Aradatum

About Aradatum

Aradatum is a telecommunications infrastructure company that develops self-powered macro cell towers designed to operate independently of the traditional power grid. Officially launched in March 2020 and headquartered in Brighton, Michigan, the company is a subsidiary of CGE Energy, Inc. The concept, however, was in development for years prior, culminating from 11 years of product development. The company's President is Larry Leete. To fund its growth and the construction of pilot towers, Aradatum raised $10 million in a seed round that closed in December 2021 and secured an additional $15 million in growth capital by March 2022.

Aradatum's core product is a 150- to 200-foot-tall, mobile cell tower engineered to provide 5G connectivity and power in remote or underserved areas where traditional infrastructure is unavailable or uneconomical. These towers are powered by an integrated vertical-axis wind turbine, solar panels, and a vanadium redox flow battery for energy storage, supplemented by a clean propane backup generator to ensure 99.999% uptime. This off-grid solution eliminates the significant costs associated with extending power lines to remote locations. The towers have a modular design based on standard shipping containers for rapid, crane-less installation and feature a hydraulic system that lowers the structure for ground-level maintenance. Aradatum holds multiple patents for its technologies.

The company's business model centers on leasing its tower capabilities, avoiding significant capital expenditure for its customers. Aradatum targets a diverse client base, including mobile and virtual network operators (MNOs/MVNOs), rural wireless internet service providers, edge data centers, government entities, and tribal nations. Beyond providing 5G and broadband access, the towers can house edge data centers at their base and use surplus generated energy to power electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. The company has established partnerships with firms like Roush for manufacturing and engineering, and Caterpillar for installation and service.