SAN DIEGO and CANBERRA, Australia — June 19, 2024 — Liquid Instruments, a leading innovator of reconfigurable test instrumentation, today announced that it has secured a new round of funding totaling $12 million, led by a $10 million investment from Breakthrough Victoria, with other investors including Lockheed Martin Ventures, Acorn Capital, and Powerhouse Ventures. This funding will enable Liquid Instruments to significantly expand its manufacturing operations in Australia, establish a new office in Melbourne, and scale its global operations while supporting regional economic growth.
Founded in Australia in 2014, Liquid Instruments develops reconfigurable test and measurement devices to support and accelerate critical scientific research and development in a range of applications, from optics and photonics to aerospace and defense. The company’s flexible Moku platform leverages the processing power and versatility of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to integrate a complete suite of test instruments — from bench essentials like an oscilloscope to advanced tools like a lock-in amplifier — into a single, compact device. Liquid Instruments’ technology is rooted in decades of fundamental research at leading Australian universities, as well as the Australia-based ARC Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in the United States.
“We are super excited to expand into Victoria,” said Daniel Shaddock, co-founder and CEO of Liquid Instruments. “This investment will allow us to strengthen and grow our manufacturing partnerships in Australia and forge new collaborations with researchers from world-class institutions at the forefront of technology development, including the University of Melbourne, RMIT University, Swinburne University of Technology, and Monash University.”
Breakthrough Victoria provides capital to businesses that improve lives and stimulate economic growth in Australia, focusing on the state of Victoria. This investment underscores the importance of manufacturing as a key driver of national strategic importance and economic development in Australia.
Liquid Instruments is already working with Victorian partners to manufacture its products, and the company will expand these efforts considerably in the next 12 months, both by onshoring existing manufacturing activities from abroad, and developing new manufacturing lines for its highly anticipated next-generation device. With this funding, Liquid Instruments will be able to scale local manufacturing of Moku devices in Australia while recruiting top engineering and manufacturing talent. The company plans to hire dozens of new Melbourne-based employees in high-tech roles, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer science, and advanced manufacturing.
Additionally, Liquid Instruments will expand its internship program, targeting students from Victorian universities. This initiative will provide undergraduate and graduate students with invaluable real-world experience, working alongside Liquid Instruments scientists and engineers on cutting-edge technology development.
“The impact of Breakthrough Victoria’s investment in Liquid Instruments will be felt across various levels of the state’s innovation sector, from stronger manufacturing capability in Victoria, to cost-effective lab solutions for researchers, engineers, and students, in a single piece of hardware,” said Grant Dooley, CEO of Breakthrough Victoria.Tim Pallas, minister for economic growth in Victoria, echoed Dooley’s sentiments.
“We are growing our economy and attracting new industry by investing in companies like Liquid Instruments — creating new jobs in advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence,” he said.
About Liquid InstrumentsMost test environments are unique and require customized configuration and careful optimization of multiple instruments, adding cost and time upfront and throughout the test cycle. Liquid Instruments’ reconfigurable Moku is the only test solution that is engineered and optimized for friction-free customization in both simple tests and complex multi-instrument environments. In hundreds of labs around the world, Moku has accelerated the timeline of crossing from idea to implementation by an order of magnitude, reducing the time and cost of advanced research and development. Because our reconfigurable Moku test solutions are engineered by a team of distinguished research scientists to be easy to use and versatile, they deliver efficiency gains in the most complex test scenarios today and meet your ongoing needs in the future. Experience Moku cost-free by requesting a demo today.
About Breakthrough VictoriaBreakthrough Victoria is an investment company established in 2021 to manage the Victorian Government’s Breakthrough Victoria Fund. We invest for impact — supporting companies to commercialize new technologies and innovations that will create jobs and investment in Victoria and have a positive impact on people’s lives.
MediaContact Liquid Instruments at media@liquidinstruments.com.