Finnlay Morcombe

Cheque-in: 10 ANZ startups raised nearly $193 million this week

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.

Atlassian's first investor leads $8.55 million Seed in workflows documentation startup Fluency

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.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily

Automated process documentation startup Fluency banks $1.5 million in pre-Seed

Two young Melbourne founders have secured pre-seed backing for Fluency, their AI platform that automates business process documentation, drawing support from a local venture firm and Singaporean funds.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily

Here are the 16 startups pitching at Startmate Demo Day this week

Preview of the sixteen startups in Startmate's Summer '25 Accelerator cohort pitching at Demo Day at Carriageworks, closing out Blackbird's Sunrise gathering in Sydney.

Gen Z VC fund NextGen Ventures scores Blackbird cofounders as investors in $2.5 million fund build

Student-run venture fund NextGen Ventures has locked in $1.5 million toward a $2.5 million target, backed by Blackbird's cofounders, Airtree and angel investors, and has already invested in AI startup Fluency.