3106 rounds · 1963 startups · 3603 investors
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TechCrunch's April 19, 2022 news roundup: Better.com cuts headcount again, Brex buys Pry Financials for $90 million, Square Peg commits $550 million to Southeast Asia startups, plus more raises and fund closes.
Corporate-card fintech Archa closed a $24 million pre-Series A round of debt and equity led by Wisr's Anthony Nantes, and secured a new institutional debt facility from Roadnight Capital.
Also Techboard
Square Peg's post explains why it led mortgage platform Athena's $70 million Series C, with Hostplus and Airtree reinvesting and Australian Super, NAB Ventures and Salesforce Ventures joining as new backers.
Data privacy firm DataBench has named security industry veteran Paul Muller as its first outside chief executive, while founder David Christmas shifts to chair parent company Portfolio4 ahead of a planned Series A.
Advanced Navigation, with Malcolm Turnbull on its board, is seeking $80-135 million; the piece recalls its 2019 $20 million Series A and Minderoo's strategic investment.
Also @AuManufacturing·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Forbes Australia
Techboard's March 2022 roundup of Australian funding: megadeals by Immutable, Saluda Medical, Linktree and Zeller, many smaller raises, acquisitions, an IPO, several fund closes, and companies still seeking capital.
Also Australian FinTech
Interview with Square Peg partners about the Australian venture firm's growing Southeast Asia presence and portfolio; mentions a fresh fundraise underway and points to Cialfo's recent $40 million backing co-led with SEEK.
An education technology company has secured seed capital to expand its platform that turns coursework into adaptive learning resources, with a venture firm leading the round.
Also Startup Daily·Techboard
Perth fleet-management analytics company Fleetsu has been bought by Rand McNally, a portfolio company of US private equity firm Teleo Capital, with terms undisclosed; founder Jakub Falinski becomes Rand McNally's Chief Innovation Officer.
UK pay-access fintech Wagestream, formed from Sydney's Earnd, secured a A$236 million Series C — equity led by Smash Capital with Silicon Valley Bank debt — to expand beyond Britain, including across Australia.
Also Startup Daily
SmartCompany profiles three picks from Startmate's latest accelerator intake — Critical., Lockpick Games and MyGigsters — each receiving $120,000 under the accelerator's revamped investment terms.
Consultmed has banked a $1.2 million first venture round led by Investible, with clinician users also investing, to scale its hospital referral platform across Australia.
Also Techboard
Queensland property-tech firm UrbanX has picked up an undisclosed multi-million-dollar investment led by three 29North founders, whose fellow backer will chair its board, as the agent-platform startup pushes across Australia and New Zealand.
Tattarang, Andrew Forrest's investment firm and R.M. Williams parent, has put $26.8m into Natural Fiber Welding's Series B; the US materials startup's Mirum leather substitute may reach the bootmaker's vegan lineup.
Startup Daily TV interviews Tessara Therapeutics' CEO about RealBrain, its 3D brain-tissue models for neurological drug discovery, and a fresh push to raise funds; the Melbourne biotech is also among the latest Tech23 companies.
UK payments company Kikapay hires Glenn Quadros for its legal and commercial leadership, launches a soft-POS product, and notes a funding round set to wrap in May.
Go1 has bought corporate learning platform Coorpacademy, its first European acquisition, to support expansion; the piece recalls Go1's earlier raises, including a 2019 Series B and a 2021 Series D.
Also OIF Ventures portfolio·TechCrunch Australia·Crunchbase News·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Tech Funding News - Australia·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·edtechchronicle.com·go1.com
Mitsui & Co has put €10 million into French green-hydrogen developer Lhyfe, its first international backer, to fund growth and overseas expansion, following a €66 million raise from French firms in 2021.
Kaseya has agreed to acquire Datto for US$6.2 billion, funded by an equity consortium including Insight Partners, TPG Capital, Temasek and Sixth Street. The article also recalls Datto's earlier acquisitions, merger and NYSE listing.
Also ARN (ARNnet)
Birchal opens an equity crowdfunding campaign on its own marketplace, an industry first, chasing $3 million with Up cofounder Dom Pym committed, while marking $100 million raised and unveiling secondary trading plans.
Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Techboard·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily
Pfizer has bid $100m for ResApp, a Brisbane healthtech firm whose app diagnoses respiratory conditions from coughs; its board backs the deal, and the piece recalls a 2021 $5.5m raise under Fidelity International's lead.
Also Startup Daily
Renewable developer TagEnergy raised €450 million (A$660 million) from Impala, Mirova and Omnes, each putting in €150 million, to fund its 2.7GW wind and storage pipeline, mostly in Australia.
Melbourne startup EQL raised A$25 million led by Insight Partners and AirTree Ventures, with angels and family offices participating, to grow sales teams and improve its product-launch platform.
