electric power/smart grid and many other industries. FreeWave radios support a variety of industrial applications, such as supervisory control and data acquisition(SCADA), wireless I/O, cathodic protection (CP) and remote monitoring. The company also conducts network design, path studies, and pre-installation engineering services to ensure reliable, error free data-flow under any condition and in all environments. FreeWave is the only long term radio provider with 100 percent backward compatibility with older products. All radios are manufactured locally in Boulder, Colorado and tested to operate over the temperature range of -40°C to +75°C. FreeWave products come in a variety of shapes and types, including board level, enclosed and small form factor embedded systems that are super ruggedized/waterproof and are UL approved. Frequencies for unlicensed radios include 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz and 869 MHz, while licensed radios operate within 400 MHz, 700 MHz and 1.4 GHz. For government and defense, FreeWave embedded radios are counted on for mission critical applications, such as unmanned systems, where safety is paramount and lives are at risk.
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Founded in 1993 by Jonathan Sawyer and Steve Wulchin. In June 2007, TA Associates led a $113 million investment in FreeWave Technologies.
In October 2008, FreeWave ranked 26th on Deloitte's Wireless Fast 50 with revenue growth of 112%. FreeWave has been selected for Colorado's Fast 50 for ten consecutive years.
In June 2007 TA Associates, a private equity firm, invested $113 million dollars into FreeWave thus allowing the company to accelerate product development and enhance marketing efforts. A significant portion ($9 million) was given to the employees.
The National Science Foundation's Wireless Field Test Project found the DGR Series the best radios for establishing wireless links to and from data loggers in the field.
FreeWave radios are used across many industries including oil and gas, military, precision agriculture, golf, water/wastewater and more. For instance, FreeWave radios are used by energy companies to maximize production and reduce operating costs, for mission critical applications within the military, and for environmental monitoring to provide warning of impending natural disasters such as volcanoes.
LTER uses FreeWave at several sites such as Trout Lake, Alaska, Luquillo, and Niwot Ridge. Denver University uses the radios to beam images from their mountain-top observatory. NCAR’s Marshall Test Site uses FreeWave in a complex weather measurement system. Denver International Airport uses the radios in a 30 mile weather link to that Marshall Test Site. BMW Oracle Racing uses FreeWave radios in the America's Cup. The National Geographic Society sponsored two expeditions to the top of Mount Everest in which FreeWave was used as a life-line to remotely communicate the vital signs of the climbers to their base camp.
Supported Interfaces: RS232/RS422/RS485/TTL.