Company
US tech giant
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round Facebook raised.
Companies Facebook acquired or merged with, per published coverage. Buying a company is not investing in one: nothing here counts in the deals column.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Bret Taylor | techbuzz.ai, theubj.com | |
| Eduardo Saverin | Founder | SmartCompany (7 Jul 2023), SmartCompany (5 Jul 2023), Our Innovation Fund |
| Ken Cheung | APAC Head (former) | Startup Daily, Australian FinTech |
| Mark Zuckerberg | Chief Executive (former) · Founder | Hyper Startup Studio, thefamouspeople.com, Our Innovation Fund |
| Randi Zuckerberg | Director of Market Development (former) | thefamouspeople.com, Forbes Australia |
Stories naming Facebook. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Profile tracing how Jane Lu left corporate finance to build Showpo, an Australian fashion e-commerce brand, largely without venture capital, using social media, influencers and community to reach customers.
SafetyCulture, an Australian unicorn selling workplace-safety software, has rebranded as Mitti. Luke Anear, who founded it, is chief executive again, and insurance plus AI now anchor its growth plans.
A Hyper reflection on how founders refine rough ideas through early customer feedback, citing Zuckerberg and its Accelerate process, and recalling that portfolio company Empiraa has raised $3 million.
Profile of Palmer Luckey tracing his Oculus VR venture, its multibillion-dollar Facebook acquisition, his co-founding of defense tech firm Anduril Industries, and his gaming hardware venture ModRetro.
Sierra, the enterprise AI agent firm started by Bret Taylor and Clay Bavor, has banked a $950 million Series E with Tiger Global and Google Ventures at the helm, plus Benchmark, Sequoia and Greenoaks.
Also TechCrunch Australia·aivy.com.au·cmswire.com·theaiworld.org·faq.com.tw·groundy.com
Australian social app Spoony, built for neurodivergent and disabled users, will close in May after a planned raise collapsed; the piece recalls its $1 million raise and notes a pending asset sale.
Weekly roundup of ten Australian and New Zealand startup raises totalling nearly $194 million, topped by Neara's $90 million round at a $1.1 billion valuation, with Splose, Operata, HAMR Energy and Adora also covered.
Melbourne work-documentation startup Fluency raised a US$6 million seed led by Accel at a $30 million valuation, with DST Global and others participating; its founders previously raised $1.5 million.
Sierra has announced a $350 million Greenoaks-led round at a $10 billion valuation. The enterprise AI agent company previously took money from Sequoia, Benchmark and Greenoaks.
Roundup of six Australian and New Zealand startup raises totalling $63.5 million, covering in-store audio, EV charging, respiratory biotech, health AI, gig-economy fintech, and inclusive social media ventures.
Also Startup Daily
Spoony, an Australian app helping disabled and neurodivergent people connect, has secured $1 million in a pre-seed round backed by Antler Ventures, Melba Support Services and Trampoline.
The children's magic-kit maker paused new orders to clear a Black Friday backlog, after a VIP email campaign lifted sales and a Shark Tank appearance yielded a $400,000 handshake deal from Maxine Horne.
Biographical profile of Randi Zuckerberg covering her Facebook career, her media company, books, television work and family; no funding activity is reported.
ASX-listed retailer Booktopia has entered voluntary administration with McGrathNicol partners appointed; the story recalls its 2020 float and the board conflict, executive departures and losses that preceded it.
Cooking app ReciMe has banked a $1.5 million seed round led by Even Capital, drawing angels such as Marissa Mayer and Deb Liu, as its founders shift to New York to chase US growth.
Sydney neurotech firm Omniscient has banked a Series C from Gina Rinehart and Will Vicars, funding a push into the United States for its connectomics platform.
Ten13 announces it led Cartelux's Series A alongside co-investor QIC, outlining the digital retail-marketing platform's founder Josh Williams, its automotive brand customers, traction across ten countries, and its global Google partnership.
Agentio launches its creator-ad platform on a $4.25 million seed round from Craft Ventures and AlleyCorp, with co-founders Arthur Leopold and Jonathan Meyers; the page touts a $40 million Series B with Forerunner leading.
Weekly roundup detailing nine Australian startup funding rounds totalling $107.35 million, spanning pet e-commerce, quantum sensors, proptech, agtech, EV charging, sailing apparel, marketing tools, consumer goods and pregnancy wearables.
Also Startup Daily·Australian FinTech·SmartCompany·AgFunderNews
OIF's blog republishes an AFR report: Inspace has banked a $6 million round backed by B Capital and OIF, plans AI features and US growth, while proptech peers :Different and Yabonza have failed.
Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany
Defender's quarterly fund letter reports Q2 returns, AI and resources holdings, and portfolio company Lyka's second up-round at a stated US$150 million valuation.
Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Techboard·Business News Australia·Forbes Australia
An overview of brain-computer interface history and current clinical-trial leaders, profiling BrainGate, a Dutch medical centre, and Melbourne-founded Synchron, written by a University of Melbourne neural engineering academic.
NSW meat seller Our Cow attracted almost $1.5 million from 750-plus backers in a day on Birchal, chasing $2.62 million, having raised $2.38 million in April 2022; it also bought failed grocer Voly's brand.
Also AgFunderNews
Profile of location-sharing app Life360 covering its origins, early backing by Carthona Capital's James Synge, a Google grant, its ASX listing, and its acquisitions of Tile and Jiobit.
Blackbird's founder chat interviews HIVERY's Franki Chamaki on the company's origins in a Coca-Cola hackathon, its values, and its growth plans following this year's Series B round.
Coverage of Andrew Tate's deplatforming and his shift to Rumble, which then topped the app charts; the piece also notes the video platform's backers and its earlier stated plan to list on Nasdaq.
Ignition Lane's weekly wrap reports falling Australian venture funding, lists several startup raises and fund raises, covers Chargefox's acquisition, Volt's closure, the Zip-Sezzle merger termination, and global tech news.
Also Startup Daily·Techboard
Square Peg's investment note explains why it co-led predictive growth platform Voyantis' $19 million seed round with Target Global, covering the founders' backgrounds and the market shift toward predicting customer lifetime value.
Twitter's board has approved Elon Musk's multi-billion-dollar takeover offer, prompting the author to ask whether the platform's harassment and safety problems will improve or worsen for women under its new owner.
Wholesale Investor profiles Zedosh, an early-stage fintech whose Attention Exchange pays consumers for watching video ads, highlighting angel backing, regulator approval and an open bridge raise for potential investors.
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.
Video creation platform 90 Seconds closed a US$20 million Series B from SIG, Airtree Ventures, Sequoia India, Qualgro, Atami Capital and Right Click Capital to scale automation and its creator network.