UK cancer biotech Pathios Therapeutics, backed by Canaan Partners and Brandon Capital, presented preclinical data at a US conference showing its GPR65 inhibitor PTT-3213 shrank tumors in mouse models.
ARENA grants Alcoa $8.6 million for a pilot trialling electric calcination in alumina refining, with the WA Government adding $1.7 million toward the $19.7 million decarbonisation project.
New Zealand biotech Humble Bee Bio received a $70,000 grant via IMCRC's activate program to work with Deakin University on a bee-inspired, water-repellent textile coating.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has awarded Alcoa 8.6 million dollars for trials of electric-powered calcination at its Pinjarra refinery, following earlier funding for low-emission refining work at Wagerup.
Insight Partners and AirTree have added NZ$20 million to LawVu's Series A, lifting the New Zealand legal software firm's total funding, with Insight's large recent cheques into SafetyCulture and Octopus Deploy also noted.
AgFunder and GROW unveiled ten startups joining the latest GROW Impact Accelerator cohort, each receiving $100,000, following the first close of AgFunder's SIJ Impact Fund with Asahi and Meiji as strategic investors.
METS Ignited has granted over $2.5 million in matched funding to six mining technology companies to scale commercialisation, bringing its six-year investment past $13 million across 26 projects.
Tax audit insurtech AuditCover has raised a $1.7 million seed round led by Hunter Equity Group, with angels and Greenlight Re participating, and appointed Claire Wivell Plater as a director.
Also Techboard
The Western Australian government committed $6.5 million over four years to the state's space sector: $4 million to consortium AROSE and $2.5 million to Curtin University's Binar space program, supporting Diversify WA.
Also @AuManufacturing
HIF Global, developing carbon-neutral eFuels including a Chilean pilot plant, raised US$260 million from Porsche, EIG, AME, Baker Hughes and Gemstone, with plans to expand into Australia.
Unleash live, working with Optus and AWS, flew its first drone test for Endeavour Energy, streaming 5G footage; the project earlier received a $648,000 federal government 5G Innovation Initiative grant.
US IoT security vendor Armis has launched a Melbourne APAC office and hired nine staff under former Nutanix manager Andrew Draper; the piece also recalls its 2020 acquisition and 2021 investment round.
Western Australia's government awarded over $11 million in Clean Energy Future Fund round two grants to seven regional renewable projects, spanning pumped hydro, geothermal, biofuel, microgrids, battery storage and electrified alumina refining.
US software company NetApp is buying Canberra data platform Instaclustr in a deal reportedly exceeding $500 million, nine years after its founding, rewarding early backers including ANU Connect Ventures and Bailador.
Four companies, three of them manufacturers, have received federal grants totalling $18 million under the Northern Australia Development Program, with Wulguru Steel the largest recipient at $11 million for expansion projects.
Shearwater Capital recounts a 2022 portfolio dinner where Playground XYZ's founders shared their journey to the company's late-2021 acquisition by US firm GumGum.
Profile of Sydney news-aggregation app Ukufu, which has passed 50,000 Android installs. Founder Kevin Garber discusses its AI-curated newsfeeds, planned premium and B2B versions, and its earlier seed backing from local angel investors.
Melbourne hospitality tech firm Zii has completed its purchase of fellow Melbourne point-of-sale provider Suntech Enterprises Australia, extending its reach into food and beverage retail as it plans further growth.
OIF Ventures republishes an AFR report on NetApp buying Canberra data-technology firm Instaclustr for a reported $500 million-plus, covering founder paydays and the fund's returns, including a 20-times outcome on its early backing.
Square Peg reflects on backing Puresec's Series A, a serverless security company founded by Israeli cyber veterans, alongside co-investors TLV Partners, and explains why serverless computing demands new security approaches.
Square Peg announces it led Zeller's AU$6.3 million seed round with Apex Capital co-investing, profiling co-founders Ben Pfisterer and Dominic Yap and their merchant payments and business banking offering ahead of launch.
Square Peg's investment note explains why it backed e-scooter operator Neuron's US$18.5 million Series A with GSR Ventures, highlighting the company's city-permit strategy across Australia and New Zealand.
Also Square Peg Capital
Square Peg announces a $6 million Series A investment in Zero Co, a refillable home and personal care startup that this week set an Australian crowdfunding record, raising $5 million from 3,082 retail investors.
Square Peg's investment notes explain why it led Aidoc's US$27 million Series B, covering the founders' background, the strain on radiologists, and how the company's imaging AI improves patient care.
Also Square Peg Capital
Square Peg Capital's investment note on leading Doctor Anywhere's US$27 million Series B with co-leads EDBI and IHH Healthcare, describing the Singapore telehealth platform's integrated Southeast Asian care delivery business.
Square Peg's investment note recounts co-leading HealthMatch's $6 million Series A after an accelerated five-day process, profiling founder Manuri Gunawardena's clinical trial matching platform and existing backer Tempus Partners.