AIRGAIN INC

Overview

Headquartered in San Diego, California, Airgain, Inc. (NASDAQ: AIRG) is a leading provider of advanced wireless connectivity solutions that drive cutting-edge innovation in 5G technology. We are committed to delivering high-performance, cost-effective, and energy-efficient wireless solutions that enable rapid market deployment. Our mission is to connect the world through integrated, innovative, and optimized wireless solutions. Our diverse product portfolio serves three primary markets: enterprise, automotive, and consumer.

Our enterprise products include Smart Network Controlled Cellular Repeaters (Smart NCRs), fixed wireless access (FWA) devices, asset tracking solutions, embedded cellular modems, and antennas for access points and Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Our automotive products include our second generation AirgainConnect® Fleet system solution – a low profile, roof-mounted, all-in-one 5G vehicle gateway and aftermarket antennas. Our consumer products are comprised of embedded antennas for consumer access points, wireless gateways, smart home devices and FWA devices.

We have a rich history of providing radio frequency (RF) expertise, services, and solutions to mobile operators and major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). We expanded our current portfolio of embedded cellular modems, asset tracking solutions and custom IoT systems with advanced 5G connectivity solutions, including our AirgainConnect Fleet vehicle gateway, Smart Network Controlled Cellular Repeaters, and FWA devices. We are leveraging our RF and systems experience, and our Mobile Network Operator (MNO) and Multiple Service Operator (MSO) relationships to deliver complex and differentiated system solutions

We use an outsource manufacturing model for our products while maintaining oversight for quality, test, and delivery timeline. Additionally, we uphold an intellectual property strategy that includes patent and trademark filings in multiple jurisdictions.

Products and Solutions

Enterprise

The enterprise market demands reliable wireless access across diverse settings, including smart cities, utilities, factories, buildings, campuses, transportation hubs, stadiums, and suburban developments.

Our Lighthouse 5G Smart Network Control Repeater (NCR) delivers a scalable, high-performance solution designed to rapidly deploy and enhance network coverage and offload network capacity for the underserved areas. The Lighthouse family of products includes:

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a low-power Micro repeater, optimized for small offices or residence seeking targeted indoor coverage expansion; and.

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a high-power network repeater, for both In Building Solutions (IBS) and outdoors for MNOs and system integrators to extend coverage and improve network performance in large areas.

In 2024, we successfully tested the performance of our Lighthouse product on several domestic and international operator networks, achieving strong performance and enhanced network coverage. In December 2024, we achieved our first commercial deployment, marking a significant milestone in scaling for this product.

In the second quarter of 2024, we launched our Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) product line, engineered to overcome 5G connectivity challenges, and enhance end-user experience. Our Lantern™ 5G FWA outdoor device integrates high-performance directional antennas, a 5G NR Sub-6 modem, and is powered via 2.5 gigabit ethernet with Power over Ethernet (PoE), ensuring seamless, high-speed connectivity in demanding environments. Built for rugged outdoor deployment, Lantern features remote management capabilities using TR-069 and a Wi-Fi-enabled installation web interface, simplifying maintenance and Deployment.

In May 2024, Lantern achieved certification from AT&T and T-Mobile and secured regulatory approvals from key industry bodies, including the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), PCS Type Certification Review Board (PTCRB), and Industry Canada (IC). Over the course of 2024, we successfully conducted several customer trials across the U.S. and international markets, supporting Lantern’s performance and market readiness. In the second quarter of 2024, we completed the first commercial deployment of Lantern.

Our asset tracking solutions are deployed across transportation, supply chain, and other specialized applications. In November 2024 we expanded our product line with AT-Flight, an asset tracker with integrated artificial intelligence that is in-flight certified to allow for full journey tracking. AT-Flight targets the healthcare and life sciences markets and uses artificial intelligence to automatically detect a flight event and activate airplane mode to comply with FAA regulations – thus eliminating the need for manual intervention. In addition to hardware, our asset tracking solution includes a recurring revenue component, our subscription-based NLink cloud-based device enablement platform, which allows for deployment and integration with enterprise systems via open application programming interfaces (API).

