CultureAmp

Well, well, Wells

Capital Brief's roundup: superannuation policy plans, a NSW data centre planning dispute, KPMG resisting a break-up, Stripe and Canva leaders on AI, Stripe's local Treasury push, and Culture Amp's data policy change.

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #167 28th June 2026

Weekly roundup flags Acorn's purchase of learning firm B Online Learning for an undisclosed sum, plus $487m across ten raises, Airwallex product launches, Blackbird's biggest-ever investment, and layoffs at Culture Amp and Immutable.

Airwallex strengthens Australian leadership appointing Elana Rubin AM and Sir Bill English to its Australian board

Airwallex has appointed Elana Rubin AM to chair its Australian board and former New Zealand prime minister Sir Bill English as a director there, with both roles starting immediately; their other board roles are listed.

💫 Ramplify: December Details

Rampersand's December newsletter leads with its $2m pre-seed investment in Cor, maker of the Obi AI avatar coach, plus trend retrospectives, tech news, portfolio updates, community events and a job ad.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

Airwallex is Blackbird's new Canva, as the VC devalues workplace software unicorns Culture Amp and Safety Culture

Leaked details from Blackbird's investor day showcase Airwallex and Canva as standout performers, record valuation cuts for Culture Amp and SafetyCulture, and detail Kiki's New York shutdown and settlement.

Culture Amp cuts 60 jobs as AI focus grows

Melbourne's Culture Amp has cut roughly 60 roles amid a push into AI products like AI Coach; the piece also recalls its 2019 Series E, 2021 Series F and $2 billion valuation.

From 0 to 4.5 billion: how the Startmate pay-it-forward mentorship model built a startup powerhouse

Startmate reflects on a decade of backing founders, profiling breakout alumni across its cohorts and describing how its mentors reinvest in newer startups, alongside its fund model and returns.

Employee retention startup SeenCulture raises $1 million pre-Seed round

SeenCulture, a workplace platform, has secured $1 million in a pre-seed round from Alice Anderson Fund, M8 Ventures, InterValley Ventures and Torus, having earlier joined Techstars' first Sydney cohort with Cut Through Angels backing.

Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany

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

Culture Amp acquires people analytics platform Orgnostic

Culture Amp is acquiring Orgnostic, a Belgrade-founded people analytics startup, for an undisclosed sum; its cofounders join as vice presidents and a combined People Analytics product is planned for later in 2024.

LaunchVic has picked the final 10 startups it thinks have unicorn potential in the 30×30 program

LaunchVic has selected ten scaleups for the last intake of its 30X30 mentoring program, which pairs their leaders with mentors from unicorn companies; the 20 earlier participants have together raised over $98.7 million.

Also RenewEconomy·RenewEconomy

Our investment in Vouch

OIF Ventures' note explains why the fund co-led an $8m seed round in video-testimonial software maker Vouch with US-based Stage 2 Capital, profiling the product, founders and go-to-market model.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily

BLAST OIF | Edition I

OIF Ventures' first portfolio newsletter: OIF Fund II closed above $100 million, plus recent raises at Go1, Circle In, Assignar, Arcade, Visionary Machines, Neara, Futurerent and Adventus.io.

Also OIF Ventures portfolio·Square Peg Capital·OIF Ventures portfolio·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·TechCrunch Australia·Startup Daily