Boeing HorizonX invests in Australian startup

Boeing's HorizonX Ventures has invested in Myriota, a nanosatellite technology startup based in Adelaide, Australia.

Myriota developed technology enabling two-way communications between ground-based micro-transmitters and low Earth orbit (LEO) nanosatellites to securely share data over narrow bandwidths. This direct-to-orbit platform enables applications across the logistics, defense and other industries where internet of things connectivity via traditional means can be challenging and expensive, according to HorizonX.

HorizonX's investment in Myriota is its first in a company outside of the United States and its 10th since being launched in April 2017.

"Part of the mission of Boeing HorizonX is to pursue and accelerate innovations coming out of startups around the world. By investing in Myriota, we are proud to support Australia's startup ecosystem and growing space industry," Steve Nordlund, vice president of Boeing HorizonX, said in a statement. "Myriota's technology influences how we think about space-based communications and connectivity in remote locations."

Myriota CEO Alex Grant said in the same statement that the company was formed "to solve a major connectivity problem: hundreds of millions of devices that need to communicate but don't have cost-effective, battery-friendly networks to do so."