E-bikes, SME lending and rethinking ‘tickets’: Seven $1 million-plus raises you might have missed

Weekly roundup of seven startup raises: OCR Labs' Series B, Zoomo's Series B extension, plus new funding for Lumi, Upflowy, Linkby, Fortiro and Licorice, alongside Scalapay's unicorn round and Arkon Energy's pre-seed.

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Personal care company selling in 12 countries | Awarded Australian government grant | $1.5M already raised

Wholesale Investor profiles Dr Mark's HyGenie, an oral hygiene company that has raised $1.5 million in a Series A and received a $1 million Australian government commercialisation grant, and is now offering $5 million.

Speedpanel, Deakin partner on new steel forming and joining solutions

Building products maker Speedpanel wins a $100,000 grant for a ten-month steel manufacturing project alongside Deakin University and the Innovative Manufacturing CRC, having earlier received an $877,000 IMCRC grant in 2019.

Fund manager V-Ignite named to back Victorian startups

LaunchVic has chosen new fund manager V-Ignite, led by Neil Stanford and Brighid Pappin, to run Victoria's startup capital fund, which will raise from private investors to match a government cornerstone commitment.

UK backs Australian invented hydrogen storage tech to cut use of fossil fuels

Britain's business department grants GHD money to demonstrate Lavo's hydrogen storage unit at Chester, while Lavo separately received a New South Wales government grant for Newcastle manufacturing.

Applications open for six-month circular economy accelerator

Boomerang Labs in Sydney is accepting applications for its free six-month circular economy accelerator, backed by sponsors, with six to ten participants to be selected before applications close in March.

Pitt re-issues government millions to Beetaloo gas projects after court slap down

The federal government has re-awarded a $19.4 million grant for Beetaloo Basin gas drilling to Empire Energy after a court challenge by an environment group voided the original award.

LaunchVic chooses a new Fund-of-Funds firm to raise $60 million for the Victorian Startup Capital Fund

Victoria's startup agency has picked a new fund-of-funds firm started by two ex-Hostplus investors to build a state-backed vehicle, with the government cornerstone committed and a matching private raise still to come.

Calix backs ‘calcium looping’ energy storage

Calix-backed SOCRATCES project is trialling calcium looping for concentrated solar power storage, using Calix kiln technology at a Seville pilot plant funded by the European Commission's Horizon 2020 scheme.

Mike Cannon-Brookes tips $200 million into renewables finance company Infradebt

Atlassian's Cannon-Brookes, via his family firm Grok Ventures, has invested $200 million in renewables project financier Infradebt days after his AGL bid was rejected; the capital is already funding a Queensland battery project.

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Fund manager named to back Victorian startups

Victoria's startup agency has chosen a new fund manager, led by two venture sector figures, to run its startup capital fund, which will now seek investor commitments alongside the government's cornerstone contribution.

VROC completes capital raise to accelerate growth

Perth AI startup VROC has closed an investment round led by Adelaide advisory firm Venture Corporate Advisory, with funds earmarked for business development and a new smart cities offering.

PictureWealth raises $14M

Perth wealth fintech PictureWealth announced a $14 million Series A from an undisclosed institutional investor, lifting total funding to $30 million, and hired Westpac executive Allan Maitland to lead its advisory subsidiary.

Also Startup Daily·Startup News (WA)

RIOS: Bringing Manufacturing into the 21st Century with Robotics as a Service

Main Sequence's blog post sets out why the fund led RIOS's US$28 million Series A, highlighting the robotics firm's automated workcells, usage-based pricing, and fit with Australia's manufacturing strategy.

Also @AuManufacturing·Startup Daily·@AuManufacturing

Zip co-founder Larry Diamond backs DeFi startup tiiik in $5.2 million seed round

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Small business carbon tracking software startup Trace raises $1.5 million

Carbon accounting platform for small businesses secures a seven-figure round from a broad backer group including a family office and angels, with founders ex-Finder and Macquarie, and an earlier pre-seed recalled.