Our NimbeLink embedded modems serve numerous enterprise IoT sectors requiring cellular connectivity, such as packaging, logistics, EV charging, smart cities, smart buildings, agriculture, asset tracking, and self-service innovations. These NimbeLink cellular modems, which are both patented, and end-device certified, minimize the need for additional OEM end-customer carrier certifications. Our custom products feature joint engineering collaboration with strategic customers to develop industrial IoT products (IIoT) for specific applications while helping them reduce their time to market.

Our enterprise IoT and machine-to-machine (M2M) antennas are extensively deployed in diverse systems, products, and applications, including access points, gateways, FWA devices and utility meters.

Automotive

In the automotive market, our products are deployed in a wide range of vehicles in the fleet and aftermarket applications, supporting a variety of technologies that include 5G, LTE, Wi-Fi, LPWAN, GNSS, and Bluetooth. Fleet and aftermarket products in the automotive market typically consist of applications where vehicular wireless routers are paired with external antenna systems to provide connectivity to mobile assets.

In the third quarter of 2024, we completed the first commercial deployment of our second generation AirgainConnect® Fleet (AC-Fleet) system solution – a low profile, roof-mounted, all-in-one 5G vehicle gateway that provides 4G/5G cellular connectivity with built-in multi-profile eSIM, GPS, Wi-Fi, and gigabit ethernet router functionalities. The AC-Fleet solution is one of the first roof-mounted 5G vehicle gateways on the market, combining the latest 5G NR (New Radio) modem and a Wi-Fi 6 router, all in one covert form factor. At only two inches tall, AC-Fleet provides flexibility across multiple markets including public safety, transportation, transit, public and private fleets, and passenger and heavy vehicles.

In October 2024 AC-Fleet obtained T-Mobile and AT&T certifications, along with industry accreditation from the FCC, IC, PCS, and industry accreditation from the PTCRB. Our AC-Fleet platform includes hardware and a recurring revenue component including an optional annual subscription for remote access, AC-Cloud management, technical support, software updates, and extended warranty. We expect AC-Fleet to receive additional MNO certifications throughout 2025.

We offer a full line of external fleet antennas that are designed to be rugged, reliable, and flexible to meet almost any need. We design our products for performance, quality, and long product life, and our antennas connect to almost any vehicular router or modem. These antennas include high-performance and low-profile versions that mount on the roof, trunk, windshield, or dashboard and are optimized for 5G, 4G, Wi-Fi, and GNSS.

Consumer

The consumer market represents a vast audience utilizing wireless-enabled devices. Our embedded antennas are deployed in various consumer applications including access points, wireless gateways, FWA devices, Wi-Fi routers and extenders, smart TVs, smart home devices, and set-top boxes. These consumer products support a variety of technologies, products and services, including 4G/LTE, 5G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LPWAN and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).

In March 2024, we were awarded a multi-million-dollar deal with a tier one MSO for Wi-Fi 7 antenna solutions. Additionally, in May 2024, we announced that we secured a production purchase order for a long-term opportunity with another Tier 1 MSO for Wi-Fi 7 solutions. These wins continue Airgain’s position as a leader in Wi-Fi 7 and 5G for both FWA devices and wired broadband devices. We continue to grow our relationships with MSOs and MNOs as the market evolves with both wired and wireless broadband internet offerings.

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Growth Strategy

Airgain is a leader in wireless connectivity solutions, dedicated to addressing critical connectivity challenges across various markets. We are evolving from a component manufacturer to a comprehensive wireless systems solutions provider, focusing on higher integration and complexity. Our growth strategy centers on two primary objectives:

Strengthening Our Core Businesses: Our embedded antennas in the consumer market, embedded modems, custom IoT solutions, and IoT antennas in the enterprise market, together with our aftermarket antennas in the automotive market, provide our foundational business. Our reputation and relationships throughout the Distribution, Value-Added-Reseller (VAR), MSO, MNO, OEM, and Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) supply chain enables us to aggregate key voice-of-the-customer product needs and challenges which is critical for innovation. Our RF design and test capabilities enable our products to be differentiated on performance and to improve the end-customer experience – specifically in Wi-Fi, LTE, 5G, and GNSS integrated systems.

