CesiumAstro alleges in a newly filed lawsuit that former executives disclosed trade secrets and confidential information about sensitive technology, investors and customers to competing startups.
Austin-based Cesium develops active phased arrays and software-defined radio systems for spacecraft, missiles and drones. Phased array antenna systems have been used in satellites for decades, but Cesium has significantly advanced and commercialized the technology in its seven years of operation. The startup has secured more than $100 million in venture and government funding, which it has used to develop its product line for commercial and defense customers.
This technology is niche. Few companies are operating at the cutting edge of space-based wireless technology, and Cesium will no doubt be paying close attention to new entrants in this field. AnySignal, a startup that came out of hiding last October but was officially incorporated in 2022, has certainly caught the company's eye. Particularly as it attempted to outbid Cesium in its sales bids to key customers and attract the attention of one of the following: Early investors in Cesium – both cases are listed in the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit filed March 25, these cases are directly related to former Vice President of Product Erik Luther's misappropriation of trade secrets and confidential information about investors and customers, which Cesium alleges he subsequently disclosed to AnySignal. Notably, Luther left Cesium to take on a marketing director role at a company operating in a completely different sector rather than working at AnySignal. However, Luther maintained a “personal relationship” with AnySignal's co-founder, according to the lawsuit, having previously worked with AnySignal CEO John Malsbury at another company.
This led AnySignal to “recruit and induce Luther to improperly disclose” confidential and trade secret information, the lawsuit said. AnySignal's CEO and CesiumAstro did not respond to TechCrunch's request for comment. A lawyer representing Luther referred TechCrunch to the March 29 legal filing cited below.
Cesium has made its position clear in the lawsuit. AnySignal does not believe that “without CesiumAstro's technical diagrams and specifications (to which Luther had access)” AnySignal would have been able to develop the complex wireless technology under its existing resources and schedule.
“With just a few employees and $5 million in investor funding, [AnySignal] Nor will it be on the same trajectory as CesiumAstro, which spent tens of millions of dollars developing its technology over seven years, working with (currently) 170 employees,” the suit says. “But with Luther’s help, AnySignal is starting to compete directly with CesiumAstro in the specialty space for software-defined wireless.”
Luther strongly denied all allegations in two separate documents filed with the court on March 29. As for claims that he collaborated with AnySignal, he said the claims were “not only false… they're completely made up.” (The response also denies Cesium's claim to be an “industry leader.”)
Cesium “cites no facts or evidence linking Luther to AnySignal’s business efforts. [Cesium] Cite me for not applying? [its] Luther's attorney argued in the filing. He went on to say that Cesium “has made a Grand Canyon-sized leap from insignificance, easily explainable evidence that cites the astonishing claim that Luthor was secretly aiding and feeding AnySignal.” [Cesium’s] “Trade secrets were violated without providing any evidence,” he said.
El Segundo-based AnySignal, founded in May 2022 by Malsbury and COO Jeffrey Osborne, quietly touted $5 million in seed funding last year. The company is developing a software-defined radio platform. Cesium's lawsuit calls it a “direct competitor.” In February, a month before the lawsuit was filed, AnySignal announced a partnership with private space station developer Vast for advanced communications systems for Vast's flagship station, Haven-1.
The lawsuit was filed in the Western District of Texas. 1:24-cv-314.