Maryam Rofougaran, who has had a stellar career in wireless technology, says she sees plenty of “smart, talented women” who would enjoy her field if given the chance.
“Young girls, if they get exposure to what this means and what they can do, it would be something they may actually enjoy,” she told the Business Journal. “I would love to see more women becoming interested and going into this field.”
Rofougaran is a rare woman in the scientific and tech world. She not only has more than 300 patents to her name, she and her brother Reza have co-founded two tech companies.
They sold Innovent Systems to Broadcom in 2000 for an estimated $457 million worth of stock.
Nowadays, she is chief executive of Irvine-based wireless communications pioneer Movandi, which she established in 2016 with Reza, who is the chief technical officer. The pair have raised more than $100 million and employ almost 50.
For all these reasons, Maryam Rofougaran is on the Business Journal’s first-ever list of the Most Prominent Businesswomen in Orange County.
UCLA Science Degrees
The siblings emigrated from Iran to the United States after the 1979 revolution that led to the founding of the Islamic Republic (see story this page).
She earned a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in electrical and electronics engineering from UCLA.
The siblings in 1998 co-founded Innovent, building the world’s first CMOS Bluetooth transceiver—an important milestone in wireless communications. CMOS, an energy-efficient chip technology, is now ubiquitous in smartphones, cameras and other everyday devices.
Innovent was acquired by Broadcom, which at that time made semiconductor chips for cable modems, set-top boxes and other consumer devices. Cellphone chips were not yet a specialty for the firm.
Innovent was described at the time as “the Broadcom of wireless” by that firm’s co-founder, Henry Nicholas III.
The pair spent 16 years at Broadcom before striking out again to launch their own firm.
Movandi describes itself as “the nervous system of next-generation wireless,” spanning 5G, fixed wireless access and satellite communications to enable high-performance connectivity.
In 2022, it partnered with Qualcomm—the world’s largest maker of cellphone chips and a rival to Broadcom. Under the agreement, Movandi’s “5G smart repeater” technology was combined with “mmWave small cells” powered by Qualcomm platforms, expanding 5G mmWave adoption and increasing flexibility in operator deployments, the companies said at the time.
Roufougaran says Movandi is working with AI to improve connectivity and prevent a data transmission “bottleneck.”
She emphasizes that “I believe AI is going to change the whole industry.”
In October, the company raised another $40 million in a round that was led by a sovereign-backed technology investment firm based in Oman.
“We’re growing,” she says. “We have had revenues.”
Her company is OC’s 16th largest semiconductor firm by local employee count on the Business Journal’s annual list.
Half the World Women
Rofougaran in March was named to Inc.’s 2026 Female Founders 500, an annual list honoring the most dynamic women business leaders in the United States.
Inc. recognized Rofougaran for leading Movandi’s semiconductor and wireless innovations enabling high-capacity connectivity across 5G, fixed wireless and satellite networks.
Previous honorees have included such game-changing leaders as tennis legends Billie Jean King and Serena Williams, Ellevest founder Sallie Krawcheck and fashion designer Emma Grede.
While there have been plenty of efforts to get girls involved in science – often grouped together as STEM or science, technology, engineering and math–the progress still has a long way to go.
“More than half of the population of the world is women and it’s talent wasted if you don’t get them interested in some of the fields,” she said.
“I do see a lot of smart, talented women who are not getting enough exposure,” according to the Movandi CEO, especially in the difficult fields of semiconductors and related fields.With a Movandi staff of around 45 to 50, she says less than 10% are women.
“I’d definitely love to have women and hire more women in my company but unfortunately there are not so many candidates.”
She was asked how she has been treated during her 30 years in the notoriously difficult wireless tech world.
“It definitely helps when you know your stuff and you’re technically strong,” Rofougaran says.
“Being strong technically has been very helpful in every aspect of proving myself and building my credibility. I feel like I am being recognized for what I am trying to do.”
