Airwallex-backed start-up raises nearly $50m in seed round
Metal, co-founded by Loong Wang and Catherine Porter, completed a roughly $50 million seed round with Airwallex and its venture arm Capital 49 as joint leads, per new filings.
Venture capital fund · 2 deals
Every published round Capital 49 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.
| Company | Stage | Announced | Amount | Role | Alongside | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metal | Seed | Jun 2026 | ~$50m | Lead | Fintech News Australia, AFR Technology | |
| Lorikeet | Series A | Aug 2025 | $54m | Participant | Startup Daily (23 Dec 2025), SmartCompany (23 Dec 2025), Startup Daily (14 Oct 2025), Cut Through Venture, Startup Daily (13 Oct 2025), SmartCompany (6 Oct 2025), SmartCompany (8 Aug 2025), Startup Daily (7 Aug 2025), Athletic Ventures portfolio, Blackbird Ventures portfolio, Square Peg Capital portfolio |
Companies Capital 49 has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
Fund closes reported for Capital 49, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies Capital 49 has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Capital 49 did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Jack Zhang | Founder | Startup News (WA), TechCrunch Australia |
Stories naming Capital 49. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Metal, co-founded by Loong Wang and Catherine Porter, completed a roughly $50 million seed round with Airwallex and its venture arm Capital 49 as joint leads, per new filings.
Sydney AI customer-support startup Lorikeet has closed US$35 million in a Series A led by QED Investors, its third round in under a year, lifting total funding beyond $75 million.
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Airwallex has secured a $100 million Series E-2 extension at an unchanged $5.5 billion valuation, joined by existing backers plus HostPlus, to fund growth, new products and acquisitions.
Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Australian FinTech·SmartCompany·Techboard·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia·Australian FinTech·Australian FinTech·Forbes Australia