German satellite imagery company LiveEO has a growth strategy for the Asia Pacific market, which has led it to open an office in Sydney to reach Australian and APAC clients.

In an interview with Austrade, LiveEO’s Director of Infrastructure for EMEA & APAC, Jan Stenzel, said the company’s image-analysis tools will help tackle bushfires, power grid expansion and mine site surveillance.

“We mostly work with critical infrastructure, and Australia has lots of it in remote areas that are hard to access,” said Stenzel.

“This is a strategic investment. For us, Australia is a launchpad into the wider Asia-Pacific region.”

Headquartered in Berlin, LiveEO was founded in 2018 and has since grown to have a 130-strong workforce with offices in Munich, Latvia, the UK, the US, and now Australia.

“One of our first major customers was in Australia, so it was clear that Australia would be a focus for us,” says Patrick Hollenbeck, Director of Marketing, LiveEO.

“In mid-2024 we decided to start growing our business organically in Australia. This would ensure we got the market right.”

LiveEO employs two people in Sydney: an engineer and a commercial lead.

“Our technology conducts surveillance on critical infrastructure such as powerlines, pipelines and railways – as well as farmland and habitats,” says Stenzel. “We can help mitigate the risk of man-made events and natural disasters.”

“The energy transition means Australia needs more power-transmission infrastructure,” he says. “Australia needs additional tools to help protect the grid and ensure uptime.”

Hallenbeck says that language and time zone factors make Australia an ideal base for a European tech company to expand into Asia.

“We are a data-driven company and Australia has a tech-savvy culture,” he adds. “A presence in Sydney makes it easier to expand into Indonesia and Asia.”

“EO contributes approximately A$3.2 billion to Australia’s GDP (2024), with the government spending A$100 million annually for this data,” said Eva Pannhausen, Austrade’s Investment Manager in Frankfurt.

“Australia currently relies heavily on foreign EO data providers. This poses risks to economic security if access to data is disrupted.”

“Currently, there are efforts to develop sovereign EO capabilities and leverage Australia’s strengths in data quality verification and management. This will create opportunities for investors looking to establish long-term domestic expertise and capacity.”