Satellite ground station startup Northwood Space, a company led by a former Disney actor, has raised more than $6 million in seed funding.

First reported by CNBC, the company is led by Bridgit Mendler, an actress and singer who was once a regular on the Disney Channel.

Mendler launched California-based Northwood Space with her husband Griffin Cleverly last year. The company reportedly aims to build satellite ground stations that are designed with 'fast production and deployment flexibility first in mind.'

This week the company secured $6.3 million in seed funding from Founders Fund and Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Also Capital, Long Journey Ventures, BoxGroup, and Humba Ventures.

“At Northwood Space, we have our sights on building a data highway between Earth and space. We are designing shared ground infrastructure from first principles to expand access to space,” Mendler said on X (formerly Twitter) this week.

Mendler’s Disney Channel acting credits include Wizards of Waverly Place, Lemonade Mouth, and Good Luck Charlie. Later works include NBC sitcom Undateable, ABC/CMT series Nashville, and Netflix comedy series Merry Happy Whatever. Her debut album, Hello My Name Is…, was released in 2012 and reached number 30 on the Billboard 200. She earned her earned her PhD from MIT's Center for Constructive Communications and Social Machines group, and earned her JD from Harvard Law School.

Husband Cleverly, who is now CTO at Northwood, has previously held roles at Lockheed Martin, the Mitre Corporation, MIT, Space Vector Corporation, and others.

Northwood reportedly wants to deliver ground stations “within days, not months,” so that satellite operators don’t spend as much time reconfiguring their networks. The company is initially aiming to serve Low Earth Orbit (LOE) satellites and companies that don’t want to invest in building their own ground station networks.

The startup told CNBC it aims to conduct a first test connecting to a spacecraft in orbit later this year.

“Excited to back Bridgit Mendler's startup, Northwood. She's had quite the career before space,” said Founder’s Fund principal, Delian Asparouhov. “Today's ground station infrastructure is so archaic.”

Katherine Boyle, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, added: “The mark of an extraordinary mind is consistent learning, consistent building. Bridgit Mendler is the embodiment of this ethos. Thrilled to back her and the entire Northwood Space team as they build the data highway between Earth and space.”