MOVUS, an Australian startup that has developed a revolutionary new Industrial IoT (Internet of Things) sensor and machine monitoring solution, continues to attract worldwide attention.
Last year the company secured $4.8 million in funding for its FitMachine technology, which has been dubbed the “Fitbit for machines”.
Since then MOVUS has more than doubled its team from 12 to 25, expanded its R&D lab facilities and moved into new dedicated two-story facility in Brisbane’s CBD.
Its FitMachine wireless IoT sensor is still being manufactured locally in Queensland.
FitMachine proactively monitors the condition and operating performance of industrial equipment.
The funding round by Blackbird Ventures, Telstra Ventures and Skip Capital (Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar’s private investment fund) has allowed MOVUS to also move into international markets, including the US by partnering with ALS Global.
MOVUS has continued to win new customers and now has more than 50 global and regional enterprises including Asahi Beverages, Wesfarmers business CSBP and The University of Queensland.
FitMachine to be sold in the US and Europe
To prepare for the international scale-up, MOVUS has successfully outsourced the contract manufacture of FitMachine to IntelliDesign, a Brisbane based industrial sensor manufacturer.
Significantly, MOVUS has achieved certifications with the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and CE which is similar for Europe. Both certifications now ensure that FitMachine can be sold in the US and Europe.
Earlier this year, the company was invited into the National Energy Resources Australia’s (NERA) SME ConnectER program and featured in NERA’s Innovation Station at the Australasian Oil and Gas (AOG) Conference in Perth.
The Innovation Station is the hub for NERA's AOG activities and networking events and showcases innovators and collaborators who are transforming the Oil and Gas industry in the fields of data and digitisation, automation and robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Monitoring equipment in hazardous environments
This supported the company’s launch of its newest innovation, FitMachine EX, an intrinsically safe solution to continuously monitor equipment in explosive and sensitive environments, such as Oil and Gas, in a bid to reduce maintenance costs. FitMachine EX was debuted at AOG.
MOVUS was also awarded Startup of the Year 2019 by the Future of Mining, following its FitMachine EX launch.
The Future of Mining conference brings together global mining leaders to share their vision of how mining will evolve and embrace emerging technology like Artificial Intelligence, IIoT, Autonomous Vehicles, and Augmented Reality.
And the company has won a Federal Government Business Growth Grant from the Entrepreneurs Programme and recently announced a joint project with AMGC (Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre) to support Australian manufacturing SMEs become more competitive. Both initiatives will help the company expand domestically and internationally.
Delivering value to customers and partners
“It’s incredibly motivating to reflect on what we’ve achieved in the past twelve months since we received the investment injection, and I’d like to congratulate our team on its commitment to delivering on these business-changing goals,” said Brad Parsons, Founder and CEO at MOVUS. “This relentless traction confirms that we now operate with confidence with a game-changing capability that disrupts laggard incumbents and delivers real value to our customers and partners.”
Rick Baker, Co-Founder of Blackbird Ventures said: “It’s impressive to see the laser focus Brad and the team at MOVUS have maintained, to deliver on the strategy and objectives they communicated during the investment round.
“These achievements all combine to demonstrate enterprise scale and customer value. We look forward to seeing what the next twelve months bring for MOVUS and the IIoT industry.“
For more information visit MOVUS website.
