Australian startup receives $15m funding to deliver large scale communications for IoT devices

Myriota, an Australian startup that allows devices anywhere in the world to connect using small, low-earth-orbiting satellites, has closed a US$15 million Series A funding round with capital from Australian VC firms Main Sequence Ventures and Blue Sky Venture Capital, Boeing HorizonX Ventures, Singtel Innov8 and Right Click Capital. This is globally the largest round announced to date for a tech startup using Space 2.0 for IoT and Myriota is the first company outside the US to receive funding from Boeing’s HorizonX technology investment fund.

The global IoT market is set to have 27 billion connected devices generating a revenue of US$3tn per annum by 2025. With direct-to-orbit technology, Myriota enables massive scale, low-cost communications for IoT devices anywhere on the planet.

Myriota plans to accelerate its growth by launching more satellites, delivering large-scale IoT deployments, and expanding its global operations. New sales and customer support offices will be opened in North America and Asia, and the business expects to add at least 50 new staff; most of whom will be based at the startup’s South Australian headquarters. The expansion follows the recent announcement that Myriota will open a US$2 million Internet of Things Innovation Lab.

“The internet of things has a major connectivity problem: hundreds of millions of devices that need to communicate but don’t have cost-effective, battery friendly networks to do so. Myriota solves this problem,” Myriota CEO Dr Alex Grant said.

“The fact we have managed to engage such a stellar list of investors doesn’t just underline the quality of our tech and IP – 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.”

Myriota is leading the development of a number of world-first Space 2.0 projects across a diverse ranges of sectors, including black box type recorders for Australian Army soldiers, water tank monitors for farmers, asset tracking and environmental monitoring.