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Sydney-based Morse Micro has tacked on an additional $30 million to its Series B funding round announced in September, bringing the total raised by the semi-conductor developer to $170 million.
In the latest capital injection, the company received backing from five superannuation funds, including TelstraSuper, HESTA, Hostplus, NGS (managed by Blackbird Ventures) and UniSuper (managed by Uniseed).
Morse Micro plans to use the capital to scale its Wi-Fi HaLow technology – a solution for the Internet of Things (IoT) market that can reach 10-times the range of traditional Wi-Fi networks.
“We’re thrilled to have these distinguished institutional investors with us on the journey to revolutionise our digital future. The substantial investment from these leading superannuation funds demonstrates a belief in our vision to revolutionise IoT connectivity,” said Morse Micro co-founder and CEO Michael De Nil, who built the company alongside Andrew Terry.
“Above all, this investment comes at a time when traction for Wi-Fi HaLow is growing and Morse Micro is building enduring Wi-Fi HaLow solutions for the future.
“As part of our Series B round, this funding top-up is a cornerstone investment in our company’s journey toward market scale and leadership.”
Morse Micro was founded six years ago by De Neil and Terry, who both previously worked for US semi-conductor giant Broadcom – which currently has a $15 billion supply agreement with Apple until 2023.
The group is focused on developing long-range, low-power wireless connectivity for commercial, residential and industrial IoT markets, in applications such as access control, security cameras, industrial automation, retail and mobile devices.
The company’s Series B round was led by a $100 million investment from Osaka-based MegaChips Corporation - an integrated circuit and chip maker that has a $58.10 billion market capitalisation.
In September, existing investors included Blackbird Ventures, Main Sequence Ventures, Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Skip Capital, Uniseed, SpringCapital, as well as former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy.
A strategic partnership with MegaChips accompanied the investment, giving the Australian scaleup a solid foothold across East Asia.
As part of the deal, MegaChips has agreed to manufacture Morse Micro’s semiconductors and modules, and will provide quality assurance, sales support and new distribution channels in the region.
“We continue to be impressed by the team at Morse Micro. From the very beginning Michael and Andrew have had an unwavering focus on building a great team and developing game-changing chips for the Wi-Fi HaLow revolution,” Blackbird Ventures operating partner Robyn Denholm said.
“We are extremely pleased to be able to further our support for Morse Micro on behalf of our investors."
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