3185 rounds · 2019 startups · 3684 investors
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Commonwealth Bank's venture arm is buying invoice lender Waddle from Xero for an undisclosed sum, undoing Xero's 2020 purchase, to boost the bank's working-capital offering.
Commonwealth Bank's venture arm is buying invoice-financing platform Waddle, folding the technology into the bank to grow its Stream Working Capital offering for business customers.
Blackbird announces it led AI search startup Marqo's seed round, joined by January Capital, The Creator Fund and angel investors, having previously backed the company's pre-seed in May 2022.
Also TechCrunch Australia·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany
Octopus Australia closed a second $250 million raising for its Oasis renewables fund, adding super fund Rest alongside Hostplus, the CEFC and Sky Renewables, and formed an Indigenous-owned venture in the Northern Territory.
Alex Bank founder Simon Beitz will deliver the opening keynote at October's FinTech Summit in Sydney; the piece recaps the neobank's licence, products and growth since launch.
A public competition to name Australia's Trailblazer lunar rover has opened, with the two consortiums building rival designs, AROSE and ELO2, each holding $4 million in grants for early prototype work.
Biotech scientist Andrew Wilks launches fund SYNthesis BioVentures, which has gathered $20m and aims for $75m; his group has backed two biotech startups and he earlier sold a chemistry business to Viva Biotech.
A university–industry consortium wins federal grant support to advance printable perovskite solar technology, with graphene electrodes replacing gold and silver conductors, at Halocell's regional NSW factory.
Also RenewEconomy·RenewEconomy
Square Peg's analysis argues generative AI enables startups to attack the databases companies run on, drawing lessons from cloud-era winners and citing its portfolio company Partly as a new-category example.
Melbourne proptech Listing Loop has banked $2.1m toward its Series A, led through Allectus Capital with more commitments pending, and recently bought negotiation firm Hello Haus.
The venture firm's newsletter records a A$2.25m SAFE investment in Aculeus Therapeutics, its fund's second deal, and outlines the immunology-oncology pipeline and long-standing individual backers behind the biotech.
Weekly agrifoodtech roundup: funding rounds led by CH4 Global's $29 million Series B close, acquisitions of Aitme and The Weather Company, SoftBank selling Zomato shares, partnerships, an IPO filing and Toyota's greenhouse trial.
Also AgFunderNews·AgFunderNews
The national clean-energy funder commits $10 million to RayGen for maturing its combined sunlight-and-heat storage system toward utility scale, coinciding with the opening of the company's Carwarp plant in Victoria.
Blackbird interviews Remedy Robotics co-founder Dave Bell about his move from medicine to surgical robotics and his mentoring in its Foundry program, noting Foundry applications are open.
Blackbird partners explain why the fund led a seed round in Kiki, a subletting marketplace born in New Zealand, profitable during its Sydney phase, now launching in New York.
Alcolizer is the only Western Australian finalist in the 2023 Australian Technologies Competition; the piece lists all 21 finalists and recalls the testing firm's 2021 federal and 2022 state government grants.
RFC Ambrian announces Hadean Energy, a venture formed with CSIRO to commercialise tubular solid oxide electrolysis for hydrogen production, with a completed funding round and trials planned at BlueScope's Port Kembla steelworks.
Recap of Shark Tank Australia's return: insole brand STRYDA's deal ended with Jane Lu taking 10%, Davie Fogarty backed skincare line Boring Without You, and three other pitches went unfunded.
Also SmartCompany
A look back at iCapsulate, whose record $2.5 million Shark Tank Australia offer from Andrew Banks collapsed in due diligence, and which was in administration within 14 months of airing.
Three Australian companies — Fleet Space Technologies, MoreGoodDays and Syneta — feature on Forbes Asia's 100 to Watch list; the piece profiles each business, its backers and recent raises.
Hiringa executive David Heard outlines how its Sundown Pastoral Co project will let a cotton farm make its own clean fertiliser and fuel, backed by a $35.8 million NSW hydrogen grant.
Bardee still supplies Bunnings and farmers despite big layoffs, slower production, and two regulator investigations; the agtech startup has raised $8 million, including a $5 million Blackbird-backed seed round.
Paul Slaughter has abruptly left his role as chief executive of WA meat processor Harvest Road, becoming the latest in a series of senior departures from Twiggy Forrest's Tattarang group.
SmartCompany marks a decade of Canva, recounting its Perth origins, the money it raised, its acquisitions of two stock-photo sites, and Blackbird's sale of Canva shares.
Irene Falcone's non-alcoholic drinks retailer Sans Drinks has been sold to Just Wines via a creditor-approved rescue deal after entering administration, securing better returns for creditors than liquidation.
Also Startup Daily
Weekly roundup covering fresh raises by four Australian startups: Ignition's banking facility, HEO Robotics' Series A, Laronix's seed round and Haast's pre-seed, plus a past ACT grant.
Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia·Wholesale Investor
VetChip, a Fremantle startup whose implantable microchip remotely tracks livestock health, raised $2 million in 2021 and is courting investors via AgriFutures GrowAg for a commercial trial, having recently won a WA government grant.
Tennis Australia's AO StartUps incubator picked seven sports tech startups for its mid-year cohort, only one of them Australian. They will test products at the Australian Open, with possible funding from Wildcard Ventures.
Brisbane vaccine patch maker Vaxxas won a $5.4 million Wellcome grant for studies and a Phase I trial of a typhoid vaccine using its HD-MAP technology, developed with SK bioscience.
Profile of Showpo founder Jane Lu, who joins the investor panel on Shark Tank's upcoming season, covering her leap from accounting, the fashion business she built, and her plans to back founders.
Blackbird interviews Blinq growth operations manager Travis James about his path from Apple and Uber to an early-stage Melbourne startup, including his time at Ento before its acquisition.
Manufacturing news roundup: CSL opens a Melbourne headquarters, Hazer raises $14.7m, Iluka advances its refinery with federal loan backing, plus executive appointments at Lithium Australia, Vast Solar and CSIRO's board.
Hydrogen conglomerate UHL is working toward a North American dual listing backed by a planned raise; the piece also recalls its early backing of H2X Global and a later $7 million stake sale.
Also @AuManufacturing
Queensland drone maker Skyborne Technologies has won a first contract from the US Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory to develop its Cerberus armed platform, with joint-venture Athena AI supplying AI target recognition.
Startupbootcamp Australia unveils the ten startups chosen for its 2023 FoodTech Tasmania program, spanning seven countries, and acknowledges its government, corporate and long-term partners.
Sydney spacetech firm HEO Robotics has closed a $12m Series A led by AirTree Ventures, with Salus, In-Q-Tel, Y Combinator and angels also in, as federal cutbacks hit Australian space programs.
Also Business News Australia·Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·Startup Daily
Manufacturing briefs: XRF Scientific posts record results, Universal Biosensors receives an R&D tax rebate, Imugene and SMC appoint executives, FWPA promotes forestry in a new campaign, and AGL agrees a Loy Yang transition fund.
LaunchVic and Agriculture Victoria introduced a $1 million fund backing early-stage agtech startups, and revealed seven companies as recipients of $50,000 equity-free grants.
A newly established West Australian venture fund has made its maiden startup investment, backing a telehealth platform founded by three WA entrepreneurs; the fund itself operates with support from a state government grant.
Defence Trailblazer grants Silex Systems $5.1 million to build commercial-scale zero spin silicon output at its Sydney plant, securing local supply for quantum chipmaker Silicon Quantum Computing.
Four Victorian manufacturers received state grants under a defence supply chain program, positioning them to join Hanwha's howitzer supply chain; Hanwha separately won the LAND 400 Phase 3 contract.
Weekly roundup of eight Australian startups together securing $149 million: One Model, SafetyCulture, Hysata, Pendula, Marqo, Medigrowth, Curiious and Zena Sport, spanning HR analytics, safety tech, hydrogen, AI, medicinal cannabis, VR and sportstech.
Also Startup Daily·thebusinesstimes.com.au·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Forbes Australia
Sydney immersive-content firm Curiious has banked $1m in a Galileo Ventures-led round to grow its enterprise 3D platform, four years after a $2m raise for its education product.
Also SmartCompany
An Antler investor memo profiles Anda, whose jewellery-like wearable band coaches breathing to ease stress, covering its pre-seed backing by Antler Australia, its founders, product plans and upcoming Kickstarter campaign.
Porsche-backed eFuels developer HIF Global has brought in Technip Energies to evaluate technology and begin design work on its planned Tasmanian plant, in an announcement made by the state government.
Investment platform Stake has hired Jon Howie, a financial services veteran with past roles at BlackRock, iShares, Macquarie Bank and VGI Partners, as Chief Commercial Officer to drive product innovation and growth.
Australian robo-advice platform Stockspot has taken a $28 million strategic investment from international asset manager Mirae Asset Global Investments to expand its advice technology, team and product range.
Also Forbes Australia
Melbourne vector-search startup Marqo has announced a $4.4 million seed round, with Blackbird Ventures leading and Creator Fund, January Capital and Cohere's co-founders also in; the piece recalls its pre-seed and rivals' raises.
Geelong sportswear startup Zena Sport has closed its first outside round, with Breakthrough Victoria putting in $148,000 and Carbine, the Smorgon family and Euphemia also taking part, after an Amazon Launchpad grant win.
Also SmartCompany
Splitit announced $60 million in committed investment from Motive Partners, Thorney and Parea Capital, tied to conditions including leaving the ASX; the piece recalls the payments firm's 2019 listing.