AWS

SiteHive named Startup of the Year at the 2026 Best in Tech Awards

EVP launches 40x to support software startup founders looking to raise

EVP has launched 40x, a peer network for revenue-generating software startups in Australia and New Zealand planning to fundraise within a year, led by Mark Zmarzly; applications close mid-September.

Adactin acquires Focus Dynamics Group to deepen Microsoft play

Sydney tech services firm Adactin has bought Melbourne Microsoft partner Focus Dynamics Group, keeping all 82 staff and the FDG brand intact to deepen its Dynamics 365 and Azure capabilities; terms undisclosed.

Also CRN Australia

DataMasque raises $5.6 million to tackle one of AI's biggest enterprise hurdles

DataMasque, whose platform masks customer data for AI use, has collected $5.6 million from Wavemaker Partners, OIF Ventures and Icehouse Ventures, with Wavemaker leading.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

AI data centre startup Firmus eyes off another $725 million raise as it readies to IPO on the ASX

Sydney-founded AI data centre company Firmus, now Singapore-based, says Coatue and Nvidia are set to back its next US$505 million raise before a planned ASX listing, after earlier raises including Nvidia's A$330 million.

Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany·iTnews

Call centre monitoring startup Operata dials in $11 million Series A

Operata, which watches over call centre performance, has banked a Series A of $11 million at a valuation topping $100 million, with Tidal Ventures at the helm and funds earmarked for AI-era integrations.

Operata raises $11 million Series A as AI reshapes contact centres

A Melbourne software firm monitoring AI-driven customer service operations has closed a Series A round led by Tidal Ventures, valuing it at $100 million, with proceeds earmarked for platform integrations and international growth.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily

Apple of his isle: Fintech investor Brian Collins named Enterprize Tasmania CEO

Enterprize Tasmania has appointed Brian Collins, deputy chair of FinTech Australia and co-founder of fintech fund Triple Bubble, as CEO, with the ten-year-old organisation seeking national and global reach for the state's startup ecosystem.

Six Aussie startups that raised $13.4 million this week

Also Startup Daily

Optimaze raises $3 million to help businesses save billions in cloud costs

Sydney cloud-waste startup Optimaze has secured $3 million in pre-seed backing from Arconic and The Innovation Club to grow engineering, speed its roadmap and pursue cloud partnerships starting with AWS.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily

2 Aussie startups make the cut for the latest AWS Generative AI accelerator

AWS picked 40 startups for its 2025 Generative AI Accelerator, including Australians Pluralis Research and Mary Technology; the piece recalls past raises by alumni Relevance AI, Leonardo.ai and Marqo, and Leonardo.ai's sale to Canva.

Sovereign legal AI startup Isaacus courts $700,000 in pre-Seed

Isaacus, which builds sovereign AI models for the legal sector, has banked $700,000 in a pre-seed round co-led by Aura Ventures and Galileo Ventures to take its product to market.

V2 AI hires cloud modernisation expert Bojan Zivic as director

Sydney consultancy V2 AI has brought on Bojan Zivic as a director to lead enterprise cloud and AI work; the piece also recalls its $30 million early-2024 raise from Columbia Capital.

Also Business News Australia

The Airspeeder Mk4 racing eVTOL gets sign-off for experminental piloted flight

Australia's aviation regulator has granted Alauda Aeronautics an experimental certificate to fly its Airspeeder Mk4 racing eVTOL with a pilot aboard; Intel, Dell, AWS and Telstra back the series' computing and race-control systems.

Tractor Ventures appoints startup ecosystem leader Liz van Zyl to spearhead $1B funding vision

Tractor Ventures hires Liz van Zyl as head of partnerships as its cumulative startup lending passes $100 million; the interview covers non-dilutive capital, founder support and plans to grow its partner network.

Workplace culture platform Hoogly takes the world by storm, winning UK and US awards as it closes $1 million raise

Sydney startup Hoogly, which builds tools for workplace connection, topped the GSV Cup in San Diego and has banked $1 million toward a round it plans to close within days, double its initial target.

Firmus CTO Dr. Daniel Kearney joins Forbes Technology Council, advancing sustainable AI leadership

Firmus announces its chief technology officer's acceptance into the Forbes Technology Council, a vetted peer group for senior tech leaders, citing his cooling and computing-efficiency background.

Curtin Accelerate Kicks Off 2025 Cohort With 12 Startups

Curtin Accelerate has started its 2025 program with twelve Perth founders, offering mentoring, Venture Studio expertise, a modest equity-free grant, AWS credits and potential Kickstart+ investment consideration.

Lender Lighter Capital has another $30 million for startups thanks to the Victorian government

Lighter Capital, a revenue-based lender, has added another $30 million to lend to Australian startups, extending the facility the Victorian government and iPartners first backed.

Antler Investor Memo Series: Lyngo AI answers the healthcare communication crisis with AI receptionists

Investor memo profiling Lyngo AI, a startup whose AI voice agents answer clinic calls and manage bookings, covering its Antler pre-seed backing, the founders' backgrounds, early traction, and growth plans.

Interactive sees growth through its customers’ acquisitions

Interactive systems chief Simon Durkin explains how serving clients through their acquisitions fuels growth; ex-Datacom Australia head Alex Coates joins as chief executive from January 2025.

