3185 rounds · 2019 startups · 3684 investors
Person Invested in this round Raised it Closed a fund Mentioned
Amount confirmed Amount is an estimate
QuintessenceLabs, a two-decade-old cybersecurity company in Canberra, has raised $20 million with $15 million coming from the National Reconstruction Fund; earlier rounds for Harrison.ai, Vault Cloud and Quantum Brilliance are also recalled.
Melbourne agtech YieldX has raised seed capital from the Eagle Fund, Mandalay and LaunchVic's Hugh Victor McKay Fund to commercialise its NASA-recognised growing technology, with first commercial farm builds planned in Victoria and India.
Melbourne data startup WhyHive is closing next month; founders T Guthrie and Matt Cohen couldn't sustain growth despite a $600,000 pre-seed round revealed last August with backing from Skalata Ventures and several tech founders.
Also Startup Daily
Antler invested in Fixo AI, a platform using artificial intelligence to improve efficiency and technician guidance in the facilities management sector.
Sydney business channel ausbiz has taken equity in Perth share-investing platform company Marketech, embedding its analyst video content in Marketech's Focus platform, and is seeking crowdfunding for its AI venture ausbiz LABS.
Roundup of manufacturing news: Sydney Rum Distillery's plans for a former dairy factory site, HiveKeepers beating its Kickstarter target, FBR's $6.3 million placement and restructure, plus research on enzymes, timber supply and waste-to-energy.
AgTech firm YieldX has attracted a $1.7 million round, with Breakthrough Victoria and La Trobe University's Eagle Fund contributing $500,000 apiece alongside Mandalay Venture Partners and LaunchVic's Hugh Victor McKay Fund.
Alternatives Watch's Friday briefing reports RCP Advisors has secured $170m for investments backing managers of buyout funds; the paywalled body leaves only the headline figure and topic tags visible.
Breakthrough Victoria's update announces its Eagle Fund co-investment with La Trobe University, an $18 million pre-seed vehicle, and details $1 million backing each for agtech startup Yield X and diagnostics spin-out ExCelligent DX.
University of Sydney spinout DeteQt raised $750,000 pre-seed from Main Sequence Ventures and ATP Fund, appointed Rupal Ismin COO, and counts a $3 million defence contract as first revenue.
Also Forbes Australia·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Forbes Australia
Sydney second-hand car marketplace Carma has secured a $30 million convertible note co-led by Regal Funds Management and Tiger Global, with General Catalyst and Five V also taking part, as it weighs an IPO.
ARENA announces A$500,000 in funding for RELA Australia to enhance its RELA Assess software, helping farmers gauge solar and wind potential on their properties ahead of negotiations with developers.
Also RenewEconomy
Project Manda, whose AI platform trims wasteful meetings, has collected more than $2 million at pre-seed, with Tech Labs Capital and Black Sheep Capital leading, as it eyes the US market.
EntroMat, a Melbourne developer of high-entropy metal powders, has landed $1 million from Breakthrough Victoria and Swinburne under a university research commercialisation platform.
Eaton Square's Perth principals advised Australian contractor Georgiou Group on its sale to European construction giant STRABAG, with no price disclosed; comment from both companies' chief executives is included.
Battery unit VSPC reports growing investor interest after an Australian Renewable Energy Agency grant, while still seeking funds for its demonstration plant and appointing a US sales agent.
European mid-market private equity firm Oakley Capital closed Fund VI at a €4.5 billion hard cap six months after launch, drawing commitments from institutions across Europe, North America, Asia and Australia.
Sydney risk-and-compliance software firm Protecht has sold a majority stake to US firm PSG Equity for US$280 million, giving Arrowroot Capital an exit three years after leading the bootstrapped company's first raise.
EVP has involved police and forensic experts as it seeks to claw back its $17 million backing of Melbourne medication firm StrongRoom AI, weeks after the round it led with Artesian and InterValley Ventures.
Meat scientist Louwrens Hoffman joins FaBA and discusses meat quality, alternative proteins, sustainability and food waste in an interview.
Nine-month-old Sydney quantum startup Iceberg Quantum raised $2 million pre-seed, led by Blackbird with LocalGlobe participating, to build cheaper fault-tolerant designs for PsiQuantum's photonic platform.
Roundup of brief items: Memphasys hails fertility device trial results; a concrete recycler is fined; Wurrba, Hazer and University of Queensland land government grants; Aus J gains a North American distribution partner.
Opthea's lead Phase-3 trial of its wet macular degeneration drug missed its endpoint, leaving the Australian biotech weighing its future and possible payouts to investors under its funding agreement.
Weekly most-read roundup: a NSW lean-manufacturing program opens, Simcoa wins a $39.8m grant, First Graphene ships additive to the UK, Oceania Glass collapses, and a battery-recycling profile.
