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Blobfish appoints former Coca-Cola executive to spearhead US expansion in $4b sampling market

Me&u takes on American Express and DoorDash as it eyes first profitable year

Me&u launches a new AI-powered reservations platform to compete with Resy and SevenRooms, targeting profitability in 2026 after merging with Mr Yum.

Three ANZ startups that raised $61.4 million this week

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.

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Ideally raises $13.4m to disrupt slow-moving research industry

Research platform Ideally has secured a Series A round with Shearwater Capital leading, earmarked for US expansion, and unveiled a new product, Ideally Canvas.

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Sendle is dead, killed by a US merger partner who misled the Aussie startup's key investor, Federation

Federation says ACI Logistix hid its finances before merging with Sendle and FirstMile into Fast Group, now winding down, killing the courier; the article also recalls past Sendle and Strongroom raises.

Sendle suddenly shutters deliveries amid financial concerns after merger investor freezes funding

Alternative parcel delivery firm Sendle stopped taking bookings five months after merging into US parent Fast Group, whose financial troubles led investor Federation Asset Management to suspend fund withdrawals and inject emergency capital.

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The Week in AgriFoodTech: SwarmFarm Robotics nabs $30m, DoorDash delivery 'bots, new carbon fund from Cibus

Weekly agrifoodtech roundup: several offshore raises, a baby-food company's IPO filing, a new carbon fund for Australia, delivery robots, award winners, and a handful of executive moves.

Travel Funding Holds Strong As Etraveli Said To Reach $3.1B Valuation

Roundup of travel-sector dealmaking: KKR invests in Etraveli at a reported $3.1 billion valuation, Airalo, TravelPerk and Klook raise big rounds, and SevenRooms and MadeComfy are acquired.

Liveheats nets $1.3 million for live sports scoring platform

Sports scoring software maker Liveheats has secured $1.3 million in seed backing from five individual backers to grow its product and sales teams and expand into the US and Europe.

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Woolies is getting into telehealth with a $6 million Series A

Woolworths, via its Healthylife arm, led telehealth firm Hola Health's $6m Series A at a $70m valuation, with M8 Ventures and FundWA backing; the Perth company raised $4.5m a year earlier.

Lendi Group bolsters its Growth leadership team

Lendi Group has appointed four senior leaders across content, marketing, creative and PR, rounding out its growth leadership as the Aussie Home Loans owner also flags further roles.

Transforming the Future of Advertising: Agentio's $12M Series A

Agentio announces a $12m Series A with Benchmark leading and earlier backers Craft and AlleyCorp returning, taking the creator-advertising platform's total funding to $16.25m.

Hola Health secures $4.5 million to slash wait times with on-demand telehealth

Perth telehealth firm Hola Health has banked $4.5 million in a pre-Series A round led by M8 Ventures with FundWA and angels; M8 partner Emily Rich takes a Hola Health board seat.

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M8 Ventures returns to lead $4.5m pre-Series A for medtech startup Hola Health

Hola Health, a Perth-based on-demand telehealth and pharmacy delivery provider, has banked $4.5 million at pre-Series A with M8 Ventures heading the round, FundWA and angels also in; Emily Rich joins the board.

Fintech TaxLeopard acquires PwC spinout rival and Uber favourite Airtax

Melbourne tax app maker TaxLeopard has bought Airtax, a PwC-born tax tool with tens of thousands of users, and is now seeking new funding.

Subscription e-bike startup Zoomo cuts jobs again after raising $24 million

E-bike subscription startup Zoomo cut 27 roles in its second restructuring in six months, weeks after client Milkrun's collapse, and disclosed a previously unreported $24 million raise led by Grok Ventures and the CEFC.

Also Techboard

Milkrun collapse: Instant delivery startup lays off remaining staff and plans to close doors this week

Instant grocery delivery startup Milkrun is winding up, with co-founder Dany Milham telling staff trading ends this week. The article recalls its $75 million Series A backed by AirTree, Grok Ventures and Skip Capital.

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Portfolio Spotlight: HEO Robotics - UNSW Founders

UNSW Founders profiles its alumnus HEO Robotics, a Sydney company that inspects satellites from orbit, recounting its founding, accelerator history, and founders' backgrounds.

The Ignition Lane Wrap: Sunrise. Demise. No more pies.

Ignition Lane's weekly tech roundup covering record Australian VC fund raises, several green-tech startup funding rounds, Deliveroo's administration, the FTX collapse, and takeover offers for ELMO and Nitro.

Also Techboard

Daily Crunch: Nigerian startup that stored its 'day-to-day operational budget' on FTX announces staff cuts

TechCrunch roundup: FTX fallout hits Nestcoin and SoftBank's stake, while Quix, Joepegs, Vow, Faraday Future and Butter raise, plus items on Twitter, VLC, DoorDash, Hulu, Google and Apple.

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Snackr gobbles up $915K seed

Live-event food delivery app Snackr has raised a $915,000 seed round led by BetterLabs with Woodside Energy, Eastcourt Capital and Spacecubed Ventures, to grow across more Australian and UK venues.

Also Startup Daily·Startup News (WA)

After the collapse of SEND and Quicko, can rapid grocery delivery businesses survive in Australia?

Analysis of why rapid grocery delivery startups SEND and Quicko have shut down, with a retail academic explaining the tough economics facing remaining players Milkrun and Voly against major retailers and meal apps.

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NASDAQ giant swoops on Canberra start-up in $500m+ deal

OIF Ventures republishes an AFR report on NetApp buying Canberra data-technology firm Instaclustr for a reported $500 million-plus, covering founder paydays and the fund's returns, including a 20-times outcome on its early backing.

e-bike startup Zoomo tops up Series B with another $28 million

Delivery e-bike firm Zoomo has added US$20 million to its Series B, led by Collaborative Fund, three months after an $80 million round backed by the Atlassian founders' vehicles, lifting total funding beyond $100 million.

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Ignition Lane's Weekly Wrap: The Great Reengagement, backing Web3, riding the markets & the big local raises

Ignition Lane's weekly tech roundup: AirTree raises $700m across three new funds, dozens of Australian startups announce rounds, a wave of acquisitions including Block completing its Afterpay buy, plus Web3 commentary and US market moves.

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Finding The Exit: Australian VC exits and market roundup

Commentary piece on VC exit strategies (IPO, trade sale, secondary sale) referencing recent Australian tech M&A deals and venture funding rounds including Sendle, UpGuard, Sonder and others.