20 September 2023, UK
Unique 5G service provider JET Connectivity has today announced securing £1m investment to scale up its operations to deliver offshore 5G services to the maritime and offshore renewable energy sectors.
The investment, from a combination of impact and regional funds and private investment, shows strong support for JET’s roll out of its proprietary safety critical communications to seafarers and teams working offshore.
As part of the plans for growth, JET will be expanding its Cornwall, UK presence with additional facilities and team members in preparation for its upcoming Celtic Sea deployments in 2024 and beyond.
JET will be employing maritime specialists in the South West region, with the expertise that the area has to offer being pivotal for the company’s growth in the offshore renewables, environmental, and ports and harbours sectors.
A focus on safety critical communications for those working offshore drives the deployment of JET’s floating 5G mobile networks, enabling the added capability for capturing and streaming ocean, marine life, and weather data utilising the same buoy platforms, which are designed and built by the JET team.
With two pilots in the North and Celtic Seas being deployed in the coming months, JET’s ambitions for providing cost effective, resilient 5G to our oceans for safety and security, sustainability, and smart operations is well underway.
In addition to its in house designed and built 5G systems, JET is also developing 5G enabled data and AI capabilities to provide additional benefits to its customers, including more cost-effective, real time vertical wind and rain profiling and AI-driven plastics and marine life identification. These systems will be hosted on the self-powered, floating ocean data hub buoys.
James Thomas, CEO of JET Connectivity, said: “This is an incredible moment for JET in our journey to scale up our operations and deployments for our customers. The financial and advisory support from CIOSIF, Katapult, and individual investors is instrumental to our next phase of growth and we are delighted to continue building the team with their support.”
Anna Staevska, Investment Manager at The FSE Group who manage CIOSIF and lead this investment round, added: “JET Connectivity was established in response to an unmet need in a niche market and the team has worked in partnership with the sector to develop an offering that is in high demand. In just three years the company has established a position as a market leader in 5G at sea, gaining a strong pipeline and early traction with both UK government and key industry players. We are delighted to be supporting this exciting business.”
Anthony Bellafiore, Investment Manager at ocean tech investor Katapult Ocean, said: “Katapult Ocean is excited to support JET Connectivity along its path towards providing connectivity in the open ocean. Low-cost, offshore data connectivity will be a powerful blue growth driver for ocean impact-focused businesses in fields such as offshore energy, ocean CDR, and asset monitoring in the future and we believe JET Connectivity is well-positioned to enable many of these businesses to proliferate with its solution, making the oceans healthier in the process!”