The federal government has awarded Simcoa Operations $39.8 million to replace coal with charcoal in silicon production, lowering emissions at its WA plant and strengthening domestic solar manufacturing.
Australia's renewable energy agency has opened round two of its industrial decarbonisation grant program, worth $70 million, after awarding silicon producer Simcoa Operations a $39.8 million grant earlier in the week.
Also @AuManufacturing
Breakthrough Victoria's chief executive reflects on the sovereign fund's first four years, its university co-funding partnerships and OECD evidence that government venture capital works best alongside private investors.
Victorian modular energy startup Phnxx raised $1.8 million in seed funding from Synertec, ENGIE Factory, Pacific Channel and LaunchVic's Hugh Victor McKay Fund to scale containerised solar and battery systems.
ARENA has chosen Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners' Murchison Green Hydrogen project in Western Australia as the inaugural Hydrogen Headstart recipient, allocating $814 million that will be paid as production credits once the project operates.
Also RenewEconomy
Crunchbase curates twelve fintech startups it considers likeliest to go public after Klarna's planned offering, covering their funding histories, Stripe's employee share sale, and MoonPay's recent purchase of Iron.
Arkeus has raised an oversubscribed AU$5 million round joined by Beaten Zone Ventures, Main Sequence and Salus Ventures to scale its autonomous optics and AI surveillance technology for defence.
Also Beaten Zone Venture Partners portfolio·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Forbes Australia
SmartCompany reports the Australian EV fleet software company has closed a Series A round to fund international expansion and further development of its digital twin and AI planning tools.
EVP sets out its reasoning for backing splose, an AI-native practice management platform for allied health clinics, citing NDIS-driven admin burdens, customer traction and a planned UK expansion alongside Australia and New Zealand.
King River Capital is wrapping up a A$157 million (US$100 million) fund for AI startups, with Future Super, David Gonski, Marinya Capital and the Smorgon family among its backers.
Eight cultivated-meat startups enter a UK regulator's sandbox for tailored guidance; executives from Mosa Meat, Hoxton Farms and BlueNalu discuss approval timelines, resourcing and international alignment.
Frozen citrus maker Naked Rivals has been bought by Entyce Food Ingredients; the piece covers the founders' planned exit, fast supermarket rollout, an earlier $3m raise, and a coming insurance venture.
BluGlass has created an Industry Advisory Board led by Steven DenBaars and Richard Craig to guide commercialisation of its GaN laser products, with the advisers compensated in equity.
Security software firm archTIS buys orchestration vendor Direktiv's assets, staff and customers for US$750,000 paid in tranches, with Direktiv's two founders taking engineering roles at archTIS.
Also ARN (ARNnet)
Morgan Stanley's infrastructure arm has gathered $4.1bn in pledges for its fourth North Haven vehicle, and the piece also lists fresh closes by Copenhagen Infrastructure, Brookfield, Fengate, StepStone, Ridgewood, Novacap and Harrison Street.
AFR reports the titanium artificial heart maker is chasing $100 million for trials after a Sydney patient spent three months on the device; OneVentures is named as a backer.
Airwallex tied its McLaren F1 campaign in Melbourne to grants for startups: Drone-Hand and Chocolate on Purpose each received $10,000, and Antler's Leila Oliviera a $5,000 career award, alongside an artist-painted supercar unveiling.
Also Australian FinTech
Breaker, a defence robotics startup out of UNSW Founders' Defence 10X program, has closed a $2 million pre-seed round, led by Main Sequence, to triple headcount and deepen its US push.
Weekly roundup of eight Australian startup raises, led by Sonder's $40 million round, plus AMP's $20 million raise and acquisition of the Shopify app Back in Stock.
Also Startup Daily·Defence Connect·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Defence Connect·Forbes Australia
Morgan Stanley's infrastructure investing arm has gathered $4.1 billion in commitments for its newest North Haven fund, backed by pension, sovereign wealth and insurance institutions and targeting transport, digital, energy-transition and utility assets.
Also alternativeswatch.com·buyoutsinsider.com·serrarigroup.com
StrongRoom AI, a pharmacy software startup, has banked $17 million in an EVP-led round valuing it near $70 million, and is buying loyalty program Member Benefits Australia with part of the proceeds.
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The federal government, via ARENA, has granted Vast Energy $180 million toward its concentrated solar plant at Port Augusta, replacing a smaller 2023 commitment, with construction still dependent on closing the remaining project financing.
US Shark Tank investor Robert Herjavec has taken an undisclosed personal stake in Melbourne data platform Zetaris and joined it to lead global strategy; existing backers include Exto Partners and In-Q-Tel.