Myriota closes US$15m Series A funding round

Myriota CTO Dr David Haley (L) and CEO Dr Alex Grant (R)

Myriota, global leader in nano-satellite internet of things (IoT) connectivity, has closed a US$15 million Series A funding round.

The round was led by Australian VC firms Main Sequence Ventures and Blue Sky Venture Capital and included Boeing HorizonX Ventures, Singtel Innov8 and Right Click Capital. It is globally the largest round announced to date for a tech startup using Space 2.0 for IoT. It is also the first investment outside the United States for Boeing HorizonX Ventures.

Founded in Adelaide, Australia in 2015 as a spin-out from the University of South Australia, Myriota is poised to become the key communications network for the global IoT sector. This 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 revolutionary 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.

Blue Sky’s South Australian Venture Capital Fund Investment Director, Atlanta Daniel, said Blue Sky co-led this Series A round investment in Myriota and was proud to announce the investment as the first from the $50m South Australian Venture Capital Fund.

“We’ve been impressed by Myriota’s global outlook from day one. They’re proof that SouthAustralia has exceptional entrepreneurs and world-class technology companies looking for investment. Over the past few months we’ve worked hard alongside Myriota to help the team secure foreign direct investment from North America and Asia.”

“We’re excited to see this kind of global platform technology emerge from South Australia, where the team have effectively developed a new protocol for IoT communications, enabled by ‘New Space’ technology.”

Main Sequence Ventures Partner Martin Duursma said that as Australia’s deep tech venture fund, Main Sequence Ventures was delighted to co-lead this Series A round for Myriota.

“We view Space 2.0 as a tremendous opportunity for Australian companies to be globally competitive in a high growth industry. Myriota, as a part of that new industry, has developed world leading technology for unlocking the full potential of the Internet of Things with their direct to satellite communications platform.” he said.

“As a spin-out from the University of South Australia, Myriota is a great example of Main Sequence Ventures backing technology from the publicly funded research sector, fitting with our mission (under the National Science and Innovation Agenda) to ignite a new generation of epic companies from the spark of Aussie science.”

Boeing HorizonX VP Steve Nordlund, said that as Boeing HorizonX Ventures’ first investment outside of the US, it was an important move.

“The Myriota team channelled its telecommunications expertise to develop a solution that simultaneously connects hundreds of millions of low-cost, low-powered transmitters to satellites. This was a compelling investment for us because as a global company, Boeing recognizes and supports the innovation occurring in Australia and beyond,” he said.

Right Click Capital‘s Ulric Ferner said Myriota is a great example of a startup building fundamental infrastructure for the rapidly emerging and globally pervasive Internet of Things.

“The founders have a deep connection to the problem they’re solving, the company is delivering results at incredible speed, and we are thrilled to back and welcome them into the broader Draper Venture Network portfolio.”

For further information:

Email: media@myriota.com Phone: +61 8 7222 4787