Telefonica took part in a $11 million funding round by Israeli cloud-based mobile network Monogoto, as the Spain-headquartered operator seeks to boost its play in global deployments of private LTE and 5G networks.

Through its Tech Ventures unit, Telefonica invested an undisclosed amount in Monogoto, securing a seat on the Israeli company’s advisory board alongside obtaining preferential access to its technology and a test environment for VPNs.

Monogoto, which was founded in 2018, provides IoT and M2M connectivity through API-based technology it states enables enterprises and developers to develop and integrate their own connectivity applications.

Telefonica explained it saw opportunities for “numerous new use cases” based on Monogoto’s offerings, predominantly spanning Industry 4.0, healthcare and utilities in the short-to-medium term.

“The technology proposal developed by Monogoto will be key to deepening our value proposition in the deployment of private LTE/5G networks worldwide”, Telefonica IoT and big data tech CEO Gonzalo Martin-Villa said.

He explained the investment will enable Telefonica to introduce products which are “more tailored” to global market needs and “take advantage of the capabilities provided by 5G and edge computing for digital transformation”.

The operator has been actively focused on strengthening its position in the IoT space, with moves including a tie-up with cybersecurity company Fortinet and a collaboration to develop a 5G blockchain IoT module.