Momenta Ventures closes a Series A investment in Fleet Space Technologies, a satellite connectivity company building ubiquitous connectivity to IoT devices
The company will use the new funding to launch its next-generation nanosatellites into space to service the over three million devices already reserved through the Project Galaxy program. Joining Momenta in the round is an exciting group of new investors including Horizons Ventures and Kennards Hire as well as return backers Grok Ventures and Blackbird Ventures.
Fleet’s technology provides digital transformation opportunities for previously unconnected industries, especially those that operate mostly in remote areas such as Energy, Shipping & Logistics, Mining and Agriculture. Fleet’s technology makes it possible for the first time to accurately track assets across thousands of kilometers, from managing heavy equipment at remote mine sites to monitoring major pipelines and utilities, all powered by its constellation of shoebox-sized nanosatellites.
Marc Pegulu, Vice President of IoT, for Semtech’s Wireless and Sensing Products Group, comments on pervasiveness of LoRaWAN for global IoT solutions, “Using LoRaWAN® networks in space brings an expanded definition of a truly global IoT solution. Assets that need long range and lower power capability can now be tracked in the air, on land and at sea making a smarter planet and further underscoring the scale and ROI that can now be delivered using this open standard.”
Fleet’s LoRaWAN®-based gateway (The Portal) makes it simple and easy to deploy a standard LoRaWAN® network anywhere in the world while also providing edge processing capability and satellite backhaul for remote locations. Each 16 Channel gateway can support up to 1,000 nodes and has 2 GB of RAM alongside a 64 GB hard drive for processing.
Lee Carter, Principal with Momenta Ventures notes: “While Flavia and Matthew impressed us initially with their grand vision and space engineering background, the customers we talked to suggested they also have a great understanding of their connectivity needs. From day one, Fleet built their solution with their customers in mind, which shows as some of their customers are now becoming investors.
This investment is one of the first out of Momenta Ventures’ second fund, the LPWAN Ecosystem Fund, intended to accelerate innovative industry solutions powered by Low Power Wide Area Networks with a focus on open standards and ecosystems such as LoRaWAN®. Investors of this fund are strategic stakeholders in the LPWAN ecosystem.
Flavia Tata Nardini, CEO and Co-founder of Fleet Space Technologies says: “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."
Patrick Poon, Director of Horizons Ventures says about Fleet, “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.”
About Fleet Space Technologies
Fleet Space Technologies is building the global digital nervous system to power the next industrial revolution. Founded in South Australia in 2015, Fleet was created by aerospace engineers who wanted to solve the issue facing businesses globally over the next decade: how to connect billions of sensors and devices, simply and cheaply. Fleet is building a constellation of more than 100 nanosatellites, combined with its LoRaWAN-powered Portal to create a global connectivity network that will plug directly into millions of digital sensors already beginning to transform industries like agriculture, logistics, mining and gas.
LoRaWAN® is a registered trademark or service mark of Semtech Corporation or its affiliates. For more information, please visit Fleet at www.fleet.space/portal.
Momenta Partners encompasses leading Strategic Advisory, Talent, and Venture practices. We’re the guiding hand behind leading industrials’ IoT strategies with over 200 IoT leadership placements and 25+ young IoT disruptors.
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