The National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC) is investing $35 million in Morse Micro, providing support for the semiconductor manufacturer and Australia’s broader manufacturing industry.
In a news release, NRFC said the funding forms part of the company’s Series C capital raising and will be used to accelerate the development and commercialisation of next-generation Wi-Fi HaLow solutions.
NRFC Chief Executive David Gall said the investment underscored the corporation’s commitment to strengthening sovereign manufacturing capability.
“Morse Micro is Australia’s largest semiconductor manufacturer and a home-grown Australian success story,” Gall said.
“Wi-Fi was invented and patented by CSIRO scientists in 1993, and we are proud to be investing in an Australian company that is once again enabling next generation Wi-Fi connectivity for the rest of the world,” he said.
The corporation said the investment will help diversify the Australian economy, build expertise in semiconductor design, and support local jobs.
“Morse Micro employs over 130 people in Australia, including employees in regional New South Wales, and our investment will diversify the Australian economy, strengthen the nation’s sovereign manufacturing capabilities, and build local expertise in semiconductor design and innovation,” Gall said.
Founded in 2016 by former Broadcom engineers Michael De Nil and Andrew Terry, Morse Micro develops secure, long-range, low-power Wi-Fi HaLow microchips with applications across consumer electronics, agriculture, mining, renewable energy, transport, and smart metering.
NRFC noted its technology extends Wi-Fi range to one kilometre in urban environments and up to 16 kilometres in rural areas, with a patent portfolio covering 36 families.
Morse Micro CEO and co-founder Michael De Nil said the investment demonstrated strong confidence in the company’s global ambitions.
“This funding is another strong vote of confidence in our mission to be the number one wireless IoT chip company in the world,” De Nil said.
“The future of IoT depends on connectivity that is long-range, power-efficient, secure and delivers on throughput – and that’s exactly where we are leading. With this raise, we are accelerating our expansion and preparing for the next phase of our company’s growth.”
Morse Micro’s investors include Analog Devices founder Ray Stata, along with venture capital firms Blackbird Ventures, Main Sequence Ventures, and Uniseed, as well as a range of institutional backers.
