How much is ‘link in bio’ real estate worth? Linktree’s new valuation says $1.3 billion

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.

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Australian Vanadium backed to produce critical battery materials

Australian Vanadium Limited wins a $49 million federal government grant to develop its Western Australian vanadium project, with ATCO, Bryah Resources, two universities and ANSTO named as partners on hydrogen and downstream work.

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Fintech startup Our Leg Up lets budding homeowners crack the market using 'unemployed' real estate equity

Profile of Our Leg Up, a fintech helping low-deposit buyers purchase sooner while letting established homeowners earn returns on property equity; Antler backed the founder and the capital raise is over half filled.

Customer relationship startup Wandora is reclaiming bookings data control for tourism operators

Profile of Dan Baird's Melbourne venture Wandora, whose software helps tourism operators keep customer data and direct bookings away from big platforms, noting Antler's recent investment and ambitions beyond travel.

Cochlear backs Epiminder capital raising

Epiminder raised A$18 million in bridge funding for its epilepsy monitoring implant, backed by existing shareholders including Cochlear, after completing an A$18 million Series A in October 2021.

First Participants Dosed in Phase 2a Study of Pan-Antiviral Nasal Spray

ENA Respiratory has begun a Phase 2a influenza-challenge trial in the UK of its INNA-051 antiviral nasal spray; the article also recalls its Series A backing by Brandon Capital, Minderoo Foundation and Uniseed.

“Tipping point”: New Aussie accelerator to help fuel a boom in plant-based meats

SmartCompany covers the launch of PlantForm, a local accelerator for plant-based meat ventures, and rounds up recent sector raises by Change Foods, Fenn Foods, Eighth Day Foods and All G Foods.

First Participants Dosed in Phase 2a Study of Pan-Antiviral Nasal Spray

ENA Respiratory has begun dosing healthy adults in a UK influenza challenge trial of its INNA-051 antiviral nasal spray, with a COVID-19 study to follow; the release also notes the company's earlier Series A backing.

Bridgit banks $7.7m to turbocharge same-hour loans

Bridging-loan fintech Bridgit closed a 7.7 million dollar round with OIF Ventures and Perennial Partners, following earlier venture debt, to expand its rapid loan approval technology.

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Private Ventures Fund

Perennial's page for its Private Ventures Fund No. 1, a wholesale vehicle intending to back later-stage private companies, mostly in Australia and NZ, over seven years.

BidFin moves Aussie MSPs and ISVs towards recurring revenue

BidFin has launched a product that pre-funds most contract value upfront for Australian IT service firms, easing cashflow; the fintech also recently landed a $6 million capital raise for growth and hiring.

AfterWork Turns One!

AfterWork Ventures' first-birthday post recalls its founders' angel record, a 2019 micro-fund, a ten million dollar first close five months in, and the launch of its NFT project.

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Manufacturing news briefs – stories you might have missed

Manufacturing roundup: Amaero appoints Guggenheim to review strategy, Cann completes its Mildura facility, ADN lines up a $4.5m placement, Imugene starts an MSD cancer trial, ABT collects an R&D tax refund.

Superhero announces first Head of Marketing

Trading and superannuation startup Superhero has hired Chris Whitnall, previously a media executive at ABC and agency strategist, into a newly created senior marketing role to lead strategy across its teams and agency partners.

Blackbird is hiring a Head of People

Blackbird's blog post advertises an open Head of People role, describing the people-and-culture remit, the author's current internal work, and the firm's growth from 12 to 61 staff.

Atlassian alumni raises $10.6 million for tech to create “a world with more founders”

Kinde, a developer-infrastructure startup founded by ex-Atlassian and Campaign Monitor staff, has raised a $10.6 million seed round led by Blackbird Ventures with Felicis Ventures, to build tooling that spares SaaS startups repetitive groundwork.

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Major partnership to deliver spray hazard warning system

Grains and cotton research bodies GRDC and CRDC announce a $5.5m, five-year partnership with agtech firm Goanna Ag to build a network of weather stations warning growers about hazardous spray conditions.

