South Australian telecommunications provider Myriota will use a $50mn funding injection to expand its Adelaide-based workforce, allowing it to break ground with its IoT technology.

Myriota’s technology enables simple, satellite-connected monitoring to empower farmers and businesses to access data at an affordable price and with little maintenance.

The funding round was led by $25m from the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC), with the remainder coming from venture capital partners Main Sequence and support from investors including Inter Valley Ventures.

“These investments in Myriota will support our hyper-growth and continued role as a leader in democratised satellite connectivity,” said Myriota CEO Ben Cade. “It will ensure our advanced manufacturing stays here in Australia, helping to diversify the Australian economy while delivering up to 100 highly skilled jobs with the opportunity and expertise to drive global impact.”

The telecoms provider is reshaping the IoT industry with its accessible, affordable and scalable technology, and is the first South Australian recipient as part of the federal government’s $15bn NRFC, which supports seven priority areas of the Australian economy.

This is the NRFC’s first investment in the space industry. By redefining the limits of satellite connectivity, Myriota is democratising access to critical data insights that help producers and governments lower operating costs, increase margins and reduce environmental impact.

“By investing in companies such as Myriota, the NRFC is helping commercialise Australian innovation that directly translates into high skilled jobs and creates significant benefits for regional Australians,” said NRFC chair Martijn Wilder.

Myriota’s growing list of customers includes innovators from Australia and around the world, who are solving monitoring and tracking problems across industries such as agriculture, water management, transport and utilities. Together, they form a market-facing ecosystem known as the Myriota Habitat.

The Myriota Habitat delivers global water management offerings, such as Queensland-based Rain Harvesting Connect, that is ensuring customers can track every drop of rainfall, and Corrosion Instruments, which is solving the problem of pipeline deterioration, a leading cause of water loss in Australia.

Supporting Australian farmers and a viable agricultural future, tank monitoring partner Agbot is paving the way for attainable agritech with big impact. Agbot CEO Phil Livingston said: “Building on the Myriota platform has enabled us to get connectivity everywhere and meet the needs of the most remote stations, giving clear access and visibility on asset performance.”

Myriota’s partner Grundfos, a supplier of industrial pumps and pump monitoring, offers Solar Connect, which delivers insights on remote pump and tank infrastructure to ensure livestock are never without water.

In high-risk industries, Myriota’s technology is delivering critical offerings, such as US-based One-Tank’s SkyTracker, a self-contained explosion-proof tank monitor device that can be used to track consumption and detect gas leaks in propane tanks, and Australia’s RF Technologies, which is pioneering military-grade expandable sensor units for versatile applications that are designed and made in Australia.

This year saw Myriota grow with the addition of a UK office, joining teams across the USA, Canada, Switzerland, Peru, Argentina and Brazil. The firm will add its first Mexico office early this year.

“Agility and innovation have been at the core of Myriota since our inception, and we are leading the market in affordable, low power, scalable IoT,” said Cade. “While others promise, our partner ecosystem is already solving real world problems across varied applications and environments, globally. This latest round will allow Myriota to further expand our services around the world, and we are excited to partner with the NRFC as we embark on the next phase in our growth.”

The NRFC (nrf.gov.au) invests to diversify and transform Australia’s industry and economy. It has $15bn to invest using direct loans, equity investments and loan guarantees.

Myriota (myriota.com) specialises in low-cost, low-power, secure direct-to-orbit satellite connectivity for the IoT and small power-constrained devices. Founded in 2015, its space-based network delivers scalable, affordable IoT data services and energy-efficient hardware for sectors such as agriculture, logistics, water management and environmental conservation.