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Aera VC builds $42 million war chest for climate breakthroughs

Singapore-based climate tech investor Aera VC has held the first close of its new fund and launched a blockchain-focused DAO, with several already-backed portfolio companies named.

e-bike startup Zoomo tops up Series B with another $28 million

Delivery e-bike firm Zoomo has added US$20 million to its Series B, led by Collaborative Fund, three months after an $80 million round backed by the Atlassian founders' vehicles, lifting total funding beyond $100 million.

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Startup bags $2.6 million in pre-seed funding for ‘green’ Bitcoin mining

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King River Capital launches Digital Asset Fund with early-stage investor commitments of $50million

Australian venture firm King River Capital has launched a digital asset fund holding over $50 million in commitments toward a $150 million target, and hired David Adams as partner to manage it.

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Bitcoin mining startup Arkon Energy raises $2.6 million in pre-seed capital

Sydney bitcoin mining startup Arkon Energy has raised pre-seed funding led by Kestrel0x1 to scale renewable-powered mining, with a Nasdaq-listed competitor aiming to take it public.

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EXCLUSIVE: Hone brings on impact investor following $4.7m Series A for realtime soil carbon testing

Silverstrand Capital led a secondary purchase of a stake in soil carbon testing firm Hone, following its GrainCorp-led Series A. The piece profiles Hone Carbon's spectrometry technology, customers and scale-up plans.

Our investment in Fortiro

OIF, an Australian VC, announces a $3.5 million investment leading Fortiro's seed round, profiling the document fraud-detection startup's technology, PwC-experienced founders, and customer traction.

Also OIF Ventures portfolio·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Australian FinTech

Small business alternative lender Lumi raises $10m ahead of anticipated 2022 boom

Australian SME lender Lumi has completed a $10 million raise backed by Arbel Fund and Perennial Partners, taking its fundraising to $30 million in two months, with plans to double headcount nationwide.

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Last-mile delivery e-bike supplier Zoomo tacks on $20M to Series B

E-bike supplier Zoomo added $20 million in equity to complete its Series B, led by Collaborative Fund with several strategic backers joining, lifting the delivery-vehicle startup's total funding to $101.5 million.

Also Tech Funding News - Australia

Sydney-based startup Upflowy raises $4M to optimize web experiences with its no-code solution

Upflowy, an Australian no-code platform for optimising signup flows, raised $4 million led by Counterpart Ventures with returning backers, and plans to grow headcount and expand into the US.

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Ocean Impact launches startup accelerator program and VC fund

A non-profit is starting an ocean-health startup accelerator with a climate-tech accelerator partner, while an impact firm will help it raise a new early-stage fund for participants.

Malcolm Turnbull helps Newcastle hacker bank $23m to fight NFT bots

Bot-security firm Kasada, founded by Sam Crowther, raised $23m in a Series C led by StepStone, with OIF and Turnbull & Partners among existing backers; StepStone had recently acquired Greenspring Associates.

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Former Young Rich Lister scores $5 million for AdTech venture Linkby

OIF republishes AFR coverage of adtech startup Linkby raising $5 million in a seed round the fund led, profiling founder Chris Wirasinha, his Pedestrian TV sale, and Linkby's publisher advertising model.

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Clean Energy Finance Corporation spins off $200m private sector fund

A stub report noting the government-owned Clean Energy Finance Corporation is spinning out a specialist venture capital fund seeking $200 million for clean energy startups, linking to the full AFR coverage.

Queensland drone mapping startup Emesent raises $32 million Series A

Brisbane drone mapping startup Emesent has raised a Series A to fund global growth, engineering hiring and new facilities, led by Perennial Partners with Tiger Global and TELUS Ventures joining existing backers.

Sydney Angels build their largest syndicate for $1.6 million round for Hunter startup Safe Gauge

A Hunter-region maker of smart maintenance tooling has closed a $1.6 million angel round through Sydney Angels' biggest-ever syndicate, and has appointed a new chairman and director to its board.

Proptech startup PropHero raises $1.6 million seed round

Australian property investment platform PropHero has raised a $1.6 million seed round led by GFC Global Founders Capital, with AfterWork Ventures, Jelix Ventures and The Fund participating, to improve data models and expand nationally.

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Here are 24 Australian manufacturers looking to commercialise amazing tech products

Twenty-four Australian manufacturers have won federal grants via AMGC's Commercialisation Fund, spanning clean energy, medical, food, defence, resources and space projects, with industry co-investment lifting total project funding beyond $32 million.