Cochlear backs medtech startup EpiMinder in $16 million bridge funding round

Epi-Minder has completed a $16 million bridge round with its existing shareholders to fund expanded clinical trials, product development and manufacturing of its long-term epilepsy monitoring device.

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BidFin launches first vendor agnostic recurring revenue funding option in the Australian market

Australian fintech BidFin has launched a recurring revenue funding product for MSPs and ISVs, and recently completed a AU$6 million capital raise to drive growth, expand its debt facility, and hire additional staff.

Australia edges closer to being electricity exporter

Green power exporter Sun Cable secured a $210 million Series B from existing shareholders, led through the billionaires' vehicles Grok Ventures and Squadron Energy, moving its Australia-Singapore electricity link closer to go-ahead.

Investment Notes: Earlywork $700k Pre-Seed

Square Peg Capital announces its pre-seed investment in Earlywork, an early-career talent community with a job board, backing founders Dan, Marina and Jono alongside Archangel Ventures and PhaseOne Ventures.

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Schneider Electric completes acquisition of Australian IoT company

Schneider Electric has finished buying Aurtra, a University of Queensland power-asset-monitoring spinout. Its sensor technology and team, including co-founder Terry Woodcroft, now sit inside the French group's digital transformer services business.

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Our investment in Mastt

OIF Ventures says it led a $9.5 million Series A in Mastt, a SaaS platform for construction project management, citing the founders' experience, product-led growth pricing and international expansion potential.

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Cannon-Brookes, Forrest pour more money into world's biggest solar and battery project

Sun Cable has raised A$210 million in Series B funding from existing shareholders, led by Mike Cannon-Brookes' Grok Ventures and Andrew Forrest's Squadron Energy, for its giant solar, battery and subsea cable project.

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Startup stakeholder management platform Cake Equity raises $3 million seed round

Gold Coast stakeholder management startup Cake Equity has raised a $3 million seed round co-led by Jason Calacanis and Rampersand, with angels including Airtasker's Jonathan Lui, to support global expansion.

Also Australian FinTech

Kiwi workflow automation startup Flowingly raises NZ$4.5 million pre-Series A

New Zealand workflow automation company Flowingly raised NZ$4.5 million in a pre-Series A round led by GD1 with Icehouse Ventures, to fund US expansion and double headcount.

Tiger Global backs building marketplace ArchiPro's $32 million Series A

Building products marketplace ArchiPro has landed a Tiger Global-led Series A to fund hiring and features across Australia and New Zealand, having previously taken $4.7 million from backers Ruslan Kogan and Hezi Leibovich.

Breville buys LELIT to expand coffee maker range

Sydney consumer appliances group Breville has bought Italy's LELIT, which makes coffee machines, grinders and barista tools, for $201 million in cash and shares, with LELIT's management joining Breville.

Digital medtech startup Andi Health raises $600,000 in pre-seed round

Andi Health, a Sydney digital health startup, secured $600,000 in a pre-seed round led by Brenteca Investments to develop its subscription health-coaching platform, with hiring planned ahead of a 2023 launch.

NewFresh, Aletek awarded $3.3 million in grants to upgrade factories

Two Bundaberg manufacturers have received Queensland government grants: NewFresh Foods $1.91m for crop-extraction machinery, and Aletek $1.36m for a laser scanner and CNC machines, under the Made in Queensland program.

SpaceDraft raises another $1.5M

SpaceDraft, a Perth visual-logistics startup, has raised a Seed+ round of $1.5 million from three angel backers, lifting its lifetime funding to $2.7 million as it plans national expansion and new industries.

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Airtasker's Tim Fung backs art marketplace Book An Artist in $1 million raise

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Manufacturing news briefs – stories you might have missed

Manufacturing roundup covering Hexagon's blue hydrogen plans, Tritium appointing a new COO, a Fortescue-Airbus green hydrogen alliance, and Calix gaining registration for its crop protection product.

