Brisbane based Canaria Technologies has launched a partnership agreement with Telstra Mining Services to roll-out its predictive biometric systems nationally

At the same time the company also revealed it had raised $350,000 seed, valuing the businesses at $5m.

Canaria, co-founded by Alex Moss and Dr Robert Finean in 2016, was a finalist in last year’s ACS Riverpitch. The company provides predictive biometric systems: a field of technology combining miniature medical devices with AI to predict medical events before they happen based on the historical data of users.

Puck, the company’s flagship wearable device, predicts workers’ heat exhaustion and cognitive fatigue based on their past performance.

“I'm really happy that we've been able to close this investment round with a local lead investor who really understands the startup-to-scaleup mindset,” Moss told Information Age.

“A culture match is everything and it was worth waiting and going through the process where we searched all of Australia for a lead who really resonated with the whole team and vice-versa.

“We're looking forward to expanding internationally with the core team we've assembled over the past few years here in Brisbane, as well as the support of trusted partner Telstra Mining Services.”

Nicholas Butta, lead investor of the round with Redmond Capital, said of his decision to back the company, “I have a high level of conviction and confidence that Canaria is on track develop a critical safety tool. The new ability to predict the two leading causes of accidents in the heavy industries before they happen is a game-changer.”

Originally emerging from a project to provide high-accuracy real-time medical monitoring to NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station, the company was founded in London in 2016 and the business moved to Australia two years later.

The deal with Telstra Mining Services is valued at $210,575 which will see the company’s technology rolled-out to TMS clients as part of the group’s health and safety offering.

Dr. Jeannette McGill, Head of Telstra Mining Services said of the partnership, “Telstra Mining Services is excited to be backing this leap forward in HSSE. Telstra’s rapidly expanding 4G and LTE networks across previously difficult-to-access areas perfectly complements this new species of high-speed predictive AI system.

“This partnership of both companies marks a serious step forward in the mining and resources sectors’ willingness to adopt new technologies, especially those which have emerged from the space sector.”