Derek Woods

With over 25 years of business leadership and board experience, in both public and private companies, Derek Woods has a combination of operating, finance and transaction experience, focused on the satellite sector.

Prior to founding Hypersat, Mr. Woods was the Managing Director/President of ARTEL, a major provider of managed satellite and terrestrial communications networks primarily to the US Government and military. As MD at ARTEL, Mr. Woods increased revenues from $300mm to $450mm. Headquartered in Virginia, ARTEL had operations and infrastructure around the globe.

Previously, Mr. Woods was the CEO of Stratos Global Corporation, a satellite communications company, now part of Inmarsat. Mr. Woods, over five years, grew the company from a private start-up to a public company with revenues in excess of $500mm. At that time Stratos was the largest global distributor of Inmarsat, Iridium, MSAT and Globalstar services, as well as the largest provider of VSAT services to the offshore oil and gas industry.

Prior to Stratos, Mr. Woods was a partner in the law firm of Stikeman Elliott LLP, practicing securities law for clients that included Bell Canada, Teleglobe, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and RBC Dominion Securities. Mr. Woods practiced and is called to the bar in New York, Massachusetts, Ontario and Manitoba; he also practiced and is qualified as a solicitor in the United Kingdom, Wales and Hong Kong.

Mr. Woods obtained his Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor/Bachelor of Laws degrees at the University of Manitoba. This was followed by a Master of Laws in International Finance at the London School of Economics and a Master of Business Administration (Honors) from the Graduate School of Business at the University of Chicago. Mr. Woods has served on the boards of Inmarsat, Stratos, Artel, and the Satellite Industry Association.