Startup · $9.4m raised · Education
University from which Liquid Instruments spun out
Canberra, ACT
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round Australian National University raised.
| Investor | Rounds | Invested |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Government | Grant | - |
| Australian Renewable Energy Agency | Grant · Grant · Grant · Grant | $8,400,000 |
| Defence | Grant | - |
Every published round Australian National University 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.
Companies Australian National University has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nomad Atomics | 19 Nov 2024, Grant | 1 | 0 | |
| Samsara Eco | AI-powered enzyme discovery platform for recycling plastics at scale | 28 Nov 2022, Series A | 1 | 0 |
Fund closes reported for Australian National University, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies Australian National University has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Australian National University did.
| Company | Bought by | Kind | Announced | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No portfolio company of Australian National University is recorded as having been acquired. | ||||
Companies Australian National University acquired or merged with, per published coverage. Buying a company is not investing in one: nothing here counts in the deals column.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Anthea Roberts | Academic | The Mandarin |
| David Lindenmayer | Distinguished Professor of Ecology | RenewEconomy (19 Jun 2026), RenewEconomy (19 Jun 2026) |
| Dr Elaine Stead | Director of New Venture and Entrepreneurship (former) | Startup Daily |
| Genevieve Bell | Vice-Chancellor | @AuManufacturing |
| Miranda Forsyth | Academic | The Mandarin |
| Prof Brian Schmidt | Vice Chancellor (former) | @AuManufacturing, Startup Daily, Our Innovation Fund |
| Professor Daniel Shaddock | Professor (former) | Significant Ventures, SmartCompany (21 Jun 2024), Startup Daily, SmartCompany (19 Jun 2024) |
| Professor Hrvoje Tkalčić | Professor | @AuManufacturing |
Stories naming Australian National University. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Canberra is funding carbon management demonstrations: round two of a national program directs $32.6 million across seven projects, naming six recipients including Carbonaught, Australian Carbon Vault, Karbonix, MCi Carbon and Electralith.
ARENA will spend up to $105.6 million on 20 solar research projects, including grants for Sunspence, Proa Energy and a University of Sydney tandem-cell team working with panel maker Unison Solar.
Also Mirage News
Commentary contends the federal government's near-$53m backing of a Tasmanian cement kiln switch to burning wood waste and tyres is misguided, arguing biomass burning raises emissions, damages forests and wastes public money.
Also RenewEconomy
Retrospective on Liquid Instruments, the Canberra-born software-defined test instrument maker, which has closed a fifty-million-US-dollar Series C co-led by the reconstruction fund and Keysight, with Significant Ventures among existing investors.
Also Breakthrough Victoria·Breakthrough Victoria·Breakthrough Victoria·Breakthrough Victoria·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Cut Through Venture·Startup Daily
Weekly roundup of three Series A raises: chipmaker Syenta (US$26m), insights platform Ideally and battery recycler Renewable Metals, detailing leads, amounts and each company's earlier funding.
Also Startup Daily
Chip startup Syenta raised a Series A led by Playground Global with the National Reconstruction Fund to commercialise its packaging technology and expand into the US; ex-Intel chief Pat Gelsinger joins its board.
Roundup of five Australian raises totalling $85 million: National Renewable Network's Series A, plus Syenta, Cuttable, SprintSuite and Bitwise Agronomy, with lead investors and expansion plans for each.
Samsara Eco has struck a decade-long supply deal with Lululemon for enzyme-recycled fabrics; the piece recalls its Temasek-led raise and flags a new NSW plant.
Samsara Eco and lululemon signed a ten-year offtake agreement for enzymatically recycled nylon and polyester, building on their 2023 partnership; Samsara plans a NSW plant and an international facility by 2028.
Also TechCrunch Australia·SmartCompany·@AuManufacturing·Techboard·SmartCompany·@AuManufacturing·@AuManufacturing·Forbes Australia
CSIRO's ON Accelerate program presents its ninth intake of eleven research startups, drawn from universities nationwide and the agency itself, spanning biotech, healthcare and sustainability, at a Melbourne showcase.
Breakthrough Victoria showcases nine climate-focused portfolio companies across clean energy and agrifood, describing each technology and its contribution to the energy transition and circular economy.
Diamond quantum hardware maker Quantum Brilliance raised $20 million in Series A funding from Main Sequence, In-Q-Tel and Australian government investors, and won a German agency contract for a mobile quantum computer.
Roundup: Space Machines' joint India mission clears a design milestone with an $8.5m government grant behind it, RMIT and Skykraft scale up photonics-based navigation tech, and SunCable names a new group CEO.
Diamond quantum hardware maker Quantum Brilliance announced a US$20 million Series A with Main Sequence, In-Q-Tel, Intervalley Ventures, NRFC and Breakthrough Victoria among its backers, to build a foundry and sensing prototypes.
Quantum Brilliance, a Canberra-based maker of diamond-based quantum chips, has drawn fresh equity from the National Reconstruction Fund and more from Breakthrough Victoria to build a diamond foundry, with prior grants and backers recapped.
