3191 rounds · 2021 startups · 3695 investors
Person Invested in this round Raised it Closed a fund Mentioned
Amount confirmed Amount is an estimate
Fleet Space will partner with US clean-fuel startup Koloma to find geologic hydrogen beneath mountain ranges using satellite sensing. The piece recalls Fleet's $150 million raise and Koloma's well-known investors.
Sydney EV charging startup Jolt has borrowed C$194m from the Canada Infrastructure Bank to deploy 1,500 kerbside chargers across Canada, having previously raised $100m from BlackRock Real Assets in 2021.
Zendesk has announced a deal to buy Local Measure, an Australian-founded contact-centre technology firm, to speed its AI voice plans; completion still needs shareholder, regulatory and court sign-off, tipped for May 2025.
Zendesk has agreed to acquire Sydney contact-centre software firm Local Measure, founded by Jonathan Barouch, in a deal reportedly valuing it at $100 million; earlier raises from 2017 and 2023 are recalled.
Sydney workforce-credential platform MyPass Global has closed a $7.5 million Series A round led by venture firm OneVentures, with funds earmarked for product development and growth across the Americas.
Tidal Ventures' investment note explains why it led Tendl's pre-seed round, covering the AI tender-response platform's market opportunity, product features, pricing model, and founder Laurie Nicol's background.
Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany
Blackbird's note describes its new lead investment in Springboards, a Noosa, Queensland AI platform for advertising creatives, covering its product, early adopters, and founding team.
Also SmartCompany
Airwallex has named Jennifer Snell as its ANZ marketing director, drawing on her experience at Finder, amaysim and BrickX, as the fintech expands its New Zealand payments offering.
Main Sequence's investment post explains why the fund led geospatial platform Terria's seed round, covering its CSIRO origins, digital twin technology, and deployments for Tokyo and several Australian governments.
Genesis Capital says its role at Pacific Smiles Group has grown, with the investor set to take most seats on the dental operator's board.
Sydney gaming-marketing firm Livewire names RealVC founder Matt Berriman as New York-based chief; cofounder Brad Manuel heads to Los Angeles. RealVC and other existing shareholders recently put in more money, amount undisclosed.
A satellite-servicing firm leads a collaborative effort, backed by program funding, to build a robotic test facility with university and defence partners; its 2026 debris mission earlier received an $8.5 million space agency grant.
Weekly roundup of seven Australian and New Zealand raises totalling $42.8 million, spanning property-investment AI, workforce credentialing, allied-health practice software, conversation analytics, maths learning games, copper processing and holiday-park bookings.
ASTN, the NRL and Advance Queensland picked eight Queensland startups for the first Tech Sprint under their new three-year Magic Round partnership; each receives $25,000 to tailor its technology to the league's needs.
Also Startup Daily
VSPC, Livium's battery subsidiary, wins a $30 million ARENA grant toward a cathode powder demonstration plant; the piece also recalls funding for AnteoTech, Li-S, Novonix and Energy Storage Industries, plus Redflow's administration.
Also RenewEconomy·RenewEconomy
Twine has raised $2.3 million in an Airtree-led round with three angel backers. The startup analyses business conversations to give sales and product teams actionable insight and plans to grow its AI features.
Also SmartCompany
Airwallex has been named a 2025 Top Graduate Employer by the peak body for graduate recruitment, with the fintech also citing its graduate and intern hiring and a university partnership dating from 2022.
Blackbird partners explain why the firm's 2022 fund led Factor House's $5 million seed round, profiling the Melbourne developer-tools startup, its Kafka and Flink management products, revenue growth and customers.
Also Startup Daily·LaunchVic
Brag Media cofounder Luke Girgis is suing Vinyl Group for performance payments from their 2023 sale; the piece also recalls Vinyl's other acquisitions and Richard White's $11 million investment.
South Australia has appointed Korda Mentha administrator over OneSteel Manufacturing, taking control of the Whyalla steelworks from GFG Alliance, while the state's promised hydrogen funding stays uncommitted and sale options are explored.
Griffith University researchers, backed by an Economic Accelerator seed grant, have built a proof-of-concept silicon carbide transistor that removes energy-wasting losses; startup Silvertech is partnering to commercialise it.
An Australian battery maker shared drone flight test results for its lithium-sulfur cells, alongside mentions of two earlier grants, a new Geelong plant and its cash position.
Seek is selling part of its Employment Hero holding to KKR for $95m, implying a $2.2bn valuation; the article also recalls the HR startup's Series F and its buyouts of Humi and Employment Innovations.
RenewEconomy reports Edify Energy's Koorangie battery has begun exporting power in Victoria's north-west. Italy's Sosteneo owns the project, enlarged to 185 MW after a $119 million state fund injection.
