Future Maintenance Technologies (FMT), a Brisbane-founded company that has been powering some of the world’s biggest rail operators with autonomous robotic solutions for asset inspection and maintenance, has closed its first external funding round to capitalise on global traction.
The Series A raise was led by QIC Ventures, backed by its Brighter Super mandate, and Taronga Group, a real asset technology investor with access to its global institutional investors’ transport and logistics portfolios.
As real assets worldwide confront ageing infrastructure, skilled labour shortages and rising safety expectations, automating repetitive tasks is critical to safeguarding operational and financial performance while refocusing talent on higher-value work.
FMT pairs autonomous robotics with powerful AI-driven software to disrupt current manual inspection methods, drastically reducing operational costs, improving accuracy and generating premium quality data for predictive maintenance.
With long-term commercial contracts with Melbourne’s High-Capacity Metro Trains, Dubai Metro and Copenhagen Metro, the company is scaling rapidly as a leader in robotic inspection and maintenance.
More recently, FMT has expanded into Europe and Middle East, working with Lufthansa to automate aircraft inspections, with Deutsche Bahn and Etihad Rail for rollingstock inspections, and with Rio Tinto on one of the world’s first maintenance robots to improve safety within the heavy haul industry.
Future Maintenance Technologies CEO Loic Ayoul said the next decade will be defined by operators who embrace predictive, data‑driven maintenance.
Transport networks around the world are under pressure to meet increasing demands while operating with greater safety, accuracy and reliability
Loic Ayoul - CEO, Future Maintenance Technologies
“FMT’s technology gives operators the tools and intelligence they need to meet that challenge.
“We are building the maintenance ecosystem of the future, designed for the next generation of rail and aviation maintenance. We are committed to leading this global shift by working with leading organisations to create robot ready assets that enable predictive maintenance and inherently safer operations.
“The support of QIC, Brighter Super and Taronga Group is a significant milestone that gives us the runway, credibility and momentum to scale globally.”
QIC Ventures Investment Director Patrick Christiansen said the FMT platform is bringing long-overdue innovation to one of the most overlooked parts of the transport ecosystem.
Transport and logistics operators everywhere are looking for ways to modernise systems, address labour constraints and improve safety through solutions that complement existing inspection models
Patrick Christiansen - QIC Ventures Investment Director
“FMT is solving that problem with a platform that is not only safer and more efficient but also unlocks a new level of asset intelligence and predictive capabilities. This is the direction the industry is moving and FMT is well ahead of the curve, detecting defects before they become failures.
“With FMT, QIC Ventures is investing in a company well-positioned to become a global player in autonomous rail operations, backed by an experienced founding team, validated technology and commercial traction.”
Brighter Super CEO Kate Farrar said this investment reflects the fund’s strong commitment to backing the growth of Queensland’s advanced capabilities, in line with the objectives of its Queensland Investment Strategy.
With more than 85 per cent of our funds under management belonging to Queensland members, we believe backing innovative local businesses like FMT can deliver strong long-term returns for our members while supporting jobs and economic growth across the state
Kate Farrar - CEO, Brighter Super
Taronga Group Director Julian Kezelman said FMT is uniquely positioned to scale because its’ technology has proven value for initial customers and the problems it addresses are experienced globally.
FMT’s autonomous inspection and maintenance platform is not a future concept, it is being deployed today across major transport infrastructure in Australia, the Middle East and Europe, with clear applicability to aviation and other logistics infrastructure
Julian Kezelman - Director, Brighter Super
“Through Taronga Group’s network of institutional investors and partners with transport, logistics, shipping, rail and aviation assets, we can help accelerate FMT’s commercial expansion and deployment into new markets.
“We invest in globally scalable technologies that solve real operational problems, and FMT’s combination of proven robotics, data-driven intelligence and international traction positions the company to become a critical platform for the next generation of infrastructure operations worldwide.”
The completion of the Series A round marks a major step-change in FMT’s ability to scale, enabling the expansion of its teams, strengthening operational resilience and commercialising in new markets.
