Australia’s biggest semiconductor manufacturer has secured investment from the federal government’s industry fund, a former Prime Minister and several super funds to keep developing Wi-Fi microchips for IoT devices in NSW.
The National Reconstruction Fund Corporation announced its $35 million investment – its biggest direct investment in a tech firm — on Tuesday as part of Morse Micro’s Series C funding round.
The Corporation joins venture capital funds Blackbird and Main Sequence, and former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in the $88 million round.
Morse Micro said the capital will be used to scale production of its Wi-Fi HaLow chips and move into new international markets as IoT technologies shift into a new era of high-throughput and long-range.
The Sydney based firm was founded in 2016 by former Broadcom engineers Michael De Nil and Andrew Terry. Its Wi-Fi HaLow chips are designed for IoT devices like cameras and sensors, and are use little power while connecting many devices.
“The future of IoT depends on connectivity that is long-range, power-efficient, secure and delivers on throughput – and that’s exactly where we’re leading,” Mr De Nil said.
“With this raise, we are accelerating our expansion and preparing for the next phase of our company’s growth.”
NRFC chief executive David Gall said the backing from the government’s $15 billion industry fund will help keep the local firm at the forefront of Wi-Fi development and ensure continued local manufacturing.
“Morse Micro employs over 130 people in Australia, including employees in regional New South Wales, and our investment will diversify the Australian economy, strengthen the nation’s sovereign manufacturing capabilities, and build local expertise in semiconductor design and innovation.”
The Series C round was led by Japanese chip giant MegaChips, which also led Morse Micro’s 2022 $140 million Series B.
Other investors in the $88 million Series C include Blackbird, Main Sequence, Uniseed, Ray Stata, Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull, Startmate, and a number of institutional investors including Hostplus, NGS, UniSuper.
Morse Micro has now raised over $290 million.
The NRFC’s $35 million stake represents its largest investment in a technology company to date, edging out the $32 million it invested into MedTech Harrison.ai earlier this year.
The Corporation has been asked by government to increase its investment rate and is targeting $1.5 billion in investments this financial year.
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