Our foundational offerings include embedded antennas in the consumer market, embedded modems, custom IoT solutions, and IoT antennas in the enterprise market, and aftermarket antennas in the automotive sector. Our strong reputation and established relationships with distributors, value-added resellers (VARs), multiple system operators (MSOs), mobile network operators (MNOs), original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), and original design manufacturers (ODMs) enable us to gather critical customer insights that are essential for driving innovation. Our expertise in radio frequency (RF) design and testing allows us to differentiate our products in terms of performance, enhancing the end-customer experience, particularly in Wi-Fi, LTE, 5G, and GNSS integrated systems.

Expanding And Innovating In Connectivity: We are transitioning from being a component manufacturer to a wireless systems solution provider. This transition started with the acquisition of NimbeLink in 2021 which brought expertise in embedded modem solutions, asset tracker solutions and augmented our historical RF expertise with digital systems design, firmware, and cloud capabilities.

In the second quarter of 2024, we completed the first commercial deployment of our new line of FWA products designed to address 5G connectivity challenges, reduce deployment costs and enhance customer experiences. Our outdoor 5G LanternTM FWA device has integrated high-performance directional antennas, a 5G NR Sub-6 modem and it is powered through a 2.5 gigabit ethernet PoE connection. The Lantern 5G FWA has been ruggedized for outdoor use, includes remote management capabilities, and a Wi-Fi based easy installation web interface to help simplify the user experience.

In the third quarter of 2024, we completed the first commercial deployment of our second generation AirgainConnect® Fleet (AC-Fleet) system solution, a low profile, roof-mounted, carrier agnostic all-in-one 5G vehicle gateway that provides 5G cellular connectivity with built-in GPS, Wi-Fi, and gigabit ethernet router functionalities. The AC-Fleet solution is one of the first roof-mounted 5G vehicle gateways, combining the latest 5G NR (New Radio) modem and a Wi-Fi 6 router, all in one covert form factor. At only two inches tall, AC-Fleet provides flexibility across multiple markets including public safety, transportation, transit, public and private fleets, and vehicles.

In December 2024, we completed the first commercial deployment of our Lighthouse Smart NCRs platform. Lighthouse includes both a low-power small office and home office (SOHO) device targeting customers that need additional coverage in small areas, as well as a high-power outdoor network repeater for MNOs and systems integrators. Lighthouse smart repeaters include advanced carrier aggregation (CA), low latency, software upgradeability to support network-controlled repeater (NCR) standards, optional smart antenna technology to assist with installation and maintenance, and an optional remote management system. The smart network repeater also integrates advanced automatic gain control and echo cancellation, enabling single-pole installation.

Our focus is on driving these innovative connectivity solutions to market and increasing our serviceable available market (SAM).

The following graphic provides a summary of our estimated SAM. Based on publicly available market research and internal estimates, we project the SAM will grow from $1.1 billion in 2024 to $2.6 billion in 2025, largely driven by the launch of our AC-Fleet vehicle gateway and our Lighthouse smart repeaters.

Airgain Estimated SAM ($B)

Sales and Marketing

Our 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

Our global sales efforts consist of direct and indirect sales teams, and indirect channel partners. Our direct sales team consists of sales personnel based in the United States, Greater China, South Korea, and Europe, while our indirect channel partners consist of distributors, engineering design companies and outside sales representatives across North America, Asia, Europe, Australia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

Our direct sales team is engaged in pre-sales, account management, and creating partnership opportunities with third parties such as service providers and OEMs. The sales process includes meeting and qualifying potential customers, and actively managing the planning stage of devices they project to bring to market. Our field application engineers (FAEs) assist these programs by providing technical support to new and existing customers.

Our 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 our direct sales team. Our channel partners provide us with additional sales leverage by sourcing new prospects, providing technical support to existing customers, upselling additional use cases, and maintaining repeat business with existing customers. These channels partners provide added coverage to customers and prospects we cannot reach directly.

Marketing

Our marketing strategy is focused on building a competitive advantage for our brands and products in the marketplace. We target two types of customers. For embedded products such as our NimbeLink modems and consumer antennas, we target design teams within OEMs and ODMs. For our integrated products, such as our asset trackers, FWA Lantern, and AirgainConnect AC-Fleet, we target distributors and the enterprise market. We use both direct and indirect promotional methods to engage our 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 domestically and internationally.

