Australia's National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC) has invested AU$22.5 million (US$14.04m) in Canberra-based Vault Cloud.
The investment will be used by Vault to deliver "additional security capabilities for its existing contracts" and to expand its offerings including artificial intelligence (AI), "Deployed Tactical Cloud" and Vault's "SECRET Cloud" offerings.
Vault, founded in 2012, offers cloud computing with additional security measures to protect data for the government and defense sectors.
NRFC Chair Martijn Wilder AM said, “Ensuring the security of classified information is an important consideration for Australian governments in today’s contested world. Vault’s services store classified government and defense data locally in Australia and protect it with state-of-the-art security technologies and protocols.”
“As the first investment in the NRFC’s Defence Capability priority area, Vault is an excellent example of the ways in which the NRFC can invest to protect Australia’s national interests,” Wilder added.
Vault CEO Rupert Taylor-Price, said of the deal: "The NRFC’s investment in Vault will help to boost Australia’s sovereign cloud capabilities. Vault is proud to provide the secure infrastructure that supports the nation’s defense and industrial goals. With the NRFC’s support, we are poised to scale our capability and help meet Australia’s strategic national security demands, whilst at the same time contributing to the nation’s economic growth.”
The investment is part of Vault's Series B funding round, which expects to have other funding from private Australian investors also. Vault completed its Series A investment round in 2017. Documents with the corporate regulator suggest AU$9.25 million (US$5.77m) was raised with leading investors including Certane Corporate Trust and MA Asset Management.
This month has also seen the NRFC investing AU$25 million (US$15.6m) into space telco Myriota, and AU$13 million (US$8.11m) in diamond quantum technology company Quantum Brilliance.
The NRFC has AU$15 billion (US$9.36m) available to invest in organizations that "diversity and transform Australia's industry and economy." It focuses on transport; medical science; defense capability; renewables and low-emission technologies; as well as value-add in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries.