Cybersecurity startup Cydarm unlocks $3 million raise

Melbourne cybersecurity firm Cydarm raised $3 million in a round led by InterValley Ventures, with Five V Capital and returning backer Right Click Capital, to hire staff and expand internationally.

Super Fierce launches wealthtech platform to address $30 trillion global gender wealth gap

VC investor Bill Bartee says what you need to know about investing in quantum tech

Startup Daily profiles Main Sequence's Bill Bartee on quantum investing, recalling past raises by QuintessenceLabs, Silicon Quantum Computing, Quantum Brilliance and Q-CTRL, plus government support for Australia's quantum sector.

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SAAB combat systems centre backed by $22 million MMI grant

Federal and state ministers announce government backing for a Saab Australia defence combat-systems hub in Adelaide, presented as an election sweetener ahead of the March state vote.

Strong Compute wants to speed up your ML model training

TechCrunch profiles Strong Compute, a Sydney startup optimising ML model training, covering its Y Combinator acceptance, claims of large speed-ups, a new engineering hire, and customer feedback from MTailor.

Australian blockchain startup Block Earner hires Apurva Chiranewala to bring DeFi to the masses

Block Earner appoints Apurva Chiranewala as general manager, with other senior hires named, as the blockchain fintech prepares to launch its decentralised finance platform for Australian consumers.

How former Hinge and Bumble execs built a new platform helping women make money

Profile of Sunroom, a subscription platform letting women and non-binary creators earn from content, started by two dating-app veterans and backed in a seed round by Blackbird.

Jeanette Cheah: Changing the face of leadership is everyone’s job

Op-ed by HEX chief Jeanette Cheah for International Women's Day, recounting her recently closed debut raise and praising peer-investing group Afterwork Ventures, women-led funder shebacks.me and migrant talent agency DivTal.

Heavy hitting global VCs Temasek and Tencent back NFT gaming startup Immutable in $280 million Series C

Sydney NFT gaming firm Immutable raised a $280 million Series C valuing it at $3.5 billion, led by Temasek with Tencent and Animoca Brands, six months after an $82 million raise.

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FUNDED February 2022

Techboard's monthly roundup reports February 2022 raises including Scalapay's A$692m Series B, Employment Hero's $181m and Karbon's $93m, My Rewards' ASX listing, and investor deal notes on OwnHome, Kepler Analytics and Blakthumb.

What does ‘success’ mean for women in business, and who gets to decide?

An International Women's Day feature argues media coverage overweights fundraising as a success measure for women founders, featuring perspectives from several women business owners and noting HEX's recent seed round.

iSelect backs comparison tech startup CIMET in $26.6 million raise

Comparison platform CIMET has raised $26.6 million from ASX-listed iSelect as part of a strategic partnership, funding expansion into new financial verticals and international markets.

Sydney procurement tech venture Portt sells to UK software company

Sydney procurement software firm Portt has been bought by UK company Advanced for an undisclosed sum, fourteen months after Portt raised $4 million in venture funding.

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Ignition Lane's Weekly Wrap: Super-fast unicorn, VC funding boom, put another founder on a Barbie

Ignition Lane's weekly roundup: Zip's deal for Sezzle, Zeller's unicorn raise, several Australian funding rounds, Startmate backing Provvy, a space manufacturing grant, NZVC's first close, and tech's response to Russia.

Pitt uses Russian invasion to justify another handout for gas drilling in Beetaloo Basin

The federal resources minister awarded a $7.5 million grant to Sweetpea Petroleum for Beetaloo Basin gas drilling and $2.1 million to the Northern Land Council, citing Europe's energy crisis; Empire Energy's earlier grant is recalled.

Construction app Canibuild nails $8 million Series A

Building software startup canibuild has banked an $8 million Series A, with EVP leading and Regal Funds Management also taking part, to fuel its expansion across existing and new markets.

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Latrobe manufacturing cooperative awarded grant for solar-battery systems

A Gippsland manufacturing co-operative has won government grant money of nearly a quarter-million dollars to develop portable power units for extreme weather, as one of nine projects backed in a regional energy program round.