Following the completion of the first Space Florida innovation program, high tech manufacturing company Mobilicom (ASX: MOB) has been awarded a new $408,000 research and development grant by Space Florida.
The grant is for the development of triple link redundancy communications to improve the operation of unmanned platforms, addressing US drone regulations. This would also entail increased collaboration with their existing US partner Censys Technologies. Together, the parties have been awarded a grant with a gross value of $1.4 million.
This newest round of funding reflects Mobilicom’s industry-leading expertise in communication solutions for unmanned drones and robotics. In 2020, Mobilicom became one of the four companies selected to work on the Space Florida program along with Censys. At the time, they had a budget of $770,000 for the first 12 months.
The Space Florida Innovation Program is an initiative to promote research, develop new technologies and foster commercialisation in the state’s aerospace industry. The program supports projects that have the potential to create high-skill, high-wage jobs in Florida and contribute to the growth of the state’s economy.
On Mobilicom’s capabilities, CEO Oren Elkayam commented, “Mobilicom’s cutting-edge SkyHopper Datalinks already support line-of-sight and cellular network-based beyond -line-of-sight communication. The development and integration of satellite connectivity for auto redundancy capability will facilitate more effective use of drones in remote areas and target unmet market demand for nationwide operation with [a] single solution.
“The project also expands our collaboration with Censys Technologies, a leading US-based commercial drone manufacturer for the agriculture, infrastructure monitoring, disaster relief and public safety sectors.”
The Company expects the drone market to be valued over $41 billion by 2026.
Mobilicom sees this as an opportunity to capture market leadership as the leading “end to end” solutions provider to global manufacturers of drones. What’s more is that, between 2020 and 2022, the Company has won eight innovation R&D grants programs. By the end of 2022, Mobilicom aims to establish its operations in the USA and seeks to maintain gross margins in excess of 55%. They also believe that the ongoing Ukraine-Russia crisis will boost demand for their products.
With the new grant, Mobilicom will develop a Multi-Link (MLU) communications system.
The new communications solution will address US civil drone regulations, catering to unmet market needs for long-range drone delivery and inspection operations with always-connected-anywhere capability. This program is focused on improving drone operations beyond visual-line-of-sight in three key areas: drone delivery, infrastructure inspection, security, and law enforcement. The new grant will be accessible by mid- 2023.
For the quarter ended 30 June 2022, Mobilcom reported $530k worth of new orders, on top of the $1m order backlog that the Company is hopeful to deliver and invoice to customers within the next six months.
According to their cash flow statement, the Company has had $1.4m in cash outflows for the six months to 30 June 2022 with a cash balance of $2.3m in the bank to continue operations while they work on those orders.
In the past six months, Mobilicom’s price per share has fallen from $0.056 in February 2022 to $0.038 as of today.
Alinda is a Business Reporter for The Sentiment
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