Sydney, Australia and Irvine, California – Morse Micro, the world’s leading provider of Wi-Fi HaLow silicon solutions, today announced the successful close of its Series C funding round, raising $88 million AUD [$59 million USD]. The round was led by MegaChips with participation from National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC), Blackbird, Main Sequence, Uniseed, Ray Stata, Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull, Startmate, and a number of institutional investors including Hostplus, NGS, UniSuper, bringing the company’s total funding to over A$290 million AUD [$193 million USD] to date.
This fresh capital will accelerate Morse Micro’s expansion into international markets, scale production of its Wi-Fi HaLow chips, and support the ecosystem shift toward IoT 2.0 – a new phase of the Internet of Things (IoT) characterized by high-throughput, long-range, and highly scalable connectivity for IoT devices.
Michael De Nil, CEO and co-founder of Morse Micro, said: “This funding is another strong vote of confidence in our mission to be the number one wireless IoT chip company in the world. The future of IoT depends on connectivity that is long-range, power-efficient, secure and delivers on throughput – and that’s exactly where we’re leading. With this raise, we are accelerating our expansion and preparing for the next phase of our company’s growth.”
The funding comes at a time of significant momentum for Morse Micro and Australia’s semiconductor industry. This week the company is announcing the HaLowLink 2 – its global, next-generation evaluation platform. Also this year, the company has launched a second generation System-on-Chip (SoC), expanded its ecosystem partnerships, delivered new reference designs, and achieved mass production with leading OEMs. These milestones underscore Morse Micro’s role in driving the global shift from proof-of-concept IoT to full-scale, industrial and consumer deployments.
“We are proud to continue our support for Morse Micro as it leads the global transition to IoT 2.0. For a number of years, we have worked in partnership with Morse Micro to increase production and sales of its flagship Wi-Fi HaLow products. This investment reflects our belief that the time for Wi-Fi HaLow is now,” said Tetsuo Hikawa, President and CEO of MegaChips Group. “Morse Micro is uniquely positioned to accelerate the adoption of next generation IoT solutions. We are confident this investment positions the team and technology for international leadership and future success on the public markets.”
“Morse Micro is Australia’s largest semiconductor manufacturer and a home-grown Australian success
story. 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 WiFi connectivity for the rest of the
world,” said National Reconstruction Fund Corporation CEO David Gall. “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 capability, and build
local expertise in semiconductor design and innovation.”
Notes to editors:
What is Wi-Fi HaLow?
Wi-Fi HaLow, defined under IEEE 802.11ah, is a next-generation wireless protocol designed specifically for the scale and intelligence of lot 2.0. Operating in the license-free sub-GHz spectrum, it delivers long-range coverage and high data throughput.
What is IoT and IoT 2.0?
The first wave of loT solutions opened up new ways of tackling old problems. Devices were connected and simple data was shared between previously passive pieces of equipment. loT 2.0 is different. Devices can now see, think, and act at the edge. They run Al, deliver insights, and take actions based on real-time “sense and respond” decision making.
Morse Micro’s latest supporting announcements
Also in September, Morse Micro announced the mass production and general availability of its second-generation chip.
- The MM8108 SoC, manufactured by TSMC in Taiwan, is now in full-scale production. This milestone paves the way for a new generation of long-range, low-power IoT devices. Complementing the SoC’s rollout, Morse Micro has made available a series of its Evaluation Kits (EVKs); the MM8108-EKH01, MM8108-EKH05 and MM8108-EKH19. Now shipping globally through Mouser Electronics, these kits provide developers with a powerful springboard to design and deliver Wi-Fi HaLow powered, IoT 2.0 solutions.
- Morse Micro also unveiled its next-generation evaluation platform, HaLowLink 2. Building on the success of its HaLowLink 1, the new platform upgrades the core Wi-Fi HaLow SoC from MM6108 to the MM8108, delivering 43Mbps throughput at extended range thanks to 256QAM modulation rate and 26dBm internal PA on MM8108.
