Bridgit Mendler

From the Disney factory to an engineering firm

Bridgit Mendler doesn't fit the mold of the child star who burns out before turning twenty. In 2010, she landed on the series Good Luck Charlie with a naturalness that recalled classic comedy actresses more than the channel's manufactured products.

The audience quickly embraced her role as the responsible older sister. But Mendler was already planning her exit from the traditional TV circuit long before her contract ended.

Her bet on total control was real.

In 2011 she starred in Lemonade Mouth, and comparisons to other stars from the label were inevitable. But she preferred to focus on writing her own songs. Her album Hello My Name Is… sold 200,000 copies in the United States during 2012 and showed a style that blended pop with soul without relying on the excessive electronic arrangements of the era.

The Media Silence and the Harvard Library

Many assumed her career had stalled when she stopped appearing on the covers of teen magazines. In 2018, the reality was very different from what the tabloids imagined.

Mendler enrolled at the MIT Media Lab to research social networks and digital government. And she did it while balancing her studies with a doctorate at Harvard Law School that she began in 2019.

Nobody in Hollywood understood why an actress with a promising future preferred textbooks to pilot scripts.

In 2020, she wrapped up her run on the Netflix series Merry Happy Whatever. It was her last major scripted project before she threw herself fully into technology and law. For Mendler, acting was always a means of funding far more technical ambitions.

Satellites and Venture Capital

Her change of direction became official in 2024 with the founding of Northwood Space. The company aims to build ground stations for satellites to make it easier to send data from space to Earth.

The company raised 6.3 million dollars in its first seed funding round.

Mendler serves as CEO and leads a team that includes engineers from SpaceX and Blue Origin. The company's operations center is located in El Segundo, California.

In 2024, the company's staff exceeded ten specialists in radio frequency and space systems.