Nanosatellite internet of things technology developer Myriota has attracted $15m in series A funding from investors co-led by Main Sequence Ventures.
Myriota, an Australia-based nanosatellite internet of things technology spinout from University of South Australia, closed a $15m series A round yesterday co-led by Main Sequence Ventures, which manages research institute Csiro’s innovation fund.
VC firm Blue Sky Venture Capital co-led the round, marking the inaugural investment from the $38m South Australian Venture Capital Fund that it manages on behalf of South Australia’s government.
The round featured Boeing HorizonX Ventures and Singtel Innov8, respective investment units of aerospace company Boeing and telecoms firm Singapore Telecommunications, as well as VC firm Right Click Capital. The deal represents HorizonX’s first investment outside the US.
Founded in 2015, Myriota is working on a network of low-Earth nanosatellites that enable global internet of things connectivity. The satellites are approximately as large as a shoebox and weigh less than 10 kilograms.
The technology has applications in a wide range of sectors, such as agriculture, maritime, environmental monitoring, oil and gas, mining and defence.
Myriota was set to launch its first satellite into orbit last month, but aerospace company SpaceX was forced to postpone the launch. The spinout now expects to launch the satellite at some point over the summer.
The funding will enable Myriota to launch additional satellites, deploy large-scale applications and expand its global operations by opening new sales and customer support offices in North America and Asia.
In total, the spinout hopes to hire at least 50 additional team members, with the majority based at the headquarters in South Australia.
Myriota previously obtained $1.4m in capital from satellite data services provider ExactEarth in 2015 as part of a strategic partnership.
Alex Grant, chief executive of Myriota, said: “The internet of things has a major connectivity problem: hundreds of millions of devices that need to communicate but do not have cost-effective, battery friendly networks to do so. Myriota solves this problem.
“The fact we have managed to engage such a stellar list of investors does not just underline the quality of our tech and intellectual property – it also gives us access to highly strategic resources and capabilities as we move to the next level.
“We are excited to have global investors like Boeing HorizonX and Singtel Innov8 supporting our mission to deliver the internet of things for everyone, everywhere.”