CloudWave Secures $75 Million in Funding to Revolutionize Cloud Strategy and Digital Transformation

CloudWave announced a $75 million round to speed growth and broaden its cloud services; the page also lists recent raises by ProvanAI, ProducePay, Peaky, Boring Company, Watu, Render and Arcee AI.

Sapia.ai opens its machine learning models with strategic API program

Sapia.ai is making its AI interview models available to other businesses through a new API initiative on AWS Marketplace, letting firms build workplace AI tools from its interview data, per CEO Barb Hyman.

From SaaS to SaiS: A River of Inquiry into how AI is unlocking vertical SaaS

A Blackbird partner argues AI has revived vertical software by turning hard-to-sell customers into product-led buyers, noting the firm recently backed three such startups and recalling Aconex's sale to Oracle.

Also buildxact.com

Neural Notes: Phonely's US$500,000 boost sets the tone for AI receptionists

Phonely, a Melbourne maker of AI receptionists, has secured US$500,000 from Y Combinator to fund team growth and new languages; shorter items note an AI board advisor, a government AI program, and OpenAI news.

Also SmartCompany

Nine Aussie startups that raised $233.5 million this week

Weekly roundup of nine Australian startups that together raised over $233 million, led by Hysata's $172 million Series B, with rounds also for V2 Digital, AgriWebb, Disco, Genero, Brainfish, Kite Therapy, Nucanon and Maslow.

Also Startup Daily·Business News Australia·Startup Daily

The Startmate Demo Day Asks: Here’s what the 10 startups are seeking, from investment to referrals

Startup Daily's Ask column profiles the ten Startmate Summer 2024 Demo Day startups and their funding asks, noting Kite Therapy's completed raise and Carbonaught's government grant.

Data transformation consultancy startup V2 Digital lands $30 million

Melbourne consultancy V2 Digital raised $30 million from Columbia Capital about a year after launch, aiming to expand its consulting team; it earlier received initial backing from Ox Ventures founder Matt Farmer.

Also SmartCompany·Business News Australia·ARN (ARNnet)

Expat Google engineering exec Claire Southey heads home to join ecommerce marketer Rokt

Rokt hires former Google and Amazon engineering executive Claire Southey for its Sydney engineering leadership, with other senior hires, as the ecommerce marketing firm eyes a future public listing.

Also Startup Daily

Jason Calacanis-backed Stori rebrands as Nucanon after $500,000 raise

Stori is now Nucanon following a $500,000 pre-seed round led by Skalata with Antler, Outlier Ventures, Paperclip Partners and Sydney FC's chief executive aboard, on top of 2023 backing from Antler and Jason Calacanis.

Also SmartCompany

Nine ANZ startups that raised $60.3 million this week

Roundup of the week's funding news: nine companies across Australia and New Zealand secured investment spanning clean energy, construction logistics, legal tech, coaching, research tools, creator media, medtech and marketing software.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·LaunchVic

Build Club is launching an accelerator for AI founders to take on the US

Build Club and AWS are launching a six-week Sydney accelerator for 15 technical founders in AI, offering credits, mentoring and a US tour, with two founders already chosen.

Diversity Atlas raises $6 million following 'unprecedented demand' for its diversity analytics platform

Melbourne diversity-data firm Diversity Atlas has raised $6m from Canada's Gener8 VC, its first outside backing and a bridge round ahead of a Series A, to fund rapid growth.

Also Women's Agenda·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany

Chipper Cash Becomes A Unicorn & Mr Yum raises US$65m Series A led by Tiger Global

TEN13 newsletter reporting Chipper Cash's US$150m unicorn round, Mr Yum's Tiger Global-led Series A, and new investments in Payhippo, Preezie, Pushas and Heaps Normal, plus portfolio updates.

Also Skalata Ventures·Skalata Ventures·Archangel Ventures portfolio·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Beef Central / Grain Central·Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·LaunchVic

Antler Investor Memo Series: Geniepay solving a global sales problem

Antler Australia investor memo profiling pre-seed sales-financing startup Geniepay, founded by Sajid Bokhari and Eric Ding, covering its backing, beta customers and pitch competition wins.

Meet Ajust, the Sydney startup that loves customer complaints and wants more of them

Profile of Ajust, whose platform uses AI to route consumer complaints to businesses; its solo founder secured pre-seed backing from Carthona Capital and joined AWS's generative AI accelerator program.

Investment Notes: Marqo

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

Six Aussie startups that raised $45.1 million this week

Weekly roundup of six Australian startups raising a combined $45.1 million across energy, e-commerce, design software, cloud security, climate tech and insurtech, plus Awayco's acquisition of Barcode Solutions and nVest winning SmartCompany's Pitch.

Also SmartCompany·LaunchVic

Startup funding dropped massively in 2023, but AI and climate tech are still winners

KPMG data shows Australian startup funding fell sharply in early 2023, though AI and climate tech stayed strong, with several large raises listed and a new Main Sequence fund announced.

Also Startup Daily

Six Aussie startups that raised $42 million this week

Weekly roundup of six Australian startup raises: Lyka's Series B extension, plus new funding for HydGene, JDoodle, One Future Football, Aquila and Number 8 Bio, with investors and founder comment.

Also RenewEconomy·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·RenewEconomy·RenewEconomy