Government · 30 deals
Every published round Clean Energy Finance Corporation 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 Clean Energy Finance Corporation has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Renewable Metals | Startup recycling lithium-ion batteries to recover critical minerals | 5 Oct 2023, Accelerator | 2 | 2 |
| AgriWebb | Livestock management platform | 11 Oct 2022 | 1 | 1 |
| Hysata | University of Wollongong spin-out developing capillary-fed electrolysis cells for green h… | 2021, Seed | 2 | 1 |
| Mako | Maker of shark skin-inspired film that reduces drag on aircraft to cut fuel use and emiss… | 2022, Seed | 2 | 1 |
| MicroTau | 14 Jun 2022, Seed | 1 | 1 | |
| Renewable-metals | Alkali recycling process for lithium batteries | 20 Apr 2026, Series A | 1 | 1 |
| Splend | vehicle subscription startup | 22 Jun 2023, undisclosed | 1 | 1 |
| SunDrive | 13 Oct 2022, Series B | 1 | 1 | |
| Zoomo | E-bike startup | 15 Nov 2021, Series B | 3 | 1 |
| Ark Energy | 2 Nov 2023, Venture debt | 1 | 0 | |
| Gridcog | Models hybrid energy projects to integrate more renewable power generation | 4 Aug 2026, Series A | 1 | 0 |
| GridCognition | 2021, Seed | 1 | 0 | |
| HydGene Renewables | 27 Jun 2023, Seed | 1 | 0 | |
| Infradebt | 23 Feb 2022 | 1 | 0 | |
| Jet Charge | EV charging company whose project explores network benefits from vehicle-to-grid technolo… | 17 Feb 2022, Accelerator | 2 | 0 |
| Loam | 16 Feb 2023, Series B | 1 | 0 | |
| Loam Bio | Agtech company developing microbial soil-carbon technology and farmer carbon projects | 28 Oct 2021, Series A | 2 | 0 |
| Morse Micro | Hardware/Robotics/IoT company | 9 Sep 2022, Series B | 1 | 0 |
| Samsara Eco | AI-powered enzyme discovery platform for recycling plastics at scale | 24 Mar 2022 | 2 | 0 |
| Scape Australia | Leading provider of student accommodation with 38 buildings and over 18,500 beds across A… | 17 Nov 2025 | 1 | 0 |
| SwarmFarm Robotics | Builds small, self-driving farm robots (SwarmBots) with the SwarmConnect platform to help… | 2 Oct 2025, Series B | 1 | 0 |
| Xefco | Deep tech company using plasma-based deposition technology to dye and finish textiles wit… | 29 Apr 2024, Seed | 1 | 0 |
This is a stake in the fund itself, money that the fund's manager invests, not a stake in the fund manager.
Companies Clean Energy Finance Corporation has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Clean Energy Finance Corporation did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Ben Gust | Executive Director | Virescent Ventures portfolio |
| Ian Learmonth | CEO | RenewEconomy (30 Jun 2025), Breakthrough Victoria, The Mandarin, SmartCompany (22 Jun 2023), @AuManufacturing (20 Jun 2023), RenewEconomy (16 Jun 2023), RenewEconomy (13 Oct 2022), Beef Central / Grain Central, RenewEconomy (2 Aug 2022), Startup Daily, @AuManufacturing (14 Jun 2022), RenewEconomy (14 Jun 2022), SmartCompany (24 Mar 2022), Virescent Ventures portfolio, RenewEconomy (20 Jan 2022), RenewEconomy (8 Nov 2021) |
| Malcolm Thornton | Head of Growth Capital (former) | Startup Daily |
| Michael Di Russo | Executive Director and Head of Property | RenewEconomy (17 Nov 2025), RenewEconomy (17 Nov 2025) |
| Monique Miller | Chief Investment Officer, Renewables and Sustainable Finance | CEFC |
| Rupert Maloney | Head of Hydrogen | RenewEconomy |
Stories naming Clean Energy Finance Corporation. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
The CEFC recounts a decade of project financing behind Australia's landmark grid batteries — DeGrussa, Hornsdale, Victorian Big Battery and Capital Battery — showing how early public capital helped storage reach mainstream markets.
Profile of JET Charge co-founder Tim Washington, tracing the EV charging firm's growth and recalling its 2020 institutional round and $72 million Series C led by Mirova.
South Australian startups Lunio Energy and OptiGrid launch a 5 MW Strathalbyn battery into market trading; the piece recalls OptiGrid's seed round backed by CEFC, IP Group, Hostplus, universities and EnergyLab.
A 5 MW South Australian battery has started trading, the first project for developer Lunio Energy and the first four-hour site run on OptiGrid's optimisation platform, whose seed backers are recapped.
Gridcog, an Australian-founded energy modelling platform now headquartered in London, has landed a US$10 million ABB-led Series A, with Axpo, DNV Ventures, VERBUND X Ventures, AlbionVC and CEFC joining.
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
Battery recycler Renewable Metals has banked a $12 million Series A, led by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, to build a Kewdale demonstration plant; its seed round totalled $16.1 million across two tranches.
Australia's clean energy finance agency led an oversubscribed $12 million Series A in a Western Australian battery recycling startup, joining existing and new investors to fund prototype operations and first commercial plant design.
Also @AuManufacturing·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·RenewEconomy·RenewEconomy·esgwise.org·esgtoday.com·nationaltribune.com.au·Dealroom·evmagz.com·battery-tech.net
Battery recycler Renewable Metals closed an oversubscribed $12 million Series A led by CEFC to fund round-the-clock prototype operations and engineering design for its first commercial-scale recycling plant in New South Wales.
The National Reconstruction Fund has put $30.7 million into Melbourne autonomous vehicle maker Applied EV, forming most of its $57 million Series B alongside Barrenjoey and Japan Post Capital.