Six agtech projects awarded $4 million on novel feeds for methane reduction

Six research projects share four million dollars in federal MERiL grants to test seaweed, legume and synthetic feed additives that could cut methane from cattle and sheep.

Digital Maternity Start-up targets the $8B Remote Patient Monitoring opportunity in Maternity

Company update on Metronomic, whose Materno platform offers home-based remote maternity monitoring in the US market, announcing a SAFE pre-seed raise with $300,000 already committed and plans for a larger seed round.

Melbourne imitation cheese startup raises $21.5m in a seed round

Animal-free cheese maker Change Foods has closed an oversubscribed seed round totalling $21.5 million, led by Route 66 Ventures with Giant Leap and angels, alongside collaboration deals with Upfield and Sigma.

Also @AuManufacturing·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·@AuManufacturing

Gravity storage company Energy Vault suffers lacklustre start to trading on NYSE

Swiss gravity-based storage firm Energy Vault has listed on the New York Stock Exchange after merging with a blank-cheque company, opening near a two billion dollar valuation before its shares slipped on day one.

The female founders who are winning this week

Roundup of female-founder wins: Reejig raises $15m, Healthy Mummy acquired by Halo Food Co for $17m, Shebah exits administration, Canva donates to Afghanistan relief, and CBA buys into Paypa Plane.

Employment Hero raises $181M AUD at $1.25B AUD valuation, acquires KeyPay

HR software firm Employment Hero announced a large funding round reaching unicorn status in Australian dollars, and separately bought payroll company KeyPay, whose founders will stay on in leadership roles.

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Manufacturing news briefs – stories you might have missed

Roundup covering K-TIG's four million dollar share placement, a regional AI grant deadline, Silex's licensee and HALEU, an alumina pilot trial, a cannabis export order and an electricity interconnector.

Smart motorbike helmet company Forcite rides $6 million raise

Sydney helmet-tech startup Forcite has drawn $1.15 million in its Equitise crowdfunding campaign's final hours, after a $4.6 million Series A preference share round led by Uniseed, valuing the business above $23 million.

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Video Automation Company | 227% increase in membership and 493% increase MRR | Blue-chip and government clients

Investor-facing profile of Brivvio, a video-automation SaaS startup, citing strong 2021 growth, an ACT government grant, a completed angel-backed seed round, accelerator background, and an open capital raise.

HRtech Employment Hero becomes a unicorn with £96M funding; acquires KeyPay

Employment Hero raised £96 million led by SEEK Investments, reaching unicorn valuation, and acquired payroll firm KeyPay, whose founders stay on as the combined business targets UK growth.

Also TechCrunch Australia·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Techboard·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·employmenthero.com

WA business sees export grant slashed from $240,000 to $69,000

A Western Australian leather homewares maker has had its expected export grant cut sharply, and the piece examines how record demand stretched the government scheme's budget across more applicants.

GDTC Welcomes Increased Investment from MTAQ

An Australian tyre-recycling company revised its capital raising and the Queensland motor trades peak body committed a further $1.5 million into its ongoing $5 million raise, with an IPO planned for 2023.

Sydney risk management software company Protecht raises $42 million series A

Sydney enterprise risk management software firm Protecht has raised a $42 million Series A from California growth equity firm Arrowroot Capital to fund product features, customer service and global expansion.

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JET Charge raises $25m Series B, including $6m from CEFC (managed by Virescent Ventures)

An EV charging company has closed a Series B of over A$25 million led by RACV, with the CEFC's innovation fund, Claremont Capital and earlier individual backers taking part; its 2020 Series A is also recalled.

Also RenewEconomy·SmartCompany·SmartCompany

Australian FinTech company profile #149 – GetReminded

Profile of Sydney fintech GetReminded, whose app alerts consumers before recurring bills fall due so they can shop around; the founders recount its origins, past angel backing and a live crowdfunding raise.

Conflux and Deakin begin nine-month aluminium alloy development project

Conflux Technology and Deakin's materials institute have launched a nine-month alloy development project for 3D-printed heat exchangers, backed by a $138,000 IMCRC grant; the piece also recalls Conflux's $8.5 million Series A.