Manufacturing and Operations

We are fabless and our products are manufactured by contract manufacturers (CMs) in the United States, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Mexico. We generally have long-term relationships with our CMs, and we work together to control global product compliance, raw materials supply and cost, production part approval processes, assembly instructions, control plans, final testing, and on-time shipment to our customers. We provide the control, test and measurement plans to the CMs to help ensure that each product conforms to the Airgain specifications, and we monitor the quality performance of our CMs through quality reports and periodic audits.

We maintain a close direct relationship with our CMs to help ensure that supply and quality meet our requirements. The contract manufacturing services required to manufacture our products can be satisfied by one or more of our CMs, however it may be time consuming and costly to qualify and implement new CM relationships. If one of our CMs suffers an interruption in their business, or experiences delays, disruptions, or quality control problems in their manufacturing operations, our ability to ship products to our customers could be delayed, and our business could be adversely affected. Our qualified CMs manufacture products according to our design specification, materials specification, quality standards, and delivery requirements. We have control and authority over the selection of materials, manufacturing, and inspection processes. Since our products manufactured in China are predominantly shipped to ODMs and CMs within Asia, we have not experienced a negative impact from tariffs imposed on exports from China to the United States

Research and Development

We invest considerable time and financial resources in research and development to engineer and deliver our products and solutions to market, while also enhancing our design and system integration capabilities and conducting quality assurance testing to improve our technology. As of December 31, 2024, we had a total of 59 employees engaged in research and development. Our engineering teams are located at research, design, and test centers in California, Arizona, Texas, Minnesota, and Florida, as well as the United Kingdom and China. Our engineering team actively participates in research and development activities to expand our capabilities and target applications for the enterprise, automotive and consumer markets. We strive to continually expand our product offerings and technology solutions over time and expect to continue to invest significantly in ongoing research and development efforts.

Additionally, for the development of certain company products, we engage with ODM partners to augment our internal engineering capability. Our ODM partners, primarily in Taiwan, enable us to scale our product development capacity quickly - especially for integrated connectivity products such as Lantern, AC-Fleet, and Lighthouse. For all such ODM-partner product developments, we maintain direct oversight and engagement to help assure projects are delivered in accordance with our quality and time-to-market expectations.

Competition

Because of our broad product line across several categories in the value chain, our competitive landscape is diverse and rapidly evolving.

Solution Providers

This category represents companies that manufacture a wide variety of products across the value chain including end-device hardware, software, components, services, and more. These companies include Digi International, Laird Connectivity, Multi-Tech Systems Inc., Lantronix, Inseego Inc., in-Hand, Peplink, Ericsson/Cradlepoint, Cisco Systems Inc., Nextivity Inc., Pulse Electronics, Samsara, Semtech, TE Connectivity, Wilson Electronics, Digital Matter, and Surecall among others. With our shift in business model towards solutions, many of these companies are direct competitors. While some partnership opportunities do exist, most of these companies strive to solve similar problems as us with their broad portfolios and consultative sales approaches.

End-Device Manufacturers

This category represents companies that manufacture and supply off-the-shelf products that are market ready, such as routers, gateways, cellular adapters, 5G repeaters, fixed wireless access devices, asset trackers, and more. These manufacturers can act as customers, partners, or competitors to us, depending on the application and relationship. An end-customer may choose to bypass the design process entirely and purchase an off-the-shelf product to deliver device connectivity rather than embedding our modems and antennas. Our integrated products, such as the AC-Fleet, Lighthouse 5G Smart Network Repeater, Lantern FWA and asset trackers, may compete directly with these off-the-shelf products or enhance their functionality. In addition, our external antennas are designed to enhance the signal and coverage of many of these devices.

Component Manufacturers

This category represents companies that manufacture a broad array of components that compete both directly and indirectly with our products. These companies include Adant Technologies Inc., Asian Creation Communications Factory, Kyocera AVX, 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., Qualcomm, Quectel, Semtech, Sunwave Communications Co., Ltd., Telit, Ublox, Taoglas Limited, Wanshih Electronic Co. Ltd., WHA YU Industrial Co., Ltd, and 2J Antennas Group, among others. While we may choose to partner with some of these manufacturers to deliver products that shorten time to market, customers may also choose to complete the more intricate design work on their own using products manufactured by these companies. These component manufacturers may also expand their capabilities to be a solution provider, or end-device manufacturer, or both. As these component manufacturers evolve over time, the specific competitive situation would evolve accordingly.

