Fleet Space Technologies Raises $7.35 Million Round for Internet of Things

BEVERLEY, South Australia (Fleet Space Technologies PR) — Fleet Space Technologies has raised USD$7.35 million (AUD$10.8 million) from global funds including Momenta Ventures and Horizons Ventures, to deliver ubiquitous Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity to remote industries, powered by a global constellation of nanosatellites.

Investors in the funding round also included Grok Ventures and Blackbird Ventures, who re-invested in the company, and the Kennard family, whose equipment hire company Kennards Hire, is a Fleet customer focused on digital transformation. The new funding will enable Fleet to meet the increasing demand for global deployments of private IoT networks, powered by its constellation of nanosatellites, across industries including logistics, resources and energy.

Founded by aerospace engineers in Adelaide, Australia in 2015, Fleet’s technology enables companies to roll out transformative IoT solutions previously rendered impossible by cost, distance and connectivity. Fleet combines a global constellation of nanosatellites at a fraction of the cost of traditional satellites, with its Portal, a long-range LoRaWAN hub that processes data from sensors using edge computing to reduce data transmission needs. The result makes the impossible a reality; from tracking assets across thousands of kilometers, managing heavy equipment at remote mine sites, to monitoring major pipelines and utilities, all powered by Fleet’s growing constellation of shoebox-sized nanosatellites.

Fleet’s technology will make it possible to help connect the more than 14 billion low-power, industrial IoT sensors and devices expected to come online by 2025. The global Internet of Things market is expected to surpass USD$1 trillion in 2022, according to global research firm IDC, driven by increased use of industrial sensors in manufacturing, transportation, utilities and other asset-heavy industries.

Fleet’s technology has met unprecedented demand since launch, with more than three million LoRaWAN devices registered to join the global network in a single, 24-hour period. It launched its first four nanosatellites in 2018, on board SpaceX, Rocket Lab and ISRO, and will use the new funding to launch its next generation of nanosatellites in 2020.

The latest funding round introduces strategic investors specifically chosen by Fleet to help develop its solutions to become even more powerful, and deploy it with the right network and technology partners. The company is one of the first investments from Momenta Ventures’ LPWAN Ecosystem Fund, the only Internet of Things-focused fund, established to accelerate industry solutions powered by Low Power Wide Area Networks with a focus on open standards and ecosystems such as LoRaWAN.

Horizons Ventures, the private investment arm of Mr. Li Ka-shing, is a leading investor in some of the world’s most innovative companies and disruptive technologies including Spotify, Siri, Zoom, Air Wallex, Impossible Foods and Perfect Day.

Fleet previously raised AUD$5 million from investors including Blackbird Ventures and Grok Ventures, alongside matched seed funding from the South Australian Government.

Comments:

• Flavia Tata Nardini, co-founder and CEO of Fleet Space Technologies: “We’re now living in a commercial space age that is fundamentally changing how we do things on Earth. With the latest support from Momenta and Horizons, we’re expanding operations to transform industries through our technology. Our unique combination of global connectivity, edge computing and myriad new data points is unlocking billions of dollars of value in mining, energy and agriculture. Every giant leap of human progress stemmed from a communications breakthrough. That’s why we started Fleet.”
• Lee Carter, Principal with Momenta Ventures: “We believe that the next wave of innovation in Connected Industry will be powered by Low Power, Wide Area networks, and see satellites complementing terrestrial networks to provide coverage anywhere, anytime. Founders Flavia Tata Nardini and Matthew Pearson impressed us with their grand vision and expertise, as well as their knowledge of the underlying technology.”
• Patrick Poon, Director of Horizons Ventures: “The advent of new communications technologies like 5G and nanosatellites will enable massive worldwide adoption of Internet of Things devices globally for the first time. We are excited to see how Fleet’s technology and constellation of satellites can become crucial to bringing the possibilities of the IoT to the far reaches of the globe.”