Net Zero Investor brief: Australia's CEFC commits $70m to QIC's Global Infrastructure Fund II, having previously allocated $72m to its predecessor and $50m to a QIC property decarbonisation fund.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation is putting $70 million into QIC's Global Infrastructure Fund II, which targets infrastructure that cuts emissions across Australia's energy and transport sectors.
Australia's green bank CEFC has committed $70 million to QIC's Fund 2, a global infrastructure vehicle holding assets such as Tilt Renewables and Hobart Airport, targeting decarbonisation of high-emitting sectors.
Climate Salad's report says Australia's climate tech sector has passed 7,000 workers across 730 startups and drew $680 million in venture capital; Sea Forest's ASX debut and fund commitments point to investor appetite.
The CEFC has put $50 million into student housing operator Scape Australia to electrify up to 20 buildings, strip out gas, and trial behind-the-meter energy technology across its national portfolio.
Also RenewEconomy
Weekly roundup of eight raises totalling $572.12 million, led by Firmus's $500 million round; RAGE Biotech, SunDrive, Number 8 Bio, Fabra, Keeyu, MyGig and Drone-Hand also funded, plus two RAGE Biotech executive appointments.
Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Business News Australia
Origin Energy is buying Energy Locals, the membership-based power retailer founded to disrupt Australia's major gentailers. Its current owners, a consortium led by Palisade Impact, purchased it from Quinbrook about a year ago.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation is putting up to $40m into Brighte through a federal program, letting the home-energy fintech offer cheaper green loans for solar, batteries and other household upgrades.
Victoria's Breakthrough Victoria has committed $75m to five specialist VC funds covering climate tech, life sciences, female founders and healthcare, each pledging a quarter of its capital to local startups.
Breakthrough Victoria is putting $75 million into five venture capital funds, including Virescent, SYNthesis BioVentures, Scale and Galileo, each of which has pledged a quarter of its capital to Victorian startups.
Breakthrough Victoria makes cornerstone investments totalling $75 million into five venture capital funds spanning climate-tech, biotech, diversity-focused and health sciences investing.
Weekly roundup of eight Australian and New Zealand funding rounds totalling about $53.5 million, led by SwarmFarm Robotics' $30 million Series B for its farm robots.
Funding roundup: eight trans-Tasman startups together secured $53.56 million, topped by SwarmFarm Robotics' Series B, with Amber, Javln, Enhance Labs, Indi, Wych, Lift Women and Ambra Spirits also raising capital.
Agtech robotics firm SwarmFarm raised a $30m Series B led by Edaphon, with CEFC, QIC and Artesian taking part, to boost production and push into North America.
Queensland agricultural robotics firm SwarmFarm has raised a Series B led by a European backer, with several local investors taking part, to expand robot production and enter the North American market.
Also @AuManufacturing·AgFunderNews·SmartCompany·AgFunderNews
RenewEconomy reports APG Asset Management has announced plans to put over $1 billion into Octopus Australia's OASIS renewables fund, joining existing backers including Rest, Hostplus and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
RenewEconomy questions why Wesfarmers, whose Bunnings chain already runs on fully renewable power, is receiving $100 million in concessional government finance for more solar, batteries and EV charging.
Climate Tech Partners has reached a $50 million first close on its debut climate tech fund, backed by Australian Ethical, the CEFC, Qantas, Airbus and Daniel Besen's family office.
The fund's authors recap two climate-investment events, weighing the massive global capital needs, mixed public-private funding models, and its clean-economy portfolio activity in Victoria.
Weekly roundup covering seven Australian companies' fresh capital: EV charging, satellite IoT, sovereign cloud, wearables, workplace messaging, plus two crowdfunding raises on Birchal.
Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·@AuManufacturing·@AuManufacturing
Jet Charge, an Australian electric-vehicle charging company, has secured $72 million with Mirova leading and earlier backers returning, to develop charging technology and its subscription model.
Also SmartCompany
Solar pioneer Zhengrong Shi intends a Newcastle factory for frameless lightweight panels via Sunman's Energus subsidiary, eyeing federal programs; CEFC, Southern Cross Venture Partners and Softbank China are recalled as backers.
Virescent Ventures says QIC has joined Westpac and the CEFC backing its second climate tech fund, with new commitments lifting the initial close to roughly $125 million toward a $200 million goal.
Industry minister Ed Husic told a Tech Council summit the National Reconstruction Fund is close to its first investments after asking for a $300m drawdown; the piece recaps federal tech funding moves including PsiQuantum's.
A news roundup covering a government-backed hydrogen project for Telstra, a climate tech fund's first close, new appointments at a South Australian agency and a feed company, plus export approvals and science prizes.
Also @AuManufacturing
Roundup covering seven Australian companies' recent raises — Splend, Rich Data Co, Slice, InvestorHub, Eyeonic, Graceview and Monty Compost Co — from fleet electrification finance to AI compliance and compost-monitoring seed rounds.
Kilara Capital has injected $5 million into Sircel, a Sydney-based electronic-waste processor that recently bought collapsed Victorian rival Scipher Technologies, with a Kilara portfolio manager joining the board.
Agtech investor Tenacious Ventures reached an $18 million first close on its second fund, which has a $50 million target; backers include Trawalla Group, Wollemi Capital Group and Macdoch Ventures.
Also Forbes Australia
Brisbane battery maker Redback Technologies exits voluntary administration under new owner Australia Ebon, which injected an initial $500,000; earlier backers Energy Queensland, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and Energy Australia are recalled.
Sydney-based textile dyeing startup Xefco has raised a $10.5 million seed extension led by Main Sequence Ventures, including $2.5 million from Breakthrough Victoria, funding expansion of its water-free dyeing technology into Victoria.