Myriota raises AUD $ 28 million for expansion of IoT services
Australian satellite connectivity company Myriota has raised $?28 million AUD in Series B funding. Myriota will bolster its constellation of satellites and expand its global reach.
The company has already introduced a low-cost, low-power satellite connectivity for Internet-of-Things (IoT) in Australia and New Zealand. It will now expand the reach of its satellite communication technology to other parts of the world. North America, Great Britain and Europe are key markets for Myriota this year.
Great demand among farmers for IoT connectivity services
Myriota says there is great demand among farmers for IoT connectivity services and expects thousands of farmers to use their product by the end of the year. Many farmers across the world cannot use the internet for agtech applications presently. Besides agriculture Myriota is providing its technology to industries like defence, mining, transport and logistics.
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North American footprint
At the end of March Myriota entered into an agreement for the acquisition of satellite communications assets from data services company exactEarth. This transaction will be significantly adding to its North American capability. It will see Myriota Canada acquire four satellites, a global network of ground station assets, and their associated spectrum licenses.
“This acquisition is a huge opportunity for our business to grow its North American footprint”, says Alex Grant, co-founder and CEO of Myriota. “It will add industry-leading capabilities in key areas such as satellite operations, engineering and spectrum management from an experienced team, and will fast-track our development with established ground facilities and ground stations.”
Myriota’s total funding to more than $ 50M AUD
The Series B funding round was led by Hostplus and Main Sequence Ventures. Additional investors include In-Q-Tel, Inc., Right Click Capital, the South Australian Venture Capital Fund, Singtel Innov8, Boeing HorizonX, and Malcolm Turnbull – who led the government that established the Australian space agency in 2017. The latest round of funding brings Myriota’s total funding to more than $ 50M AUD.
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Billions of devices
All participants in Myriota’s Series A have returned to participate in this new raise. With this new round of funding, Myriota plans to continue its growth by scaling its platform globally to connect billions of devices to power energy-efficient technology for customers for years to come.
Myriota plans to continue to establish its global market leadership through bolstering its constellation of nano satellites to 25 by 2022 and growing its headcount by 50% in the next two years. Myriota has a goal of building out a constellation of 50 satellites to provide global scale and service in the long term.
According to CEO Mr Grant this is a critical time for IoT. “Presently, 90% of the Earth’s surface lacks connectivity”, he says. “At Myriota, we‘ve been focused on filling that gap and overcoming constraints in existing infrastructure. With this new round of funding, we‘ll continue to grow our network of satellites to deliver an affordable, environmentally friendly, and powerful solution to make data accessible for our global customer base.”
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Myriota Modules
Myriota connects farmers and other clients to its nanosatellites with its Myriota Modules, manufactured by Motherson Innovations in South Australia. These devices cost from 50 US dollars each. They are low powered and batteries can last for over 10 years. Farmers pay for their data usage. Sending one message can cost as little as 1 US cent.
According to former Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull, Myriota is a leader and innovator in low cost, low power IoT. “They have paved the way in bringing products to market for global and local applications, both here in Australia’s flourishing space sector and across the world”, he emphasises. “Myriota’s growth plans will only strengthen its ability to provide industry-leading connectivity across its network of international partners.”
