Cesium Astro claims in a recent lawsuit that a former senior executive disclosed trade secrets and confidential information about sensitive technology, investors, and clients to a competing start-up.
Based in Austin, Cesium develops phased array systems and software-defined radio systems for satellites, missiles, and drones. While phased array antenna systems have been in use in satellites for decades, Cesium has advanced and developed the technology significantly over its seven years of operation. The start-up has raised over $100 million in funding from investors and government funding, which it used to develop a product suite for commercial and security clients.
The technology is niche: only a handful of companies operate at the forefront of space-based radio technology, and Cesium undoubtedly pays close attention to every newcomer in this field. AnySignal, a start-up that emerged in October but officially incorporated in 2022, certainly caught the company's eye, partly because it allegedly poached Cesium executives and attempted to solicit interest from one of the companies the investors in Cesium – two examples cited in the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit filed on March 25, these examples are directly related to the alleged misuse by the former product manager, Eric Lotter, of trade secrets and confidential information about investors and clients, which Cesium claims he later disclosed to AnySignal. It is worth noting that Lotter did not leave Cesium to work for AnySignal, but took a marketing role in a completely different sector. However, the lawsuit claims that Lotter maintained "personal relationships" with the founders of AnySignal, after previously working with AnySignal's CEO, John Malsbury, in another company.
This led to AnySignal "recruiting and causing Lotter to wrongfully disclose the confidential and proprietary business information," as stated in the lawsuit. The CEOs of AnySignal and CesiumAstro did not respond to TechCrunch's request for comment; Lotter's attorney directed TechCrunch to the legal documents of March 29 quoted below.
Cesium is clear about its position in the lawsuit: it does not believe that AnySignal could have developed its complex radio technology on its timeline and with its existing resources – "without the schematics and technical specifications of CesiumAstro (which Lotter had access to)."
"With just a few employees and $5 million in investor funding, (AnySignal) wouldn't even be on the same path as CesiumAstro, which has spent tens of millions of dollars over seven years working with (now) 170 employees to develop its technologies," the substitute says. "But with Lotter's help, AnySignal launched to directly compete with CesiumAstro in the specialized field of software-defined radio devices."
Lotter vehemently denies all accusations in two separate documents filed with the court on March 29; regarding the claim that he collaborated with AnySignal, he says the claim is "not only false…but entirely made up from whole cloth." (The response also denies Cesium's claim that it is "leading the industry").
Cesium "fails to cite any facts or evidence linking Lotter and all of AnySignal's business efforts, and the seemingly supporting evidence that (Cesium) cites do not support their claims," Lotter's attorney argues in the filing. The attorney continues to say that Cesium is making a "grand canyon leap from the weak, easily explained evidence they cite to the stunning allegation that Lotter aided and abetted them (Cesium's trade secrets) without citing any evidence whatsoever."
AnySignal, based in El Segundo, was founded in May 2022 by Malsbury and COO Jeffrey Osbourne, and emerged from a stealth $5 million initial funding last year. The company develops a software-defined radio platform; Cesium's lawsuit labels it as a "direct competitor." In February, a month before filing the lawsuit, AnySignal announced a collaboration with private space station developer Vast for an advanced communication system for Vast's flagship station, Haven-1.
The lawsuit was filed in the Western District of Texas under No. 1:24-cv-314.