Antler in Australia has started its thirteenth residency, gathering upwards of ninety founders in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to build ventures and pitch for pre-seed backing.
Ex-Sweat product chief Josh Volk launches ParkBooker, a reservations platform for holiday parks, this week, backed by a Singapore-based fund and three individual investors in a pre-seed round.
Roundup of manufacturing briefs: FBR's US venture option with CRH lapses, Li-S Energy appoints Rick Francis to its board as a director departs, plus sponsorship, TAFE funding, rate commentary and a hydrogen collaboration.
ParkBooker has completed an oversubscribed pre-seed raise for its holiday-park booking service, backed by Rising Tide Investment and several angels, and will grow the product for travellers and park operators.
Also SmartCompany
Workforce credentialing platform MyPass has secured $7.5 million in Series A backing from OneVentures to grow across the Americas and further build its Skills Passport product. Scalare Partners seeded the company in 2020.
Also SmartCompany
Iress has hired Adam Webb from Count for a newly created senior customer role in its wealth division, starting in March; leaders at both firms welcomed the appointment.
Navi Medical Technologies gained US FDA clearance for its Neonav catheter guidance system; the Melbourne firm, backed by Breakthrough Victoria, plans a capital raise later in 2025 to fund its American rollout.
Weekly roundup: CEA Technologies lands a $272m radar contract, five startups receive federal grants, Victorian factory insolvencies climb, and GFG Alliance's Whyalla Steelworks hunts new financing.
Signalbase reports pay-equity analytics firm EvenBetter.ai has raised half a million dollars to speed product development, reach more customers and scale operations; no investors or headquarters location are disclosed.
Weekly agrifoodtech roundup: twelve startup funding rounds, an Australian government grant for cultivated meat, three acquisitions, and a NotCo executive hire.
Five companies including battery maker Allegro Energy share $2.51 million in the latest federal Industry Growth Program grants; Allegro receives $1.85 million for its redox flow battery technology.
Also AgFunderNews·Startup Daily·@AuManufacturing·Startup Daily·@AuManufacturing
A profile of six life-science ventures that graduated from Melbourne bioincubator Jumar's debut program, one of which, Tessara Therapeutics, won a $3 million research grant in December.
Australian payments fintech Hello Clever appoints new APAC leaders, including Sandra Lin and Oliver Liggayu, as it expands regionally with Singapore as its headquarters and Raj Kasi overseeing international markets.
PAG's SCREP VIII Asia Pacific opportunistic property fund held a $4 billion final close, beating target; the article also recalls earlier closes and a Nagoya warehouse purchase from Hines.
Also pag.com·kedglobal.com·pag.com
Melbourne developer-tools startup Factor House closed its first external round — $5 million, led by Blackbird, valuing it at $25 million — with OIF Ventures, Flying Fox Ventures, the Alice Anderson Fund and two angels joining.
Ella Mills has bought the Allplants brand from administration and will fold it into Plants, her venture with Waitrose, keeping its large social following while retiring the Allplants name.
US construction software firm Beam has announced an $11 million Series A led by Zigg Capital, joined by Accel, Teamworthy, RXR and 20Sales, to grow its platform for builders.
Blackbird's investment note explains why it led Index's A$3.5 million seed round with Bain Capital Ventures, Y Combinator and industry angels, profiling the planning platform built by two former Canva and Atlassian staff.
Melbourne pharmaceutical company ENA Respiratory has received US$5 million from California's Flu Lab to advance clinical testing of its nasal immune-boosting antiviral candidate INNA-051.
Breakthrough Victoria, the Victorian government's $2bn investment fund, appoints Rod Bristow, previously Investible's CEO, as chief executive, succeeding inaugural CEO Grant Dooley. The article also recalls Seer Medical's administration.
Shearwater Capital announces its first cheque into EvenBetter.ai, an AI SaaS platform helping companies act on workplace pay equity, and recalls co-founders Ayal Steiner's Outbrain career and Sorrel's path to the startup.
Also SmartCompany
Shopfront, a re-commerce platform for selling second-hand goods across multiple marketplaces, raised a pre-seed round backed by Antler, Co Ventures, 5H Values Capital, Jampad and angel syndicates, plus eBay grant funding.
Alternative asset manager Oaktree has finished raising its Opportunities Fund XII, securing commitments of roughly $16 billion, with over $7 billion already put to work.
Tidal Ventures' investment note explains why it led disability and aged-care AI startup Minikai's seed round, covering the market opportunity, product features, founding team, early traction and planned use of funds.
Also Startup Daily
Melbourne startup Shopfront has secured $800,000 in a pre-seed round led by Antler, Co-Ventures, 5H Values Capital and Jam Pad Investments, with angel syndicates joining; its founders met through an Antler program.
Also Startup Daily·retailtechinnovationhub.com·startupwired.com