In-house Design and Engineering Teams

Several of our existing customers, including OEMs and ODMs which design and build complete wireless devices, also have internal resources to design, engineer, and produce antenna, modem, router and/or repeater solutions. In such cases, we compete against the captive resource of that ODM. Several ODMs, including Arcadyan Technology Corporation, Foxconn Electronics Inc., Gemtek, Zyxel Communications, Inc. (MitraStar Technology), and Wistron Corporation, design, manufacture, and sell complete wireless devices, in direct competition with us.

The principal competitive factors in our markets include: price and total cost of ownership as a result of reliability and performance issues; brand awareness and reputation; component performance, such as reliability, range and throughput; ability to integrate with other technology infrastructures; offerings across breadth of wireless products; design and testing capabilities; lead-time and flexibility to rapidly customize solutions to individual customer requirements; relationships with semiconductor/chipset vendors; intellectual property protection; sales and marketing strength in different regions; and the ability to solve many complex RF problems across the entire spectrum of broadband connectivity.

Intellectual Property

We rely on patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws, confidentiality procedures, and contractual provisions to protect our technology.

As of December 31, 2024, our intellectual property portfolio is comprised of 287 granted patents and pending applications in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The scope of these patents encompasses our product offerings and technological advancements, with their terms of validity extending from the year 2025 until 2041. This patent collection encapsulates a diverse array of innovations pioneering wireless systems, including FWA, smart network controlled repeaters, vehicle gateway, antenna designs and structures, as well as the assembly and fabrication processes.

In line with our strategic evolution from a component supplier to a provider of comprehensive wireless system solutions, we have systematically grown our patent repository, escalating our filings to include broader wireless system functionalities and infrastructures.

Taken together, these patents with priority dates as far back as April 2005 form both a barrier to competition and a licensable asset for customers in the MIMO and antenna assembly categories.

Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of our products or obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary. We generally enter into confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, vendors, and customers, and generally limit access to and distribution of our proprietary information. However, we cannot ensure that the steps taken by us will prevent misappropriation of our technology. In addition, the laws of some foreign countries do not protect our proprietary rights to as great an extent as the laws of the United States, and many foreign countries do not enforce these laws as diligently as government agencies and private parties in the United States.

Our industry is characterized by the existence of many patents and frequent claims and related litigation regarding patent and other intellectual property rights. Leading companies in the technology industry have extensive patent portfolios. Third parties, including certain of these leading companies, may in the future assert patent, copyright, trademark and other intellectual property rights against us, our channel partners, or our customers, or we may need to engage in litigation to enforce patents issued or licensed to us, to protect our trade secrets or know-how, or to defend against claims of infringement of the rights of others. See the section titled “Risk factors—Risks Relating to Intellectual Property” for a more comprehensive description of risks related to our intellectual property.

Human Capital

As of December 31, 2024, we had a total of 121 employees and dedicated representatives, including 84 in the United States and 37 outside the United States. Among the total 121 employees and dedicated representatives, 59 were primarily engaged in research and development, 39 were primarily engaged in sales and marketing, 19 were primarily engaged in general and administration functions and 4 were primarily engaged in manufacturing operations. None of our employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement or represented by a labor union. We consider our relationship with our employees to be good.

Our human capital resources objectives include, as applicable, identifying, recruiting, retaining, and incentivizing our management team and our employees and consultants. The principal purposes of our equity and cash incentive plans are to attract, retain, and motivate personnel through the granting of stock-based and cash-based compensation awards to align our interests and the interests of our stockholders with those of our employees and consultants.

Available Information

We file electronically with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. We make available on our investor relations website at investors.airgain.com, free of charge, copies of these reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. The SEC maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC. The address of that website is www.sec.gov.

We use our investor relations website as a means of disclosing material non-public, information and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Investors should monitor such website, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. Information relating to our corporate governance is also included on our investor relations website. The information in or accessible through the SEC and our website are not incorporated into, and are not considered part of, this filing. Further, our references to the URLs for these websites are intended to be inactive textual references only.