3103 rounds · 1960 startups · 3601 investors
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Payment technology firm DataMesh Group has raised $12 million in a pre-Series A round, with NAB Ventures joining as a new investor alongside continued backing from Australian merchants including Peregrine Group's chairman.
Hypersonix leads a CRC-P grant-funded hypersonic UAV project with Romar, LSM and USQ, starting July; Romar's earlier federal grant is also recalled.
Also @AuManufacturing
Brisbane biotech Microbio has begun raising capital ahead of launching its bloodstream infection diagnostic in Europe, with positive pilot results and clinical trials managed across four countries by the Landrich Group.
Green Gravity, a new Australian venture developing gravity-based power storage inside abandoned mine shafts and led by Mark Swinnerton, formerly of BHP, has early private backing and is in talks with governments and VCs.
SBE Australia unveils the ten women-led startups joining its new Global Tech program for international scaling, while noting Evolve alumni have drawn over $1 billion in capital since 2012 without the accelerator taking equity.
The Gold Coast rocket maker has won federal co-funding for a 32-member space manufacturing network, backing a Queensland manufacturing hub and a new orbital launch pad at Bowen.
Beauty group L’Occitane, listed in Hong Kong, has taken a majority stake in Melbourne-founded skincare brand Grown Alchemist for an undisclosed amount, after buying most of Sol de Janeiro the previous year.
Also SmartCompany
Gathar, an Australian private chef platform, expands into the US with Curtis Stone, following a post-seed raise; the piece also recalls FoodByUs' series A and notes other food-tech players.
UNSW Founders is launching SynBio 10x, a synthetic biology accelerator run with Main Sequence, CSIRO's venture arm, which plans $120,000 per startup plus UNSW's $20,000; applications close May 15.
Byron Bay payments fintech Zepto has secured a $25 million Series A led by AirTree Ventures and Decade Partners, funding domestic growth, hiring and expansion into New Zealand ahead of PayTo's launch.
Also Australian FinTech·TechCrunch Australia·Tech Funding News - Australia·Techboard·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Australian FinTech·Forbes Australia
Buildxact has completed an oversubscribed $18.5 million Series A, with Shearwater Capital among the backers and Regal Funds Management leading; several other investors also joined.
UniSuper commits $75 million to Uniseed, the research commercialisation fund owned by four universities and CSIRO, its first venture investment; past portfolio sales to Schneider Electric, RTP Co and Novartis are recalled.
The federal government awarded $52 million to a Gilmour Space-led consortium building rocket and satellite manufacturing, test and spaceport facilities in Queensland, after a $33.4 million grant to a food manufacturing precinct.
Also @AuManufacturing
Payments company QuickFee has appointed experienced non-executive director Mike McConnell to its board from March 2022, its chairman and chief executive welcoming his enterprise technology and financial services background.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency is giving AGL $14.84 million toward a grid-forming battery at Broken Hill, with Fluence and Valmec supplying the system for a $41 million demonstration project due in 2023.
Also RenewEconomy
Recycling startup Samsara Eco picked up $6 million from the CEFC, managed by Virescent Ventures, plus Woolworths' W23 and CSIRO's Main Sequence, to commercialise its enzyme-based plastic recycling.
Also TechCrunch Australia·@AuManufacturing·Techboard·SmartCompany·TechCrunch Australia
Vaxxas has exclusively licensed UT Austin's HexaPro spike protein for a needle-free COVID-19 vaccine patch, backed by an NIH license, with a Phase 1 trial planned this year; background notes its founding backers.
Calix's LEILAC-2 carbon capture project has passed its investment decision and will build a retrofit plant at HeidelbergCement's Hannover site, backed by EU Horizon 2020 grants, with construction expected from 2023.
Thirteen industry-research collaborations share $32 million in Round 12 CRC-P government grants, spanning hydrogen storage, hypersonic drones and mRNA manufacturing; partner contributions total $56 million. No individual recipients are named.
Envirotech startup Samsara has raised $6 million from Main Sequence, W23 and the CEFC to build a recycling plant and grow its enzyme-based plastics technology team.
TrueLayer hires Helen Keppe, previously at Salesforce and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, as Australian sales and partnerships lead, expanding its local commercial team while onboarding open banking clients.
Cascade has landed a $40 million Series A led by Telescope Partners, with Five V and Carthona joining; proceeds follow a $5 million seed and target product and global growth.
Queensland catering platform Gathar has raised $1 million in post-seed backing from ACAC Innovation and new investors to enter the United States, with celebrity chef Curtis Stone joining the business.
Also Techboard
New Zealand microphone startup Dotterel Technologies raised NZ$3 million (A$2.8m) led by Icehouse Ventures, with Peter Beck, K1W1, NZVC and private investors backing production and expansion of its long-distance Konos microphone.
