Accelerator · 4 deals
Singapore, OS
Every published round Amazon Web Services (AWS) took part in, and every parcel of existing shares it bought off another holder. Deals we hold but haven't published yet are not counted, and a place in one of its own programs is under Cohorts.
| Company | Stage | Announced | Amount | Role | Alongside | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marqo | Accelerator | 16 Feb 2024 | $12.5m | Lead | SmartCompany, Forbes Australia | |
| Ajust | Accelerator | Aug 2023 | - | Participant | SmartCompany, ARN (ARNnet) | |
| Nullify | Accelerator | Feb 2023 | - | Participant | ARN (ARNnet), Startup Daily | |
| Outread | Accelerator | 2023 | - | Participant | Startup Daily, ARN (ARNnet) |
Everyone Amazon Web Services (AWS) has named to a program in published coverage. A place in a program is not a raise: the cheque is the figure recorded with the place, which is the program's standard terms where we hold them, and a blank is one we don't.
| Member | Program | Announced | Cheque | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Relevance AI | Generative AI Accelerator | 2024 | - | SmartCompany (11 Jun 2025), SmartCompany (9 May 2025) |
| Stori | Generative AI Accelerator | 17 Nov 2023 | - | Startup Daily, ARN (ARNnet) |
Companies Amazon Web Services (AWS) has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ajust | Consumer complaint resolution service using AI agents | Aug 2023, Accelerator | 1 | 0 |
| Marqo | AI company powering ecommerce search | 16 Feb 2024, Accelerator | 1 | 1 |
| Nullify | AI agents that autonomously find, validate and fix software vulnerabilities | Feb 2023, Accelerator | 1 | 0 |
| Outread | 2023, Accelerator | 1 | 0 | |
| Relevance AI | 23 Oct 2023, Accelerator | 1 | 0 | |
| Stori | 17 Nov 2023, Accelerator | 1 | 1 |
Fund closes reported for Amazon Web Services (AWS), as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies Amazon Web Services (AWS) has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Amazon Web Services (AWS) did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Tiffany Bloomquist | Head of Startups for the Asia-Pacific | SmartCompany |
| Rianne Van Veldhuizen | Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand | ARN (ARNnet) |
| Paul Migliorini | Managing Director (former) | ARN (ARNnet) |
| Jon Jones | Vice President and Global Head of Startups | SmartCompany |
| Howard Gefen | General Manager of Energy and Utilities | @AuManufacturing |
| Dr Daniel Kearney | smc.co, firmus.co | |
| Davinia Simon | Head of Channel and Alliances (former) | ARN (ARNnet) |
| Adam Beavis | Managing Director of ISV and Digital Native Business for Asia Pacific and Japan (former) | ARN (ARNnet) |
Stories naming Amazon Web Services (AWS). Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
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.
Firmus Technologies introduces Daniel Kearney as its new chief technology officer; the question-and-answer piece covers his cloud and thermal research background and his views on immersion cooling for sustainable AI infrastructure.
Firmus introduces Daniel Kearney as its new chief technology officer and interviews him about his cloud and thermal research background, his PhD work on liquid cooling, and his views on sustainable AI infrastructure.
Profiles Stori, an AI game-worldbuilding startup by founder Nilushanan Kulasingham: pre-seed investment by Antler and investor Jason Calacanis, plus a place in AWS's GenAI Accelerator.
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.
AWS has selected ten Australian and New Zealand startups for its first generative AI accelerator, a six-week program offering technical training, mentorship, AWS credits and a demo day pitch to investors.
Nullify, which uses AI to detect code vulnerabilities, has secured $1.1 million in pre-seed funding from OIF Ventures, Blacknova Ventures, Cyrise and two former XM Cyber founders now at Skylight Cyber.
ARN reports Michelle Bendschneider becomes CEO of Connetico, new parent of cloud firms Arinco, Cevo and D6, with Lara Wright as CFO, after Quadrant fund backing; Kloud's earlier sale to Telstra is recalled.
Briefs roundup: Starpharma names a new CFO, Weld Australia urges trades diversity, the Economic Accelerator bill passes, H2X Global enters AWS's clean energy accelerator, and A.H. Beard partners with the Sleep Health Foundation.
Cloud consultancy Versent has hired Gavin Wilkie, formerly of Quantium and Woolworths, as chief financial officer to support its expansion across Singapore and Asia following strong revenue growth.
Brazilian digital firm CI&T is buying Melbourne consultancy Transpire for $23.4 million, adding about 100 specialists, with completion expected in the third quarter of 2022 subject to closing conditions.
Also SmartCompany
CyberCX has invested an undisclosed sum in Adelaide-founded whitelisting vendor Airlock Digital to support its push into the US and Europe. The piece also recalls CyberCX's earlier acquisitions of Tracer Cloud, Consegna Cloud and Xello Australia.
Unleash live, working with Optus and AWS, flew its first drone test for Endeavour Energy, streaming 5G footage; the project earlier received a $648,000 federal government 5G Innovation Initiative grant.
Cloud management firm Stax has appointed ex-AWS executive Adam Beavis as managing director, with co-founder Thor Essman moving to executive chair, months after hiring Davinia Simon from AWS.