The National Reconstruction Fund Corporation has made a $25 million equity investment in South Australian IoT and satellite startup Myriota as part of a broader $50 million funding round.
The fresh funds will be used to further develop the company’s network technologies and infrastructure, and to scale local manufacturing of its advanced hardware for export.
The NRF Corporation said the investment would enable Myriota to grow to 100 high-skill jobs in Australia – including engineers, software and hardware developers, and satellite communications professionals – with the majority based at its SA-based advanced manufacturing facility.
The $25 million Myriota equity investment is the NRFC’s third funding arrangement and follows its announcement of a $13 million investment in Canberra-based startup Quantum Brilliance two weeks ago.
The investment was made under the National Reconstruction Fund’s “enabling capabilities” priority area, with Myriota’s satellite-based IoT network technology used to gather field intelligence through sensors in applications ranging from AgriTech to mining to industrial monitoring in remote areas that do not have traditional internet coverage.
It has been a big year for Myriota, which won a $1.5 million Moon to Mars grant from the Australian Space Agency in June, and participated in the development of Kanyini – the first South Australian state-owned satellite, which was deployed by on a SpaceX vehicle in August.
With the satellite IoT market predicted to grow tenfold over the next decade to 57.7 million connections by 2032, the ramping up of Myriota’s production capability would help its partner ecosystem to scale in line with this global industry growth projection.
“Data is one of the most valuable commodities for any modern business,” NRFC chair Martijn Wilder said in a statrement about the investment.
“Myriota’s solutions provide businesses with crucial data from infrastructure located in remote and regional areas, saving time and money and giving them the valuable insights they need to improve productivity and efficiency.”
The Myriota technology enabled connectivity for IoT sensors across vast distances in regional Australia at low cost. This “uniquely positioned [the company] to export its hardware and technology to the rest of the world.”
In addition to enabling new use cases across industries like livestock and crop farming or environmental monitoring, the satellite IoT networks also had application in enhanced situational awareness across government – such as water agencies, border security, road and rail and meteorology, Mr Wilder said.
The deal would also enable Myriota to expand satellite and ground link networks in both Australia and overseas, and to expand its product offering by incorporating AI-augmented advances to its self-optimising networks.
Myriota chief executive Ben Cade said partnering with the NRFC mould help to power the next phase of the company’s growth.
“Myriota is redefining the capability and scale of IoT using the global reach of space,” Mr Cade said.
“This investment from the NRFC will allow us to supercharge the Myriota service offering and, together with our partner ecosystem, connect critical sensor data everywhere, to everywhere it’s needed,” he said.
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