Former Disney Channel star Bridgit Mendler announces new space project
Mendler pursued degrees from MIT and Harvard in recent years.
Bridgit Mendler, the former Disney Channel star of "Good Luck Charlie," is eyeing new horizons in her career.
The 31-year-old actress is venturing into the space industry with her new project Northwood Space, she announced on X this week.
Mendler’s multi-hyphenate career has included stints in television, music and now the science and engineering space.
Mendler, who is the CEO and co-founder of Northwood Space, said the new project would focus on the transfer of data between earth and space, creating a data highway between the two arenas.
"We are designing shared ground infrastructure from first principles to expand access to space," Mendler said in her post.
"Northwood is building a data highway between earth and space. To meet the needs of today’s space industry, the one-lane rickety road for space data needs to adapt to a ten-lane highway routing continuous traffic across the globe," according to the company's site.
Mendler, her husband Griffin Cleverly and Shaurya Luthra founded the company in October 2023.
Mendler also announced initial seed funding of $6.3 million from venture capital groups like Founders Fund, a16z, Also Capital, Long Journey Ventures, BoxGroup and Humba Ventures.
"We have a lot of work ahead of us but that’s the fun part. If you like building quickly and seeing your work deployed in locations around the globe with real impact, we want you at Northwood," she said on social media.
Mendler also included a link for open jobs at her company.
She rose to prominence in 2010 with her starring role in the Disney Channel original series "Good Luck Charlie." In the sitcom, Mendler played the older sister who dispenses life advice in video diaries for her younger sister, Charlie.
Mendler has released a studio album and soundtrack album titled "Lemonade Mouth," the Disney Channel movie she also starred in.
Beyond entertainment, Mendler has made great strides in the academic world as well.
According to Mendler's LinkedIn page and previous social media posts, she is pursuing a doctorate in philosophy from MIT and is working toward a law degree at Harvard Law School. The MIT Media Lab program lists Mendler as a director’s fellow.
Following the space company announcement, Mendler also took to X this week to share she had adopted a 4-year-old boy she had began fostering in 2021.
