The Australian government’s National Reconstruction Fund has done its first venture debt transaction with a A$10 million facility provided to drone mapping scale-up Emesent to help it expand production at its Queensland plant.
Emesent, a 2018 CSIRO spinout, has also secured $15 million via a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) note backed by Main Sequence, US-based Orion Resource Partners, the Queensland government’s QIC and super funds NGS and Hostplus. Emesent previously raised $32 million in a series A equity funding led by Perennial Partners.
Emesent’s Hovermap mobile scanning unit, which can be vehicle or drone-mounted or carried by people to collect survey data, is said to have been deployed at more than 200 mines worldwide, including by the companies such as Rio Tinto, BHP and Glencore.
“Robotics and spatial computing are emerging segments of the Australian economy and NRFC investment will help to diversify the economy and create highly skilled jobs by anchoring these nascent industries right here in Australia,” National Reconstruction Fund CEO David Gall said.
“By keeping the Emesent’s advanced manufacturing capabilities in Australia, NRFC investment will help to build resilient supply chains while strengthening Australia’s sovereign capability in key sectors like advanced robotics and autonomous systems.”
Emesent CEO Charles Miller said the funding would go towards product development, expansion of batch manufacturing and software development.
“NRFC’s support means we can scale our manufacturing, push our AI and autonomy capabilities further and deepen our presence in the sectors that matter most to Australia’s future, including mining, defence and critical infrastructure,” Miller said.
Emesent employs 109 people and is looking to fill 21 new roles in Australia.
