World

Mackay-based internet-of-things company Vayeron has been the vehicle that pushed Ryan Norris to the top of the 40 Under 40 awards list.

Norris took out the industry innovators award for the achievements at Vayeron, which caters to the ports, process plants and the mining industry.

The company conceptualises, designs and manufactures IoT products to assist the bulk materials handling by maximising efficiencies through the collection of useful data that can predict, protect and proactively point out when a maintenance action would be required.

Vayeron has generated $1.5M in revenue over the past 12-months, a 229 per cent increase on the year prior and Norris said it has an order book for revenue to be recognised in full-year 2024 exceeding $5 millionn, which will represent a further 333 per cent increase on 2023.

Norris, who has an engineering degree from Central Queensland University, said the idea for Vayeron started because of the annoyance of walking tens of kilometeres in underground mines inspecting conveyors that were constantly breaking down and losing the mining company millions of dollars annually.

He invented the concept of “sensorising” the roller components to remotely track their condition

“I was 22. I used all my savings and sold my fishing boat and took out a credit card and personal loan to fund the first prototype for our new-to-world technology. I raised my first round of investor seed capital at 25 and have raised capital across a subsequent four rounds since. I have created shareholder value, employment and done my part to help increase team Australia’s brand for mining technology on the world stage,” he said.

His journey has had its ups and downs. The company almost went bankrupt at the beginning but fast thinking to bring in a manufacturing partner as an equity holder saved the company.

“We are now manufacturing our high-tech solution in-house here in Mackay which is the first advanced manufacturing production line for electronics PCBs and product assembly capability of its kind in our region.

“We also have a subsidiary company in Santiago, Chile, to service the Latin America region and in combination with our patented market-changing technology, we are creating jobs, supply chains and export growth not only for Mackay but also for Australia.”

He said the company was partnering with prominent conveyor roller manufacturers from USA, Italy and Chile. Vayeron has also secured a “marquee contract” for the delivery of our technology on a 67km-long conveyor system to be constructed in Texas.

The business model used by Vayeron is one which uses data subscription.