This Alphabet ‘Moonshot’ spinout is using beams of light to bring fiber-speed internet to Rio’s favelas

Taara, which started nine years ago as part of Alphabet’s “Moonshot Factory,” X, is building what could be the future high-speed internet. The company, which spun out of Alphabet in March 2025, transmits data between small terminals using narrow, invisible beams of light—it’s called “free space optical communication.” It easily and inexpensively delivers internet access with the stability of wired fiber-optic connections to remote or tricky-to-wire locations. And it’s fast: Lightbridge, Taara’s flagship product, can deliver speeds of up to 20 gigabits per second across distances of up to 20 kilometers. Early clients have included T-Mobile, which deployed Taara at two festivals in 2023 where laying new fiber wasn’t an option—Coachella and the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Now, it’s turning Rio de Janeiro into the world’s first wireless optical mesh network. Despite having an existing fiber network, the city has lacked “a fast, flexible way to extend that capacity into the neighborhoods,” says founder and CEO Mahesh Krishnaswamy, “especially the favelas, which are dense, organic, low-rise communities built on uneven terrain with narrow streets.” Taara is currently building a system of 20-plus links in neighborhoods with unreliable service that will connect schools and hospitals and help facilitate emergency response. “If we can prove this model here, we have a template for cities like Lagos or Jakarta—places defined by density and infrastructure constraints,” Krishnaswamy says. Explore the full list of Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas, 191 projects that are making the world more accessible, equitable, and sustainable. The extended deadline for Fast Company's Next Big Things in Tech Awards is Thursday, June 18, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.