Fleet Area Applied sciences has raised $50 million in a Collection C spherical that values the South Australian satellite tv for pc startup at greater than $350 million.
The spherical was led by present backers Blackbird, with help from Atlassian cofounder Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures, Alumni Ventures and tremendous fund Hostplus. New to the cap desk are TelstraSuper, former treasurer Joe Hockey’s advisory agency Bondi Companions via its 1941 Fund and Pavilion Capital.
Fleet beforehand raised $36 million in a Collection B in late 2021 with Artesian Enterprise Companions, Blackbird, Grok Ventures, and Horizons Ventures collaborating.
The corporate’s ExoSphere satellite-based mineral exploration expertise is now utilized by greater than 30 mining shoppers, together with Rio Tinto, Barrick Gold, Core Lithium and Gold Fields within the hunt for potential deposits.
ExoSphere’s 3D subsurface imaging capabilities improves the concentrating on of exploratory drilling. The corporate can also be making its Geode floor sensors smaller, lighter, and extra able to buying a number of knowledge varieties concurrently to enhance the insights ExoSphere can ship.
Final month Fleet scored a $6.4 million Australian defence contract that can see will see its next-generation of Centauri satellites used to develop and display a Low Earth Orbit satellite tv for pc communications system targeted on tactical communications and knowledge transmission the place connectivity is restricted.
CEO and cofounder Flavia Tata Nardini mentioned ExoSphere is reworking mineral and mining tasks worldwide.
“With this new funding, we’re in a great place to propel additional innovation and drive development inside the mineral exploration business, not solely in Australia however throughout the globe,” she mentioned.
“Trying forward, our imaginative and prescient extends past Earth as we intention to leverage these cutting-edge methods to scan the Moon and Mars, enabling accountable exploration and unlocking extraterrestrial assets that had been as soon as out of attain.”
Tata Nardini mentioned that the launch of Exosphere, delivered $28 million in contracted revenues inside a yr from clients on each continent.
“We’re believers that area enabled knowledge in exploration will permit the seek for essential minerals to hurry up a lot that we can attain humanity’s targets for internet zero,” she mentioned.
“With this capital we intention to map the subsurface of Earth and discover the deposits which might be wanted with a a lot decrease environmental impression.”
The funding may also be deployed on growing expertise enabled by machine studying and AI, and new product traces via an expanded constellation of satellites.
The Adelaide-headquartered firm now has extra 100 staff and places of work in Canada, Luxembourg, and Chile, alongside a US crew.
Â
Â