5G Ventures announces the investment of the Phaistos Investment Fund (Series A funding round) in OQ Technology.
OQ Technology is an innovative company that uses low-orbit satellites to provide seamless connectivity to Internet of Things (IoT) facilities in areas where terrestrial networks do not provide coverage.
The company is headquartered in Luxembourg.
OQ Technology is the first 5G IoT provider to develop a global hybrid system where satellite and terrestrial wireless networks are combined. The company’s specific system provides seamless connectivity using 5G standards and equipment for a variety of IoT applications, such as environmental monitoring, agriculture, supply chain, shipping, smart metering, mining, aviation and defense.
The Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) solution of OQ Technology is a new service where centralized connections via satellites or mobile networks are provided for IoT uses on land, sea and air.
The service is based on the 5G 3GPP protocol and is compatible with any mobile protocol and equipment. Therefore, any IoT device (such as sensors, cameras, etc.) can be connected to OQ Technology satellites for continuous coverage.
OQ Technology has successfully implemented and presented NB-IoT connectivity via low-orbit satellites. Further, it is developing a satellite formation with global coverage to provide 5G IoT telecommunications services to providers and customers in industries such as energy, mining, supply chain, shipping, agriculture and defense.
The funding round was led by the Phaistos Investment Fund and Wa’ed Ventures, Saudi Aramco’s venture capital fund.
In addition, on July 28, 2022, OQ Technology established a subsidiary company in Greece, under the name “OQ Technology Hellas”. The company is based in the Corallia unit of the Athena Research Center, which hosts the si-Cluster (Space Technologies and Applications Cluster).
5G Ventures has signed memorandum of understanding with both “Athena” and Corallia, while OQ Technology has already contacted companies from the si-Cluster to explore synergies and opportunities in Greece.
According to a study by Transparency Market Research, the global IoT 5G satellite market was valued at 843.2 million dollars in 2021 and is estimated to reach 6.142 billion dollars by 2031, with the average annual growth rate (CAGR) standing at 22% for the period 2021-2031.