National Reconstruction Fund slings $22.5 million at data security startup Vault Cloud

The National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC) has gone into Christmas shopping mode, investing nearly $50 million in two days in two tech companies, today announcing $22.5 million for 12-year-old sovereign cloud data security company Vault Cloud.

The equity investment comes just 24 hours after leading a $50 million raise for Adelaide IoT and satellite maker Myriota with a $25m cheque.

Vault Cloud is the $15 billion fund’s fourth investment in a month and part of an ongoing Series B raise for the Canberra-based data security venture, which also has offices in Sydney.

Vault lays claim to being the national leader of in national leader in highly secure and scalable sovereign cloud capability to the Australian national security and safety critical sector. It pioneered the development of Australia’s only sovereign, hyperscale cloud with security at its core, and was one of the first cloud organisations to be Australian Signals Directorate certified to support classified security levels for data in the government, defence and critical infrastructure sectors.

Founder and CEO Rupert Taylor-Price was previously CEO at JN Solutions, where he developed a world-leading SaaS information management platform for the Australian government, before going on to launch Vault Cloud in 2012.

Taylor-Price said the government investment will be used to expand the company’s existing offerings, such as “SECRET Cloud”, as well as develop and deploy new services, including AUKUS cloud capability.

“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 defence and industrial goals,” he said.

“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.”

Vault’s security infrastructure includes cutting-edge encryption technologies, robust access control mechanisms, sophisticated threat detection and rapid response protocols.

The capital will also go towards delivering additional security capabilities for existing contracts as well as adding AI, Deployed Tactical Cloud and other tactical capabilities.

NRFC chair Martijn Wilder said that as the first investment in the defence capability priority area, it’s an example of how the fund can invest to protect Australia’s national interests.

“Ensuring the security of classified information is an important consideration for Australian governments in today’s contested world,” he said.

“Vault’s services store classified government and defence data locally in Australia and protect it with state-of-the-art security technologies and protocols.”

The NRFC’s first two investments were$40 million for a mining tech manufacturer and $13 million for s ynthetic diamond creator Quantum Brilliance