Remote site connectivity provider raises £3.1m for expansion
Satellite-enabled connectivity start-up R3-IoT, which aims to offer communications solutions for remote salmon farms and other customers poorly served by existing networks, is gearing up for international expansion after raising £3.1 million.
The seed investment round was led by US-based VC Space Capital, joined by the Scottish National Investment Bank and others, R3-IoT said in a press release.
Founded by space technology experts Allan Cannon and Kevin Quillien, R3-IoT addresses challenges organisations face in digitising business operations, products, and services due to a lack of, or unreliable communications infrastructure.
It offers what it calls a full-stack digital platform - combining satellite, cellular, IoT and data analytics – that provides organisations with end-to-end data services from any location, regardless of existing infrastructure.
‘The missing piece’
Cannon, the company’s chief executive, said: “The funding round is clear recognition of the potential for our platform to broaden the reach of existing satellite technologies by focusing on what has been, up until now, the ‘missing piece’ in digitisation.
“We have ambitious plans and are in a strong position to accelerate our international growth strategy and take advantage of the rapid advances in space communications and IoT technology, from our base in Scotland. The investment will drive continued innovation and commercialisation of our technology ahead of market launch and help establish North American operations, where we are already seeing strong demand.”
R3-IoT’s technology wirelessly connects smart devices such as sensors – on, or offshore, automatically transmitting data via the cloud to an intuitive insights platform - helping organisations to remotely manage risks, improve efficiencies and digitise operations across multiple sites and locations.
20 new jobs
“As 90% of the planet lacks traditional communications infrastructure, our mission has been to address this challenge by providing resilient data services coupled with analytics to produce insights that inform, automate and advance operations for customers in key industries worldwide,” said Quillien, the company’s chief technology officer.
The company’s expansion plans will see 20 new roles created over the next 18 months in its engineering, technical, sales and marketing functions.
Chad Anderson, managing partner at Space Capital, a seed stage venture capital firm investing in the space economy said: “We immediately saw the opportunity with R3-IoT, which is essentially Nest (Google’s connected home system) for organisations with remote industrial facilities. This is the right company at the right time that will benefit tremendously from new backhaul capacity coming online through low-Earth orbit satellite communications.
“Scotland is the perfect testbed for this capability that will enable mission critical connectivity and we are thrilled to join the efforts of Allan, Kevin and the team at R3-IoT, supporting their growth into global markets where there is huge demand for their services.”