Alberts announces investment in Baymatob, whose Oli device predicts birth timing and detects hemorrhages, as the first deal in its Equality theme; CEO Tara Croft cites Australian Unity among capital partners in the raise.
Also Alberts Impact Ventures portfolio·Alberts Impact Ventures portfolio
Car loan platform CarClarity appoints Damon Pezaro, who held product roles at Domain, Prospa and Finder, as a non-executive director to advise on product strategy during its 2022 expansion.
Cascade, a Sydney strategy-execution software company, has closed a $40 million Series A led by Telescope Partners with Five V and Carthona Capital, to fund product development and expansion into North America and Europe.
Also SmartCompany·Techboard
Scale Investors co-founder Susan Oliver reflects on backing women founders and details LaunchVic's Alice Anderson Fund, which she chairs, listing six women-led startups it has backed alongside other Victorian capital initiatives.
Also LaunchVic
Australian car-finance fintech Driva has raised A$6 million from existing investors led by Carthona Capital, with Invictus and seed angels also participating, to double staff and fund brand and product expansion.
Driva has raised $6 million in a round led by Carthona Capital, with follow-on backers and angels joining, to double headcount, build its brand, and expand into trade-ins and vehicle listings.
Also Australian FinTech
Shippit, a Sydney logistics software provider, has bought last-mile technology firm Premonition for A$20.5 million; the piece also recalls Shippit's 2020 Series B and notes another raise in progress.
Upstreet, which gives shoppers fractional share rewards, has raised a $3 million seed-plus round led by Wattle Hill Capital, with funds earmarked for retail partnerships and platform upgrades.
Ignition Lane's weekly roundup covers Linktree's unicorn raise, several Australian funding rounds, Tiger and Insight's new mega-funds, falling SaaS valuations, the ACCC's action against Meta, and new accelerator and product launches.
Consumer crypto wallet startup Minke has secured pre-seed backing ahead of its app launch, with four angels participating. Its founders previously worked at SmartrMail, and the company is currently in Startmate's summer program.
West Australian medtech Avicena won government approval to trial its Sentinel rapid saliva screening system among fly-in fly-out resources workers; the piece also recalls two earlier state grants supporting the technology's development.
Equipment-finance fintech coaXion has oversubscribed its Pre-Series A raise, closing $2.65 million against a $1.5 million goal, with funds earmarked for Australian product development and a planned US market entry.
Melbourne fintech Archa has hired Lukas Aron as chief technology officer and Joseph Robins as GM Commercial ahead of its public launch, with founder Oliver Kidd describing the appointments as a statement of intent.
Brisbane mining-tech firm Plotlogic has raised 18 million dollars in a Series A led by Innovation Endeavors, with several corporate and venture backers joining, to grow commercial deployments of its on-site ore imaging systems.
Also Techboard·Startup Daily
Investment note announcing the firm's lead of Bridgit's $7.7 million Series A. Covers the bridging-loan fintech's product, traction, market, and founders' backgrounds at Stake, MoneyMe and KPMG.
Startup Daily's weekly SUDS podcast wrap: UK laws threatening jail for tech executives, interviews with founders of SpaceDraft, Flowingly and Book An Artist, Sun Cable's solar export ambitions, and NFT tax guidance.
Melbourne link-management startup Linktree has raised a $152 million Series B extension at a claimed $1.8 billion valuation, led again by Index Ventures and Coatue, a year after its $59 million Series B.
Linktree banked a $110 million round led by Index Ventures and Coatue at a $1.3 billion valuation, with Greenoaks joining and earlier backers returning, and named industry veteran Mike Olson its first president.
AgriStart has announced the seven businesses joining the 2022 HARVEST agtech accelerator, a five-month program that opened with a bootcamp and this year focuses on innovations serving the grains industry.
A commentary column arguing the Coalition now backs industry intervention, citing billions in recent federal grants for manufacturers, a WA dry dock, steel, plant protein and satellites, and questioning whether grants outperform repayable loans.
Tasmanian construction cost-management software firm Varicon raised a $2.25 million seed round led by Black Nova with several industry angels, following a smaller raise a year earlier, to support national expansion.
Also Startup Daily
Australian telehealth firm Medinet has landed $10 million from insurer Medibank Private for a minority stake, with the cash earmarked for platform development; the app earlier raised $3 million from angels.
Also Startup Daily
Virescent Ventures' blog flags Hysata's ultra-efficient electrolyser as progress toward low-cost hydrogen; the Australian company's backer is CEFC, whose investments Virescent manages, with fuller coverage in the AFR.
Australian link-in-bio firm Linktree has raised $110m as an extension of its Series B, with Index Ventures and Coatue leading at a $1.3bn valuation. It also named a new president and bought Songlink/Odelski.
Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Tech Funding News - Australia·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Techboard·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Crunchbase News