Jelix's note explains its fund's participation in Nominal Systems' oversubscribed seed round, profiling the spacetech founders, their industry collaborations, early profitability and plans for recurring digital-twin revenue.
SmartCompany profiles Gentoo.earth, a carbon-removal intelligence platform founded by Juliet Kirby, now scaling from San Francisco; the piece recalls an angel round and undisclosed pre-seed backing including Admiralty Capital Group.
Adelaide resin maker Change Climate is partnering with three universities in the iLAuNCH Trailblazer program to test whether its bio-based epoxy can survive space conditions for aerospace composites.
Manufacturing sector roundup: Whyalla steelworks resumes production, Maggie Beer Holdings' chief executive to depart, ReNu Energy secures hydrogen funding, Defence names grant recipients, Orthocell gains Canadian approval, and AEA appoints its advisory board.
Australian plastics recycler Samsara Eco secured a Temasek-led Series A+ of $100 million to scale enzyme-based infinite recycling, with Southeast Asian facilities planned, adding to its 2022 Series A.
Also TechCrunch Australia·SmartCompany·@AuManufacturing·Techboard·SmartCompany·@AuManufacturing·@AuManufacturing·@AuManufacturing
Australian enzymatic plastics recycler Samsara Eco raised a large all-equity round led jointly by Temasek and Main Sequence, with Lululemon among other backers, funding new recycling facilities and team growth.
Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·@AuManufacturing·Forbes Australia·@AuManufacturing·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia
Roundup of nine local startups that together banked a combined $38m-plus this week, spanning precision instruments, proptech, adtech, robotics, food, energy storage and AI, with several earlier raises recalled.
Also Australian FinTech·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·AgFunderNews
Manufacturing roundup: Australian Vanadium and entX land government grants, Hexagon Energy Materials completes a $1 million round, Australian Dairy Nutritionals appoints a CEO, Aurora Labs adds a director, plus vessel, export and research briefs.
Victorian government-backed investor Breakthrough Victoria has put $15 million into Liquid Instruments, a maker of reconfigurable instruments expanding to Melbourne; earlier raises by Acorn Capital and Anzu Partners are also recalled.
Also SmartCompany
ARENA grants nearly $1 million to Birdwood Energy's flexible demand report card project with ANU and the Energy Efficiency Council, plus $3.54 million to United Energy for grid flexibility trials.
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has awarded Birdwood Energy a $942,944 grant to build a platform helping commercial and industrial businesses spot flexible demand opportunities, working with ANU and the Energy Efficiency Council.
Opinion piece by Advanced Navigation's CEO in an @AuManufacturing series arguing for space R&D investment, citing the company's $5.2 million Australian Space Agency grant and Space Machines' satellite launch.
Australia's renewable energy agency handed out $59.1 million in grants across two rounds, backing 21 university, CRC and startup projects in green hydrogen and cleaner iron and steel production.
Also RenewEconomy
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency has expanded its hydrogen and green metals research funding to $59.1 million across 21 projects, with recipients including Hysata, Curtin University and Fortescue subsidiary MIH2.
Samsara Eco and lululemon launch a jacket made with enzyme-recycled polyester; the piece recalls Samsara's 2022 Series A and its investors.
Also TechCrunch Australia·SmartCompany·@AuManufacturing·Techboard·SmartCompany·@AuManufacturing·Forbes Australia·@AuManufacturing
Federal grants roundup: 21 Cooperative Research Centres Projects awards worth $51 million in Round 15, with EQ Plastics, Optiscan Imaging and NEXSEN BioTech each receiving $3 million for product development.
Also RenewEconomy
CSIRO has picked twelve deep-tech teams, mostly from Australian universities, for the eighth edition of its ON Accelerate commercialisation program starting in February 2024.
Aura Ventures' post sets out its case for leading Haast's pre-seed round alongside Black Sheep Capital and angel investors, backing the AI startup's platform for brand and regulatory compliance across digital marketing.
Also Aura Group portfolio·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily
Roundup of manufacturing briefs: biotech Imugene's share plan added A$18.2 million, EVOS shifted its Brisbane head office, ANSTO won federal backing for nuclear medicine, CSIRO endowed Wollongong scholarships, plus two chief executive appointments.
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.
Australian precision fermentation startup Nourish Ingredients secures government funding and grants, recalls its Series A, and outlines plans to launch its first animal-like fat in late 2024.
Also AgFunderNews
Quantum sensor startup Nomad Atomics, founded by three ANU physicists, has closed a Series A backed by Blackbird and Right Click Capital to commercialise miniaturised gravimeters for mining and navigation.
HEO Robotics' Holmes Imager, described as the first commercial camera for non-Earth imaging built entirely in Australia, launched on a SpaceX rocket, with several local manufacturing and research partners credited.
EnergyLab's Supercharge Australia initiative has selected eleven startups for its first Innovation Challenge, covering lithium batteries, EV conversion and recycling, with experts judging a Sydney pitch event in March.
Blackbird's investment notes explain why it led a seed round into Canberra printed-electronics startup Syenta, profiling co-founder Jekaterina Viktorova and the company's multi-material 3D printing technology.
Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia