Sydney-based fabless wi-fi HaLow chip developer Morse Micro has secured $140 million in Series B funding in a round led by Japanese ASIC and system-on-a-chip (SoC) developer MegaChips.
Morse Micro said the funding round will go towards designing new solutions and pursuing the go-to-market strategy for its existing 802.11ah wi-fi HaLow products.
Its current product range comprises two SoCs, the MM6104 and MM6108, that operate in the 850-950 MHz frequency bands for internet of things transmissions over distances up to 1km.
The company said the investment is accompanied by a strategic business partnership to help Morse Micro expand across East Asia.
MegaChips will manufacture Morse Micro’s 802.11ah products, and will provide “quality assurance, sales support and new distribution channels” in the region.
The two companies will also engage in joint sales and promotion activities.
Morse Micro claims use cases in the “complete IoT ecosystem” of consumer, commercial, industrial and agricultural applications.
Its chips provide low-power connectivity at data rates tailored to IoT applications.
For example, while the MM6108’s fastest data rate is 32.5 Mbps, it offers 1km reach supported by the 950MHz band combined with ultra low power operation.
The company says a single wi-fi HaLow access point can support up to 8000 IoT devices.
“MegaChips pursues strategic partnerships and investments with promising startups like Morse Micro that have innovative ideas, cutting-edge applications and are expanding their businesses in areas such as industrial IoT, wireless communications and energy control,” said Tetsuo Hikawa, president and CEO of MegaChips Group.
The funding round included Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull, Blackbird Ventures, Main Sequence Ventures, Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Skip Capital, Uniseed, and SpringCapital.
Morse Micro was founded by Michael De Nil and Andrew Terry, both alumni of Broadcom, joined by wi-fi pioneer Radiata’s co-founder Professor Neil Weste.
