Seven ANZ startups that raised $111.5 million this week
Roundup of seven raises across the Tasman spanning fintech, marine tech, agtech, defence and AI, plus a first close for an ACT venture fund.
Venture capital fund · 8 deals
Every published round GD1 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.
| Company | Stage | Announced | Amount | Role | Alongside | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outlier Space | Pre-seed | 29 Jul 2026 | $10.5m | Lead | SmartCompany, Forbes Australia, Investible, AirTree Ventures portfolio, Investible portfolio, Side Stage Ventures portfolio | |
| Atomic Tessellator | Seed | Jun 2026 | $11.3m | Participant | crane.vc, SmartCompany, Side Stage Ventures portfolio | |
| Caruso | Series A | 15 Apr 2026 | $9.3m | Lead | SmartCompany, Startup Daily | |
| Ivo | Series B | Jan 2026 | $55m | Participant | SmartCompany, Blackbird Ventures, Blackbird Ventures portfolio | |
| Ivo | Series A | Feb 2025 | $25.5m | Participant | SmartCompany | |
| Type One Energy | Seed | 2 Aug 2024 | US$82.5m (A$127m) | Participant | Forbes Australia, TechCrunch Australia | |
| Caruso | Seed | Nov 2023 | $3m | Participant | SmartCompany, Startup Daily (15 Apr 2026), Startup Daily (11 Dec 2024), Australian FinTech | |
| Formus Labs | Unnamed stage | 4 Feb 2022 | US$5m (A$7m) | Lead | Startup Daily (7 Feb 2022), Startup Daily (4 Feb 2022) |
Companies GD1 has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atomic Tessellator | Jun 2026, Seed | 1 | 0 | |
| Caruso | AI-based registry and fund administration platform | Nov 2023, Seed | 2 | 1 |
| Formus Labs | 4 Feb 2022 | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivo | Feb 2025, Series A | 2 | 0 | |
| Outlier Space | Builds autonomous, uncrewed satellites acting as orbital factories for high-value materia… | 29 Jul 2026, Pre-seed | 1 | 1 |
| Type One Energy | Advancing fusion energy. | 2 Aug 2024, Seed | 1 | 0 |
Fund closes reported for GD1, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies GD1 has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal GD1 did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| John Kells | Co-managing Partner | Startup Daily (18 Jul 2022), Startup Daily (4 Feb 2022) |
Stories naming GD1. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Roundup of seven raises across the Tasman spanning fintech, marine tech, agtech, defence and AI, plus a first close for an ACT venture fund.
Roundup of eight Australian and New Zealand startups whose late-July funding totals $102 million across space capsules, medical devices, livestock breath analysis, sports analytics and AI crop forecasting.
A maker of satellites for in-orbit drugs and materials production has landed an outsized pre-seed round led by New Zealand's GD1, with Airtree and other venture firms taking part.
Investible's note explains its pre-seed backing of satellite startup Outlier Space alongside GD1 and others, arguing uncrewed return-capable platforms will make off-world manufacturing viable as the ISS retires.
Weekly roundup covering seven raises across the Tasman: Phonely's Series A, Pay.com.au's private placement, and rounds for Atomic Tessellator, Caruso, Deteqt, Clean Slate Clinic and Earthletica, worth roughly $72 million combined.
Also crane.vc
Caruso, which handles registry and fund admin for private markets, has raised a Series A co-led by Icehouse Ventures and GD1 with Balmain taking part, at an $80 million valuation.
Also SmartCompany
Blackbird's post explains why it led Ivo's US$55 million Series B with five co-investors, citing the legal-AI company's product expansion, customer growth, and adoption by major corporates.
Also SmartCompany
Weekly roundup of seven Australian and New Zealand raises totalling $42.8 million, spanning property-investment AI, workforce credentialing, allied-health practice software, conversation analytics, maths learning games, copper processing and holiday-park bookings.
Startup Daily reports unit-registry fintech Caruso has banked a fresh $3.2 million from customer Balmain, following a $3 million round a year earlier, targeting growth across Asia-Pacific and North America.
Caruso, maker of fund administration software, has landed a $3.2 million strategic backing from private credit firm Balmain, having earlier raised $3 million from Icehouse Ventures and other backers.
Fusion startup Type One Energy has pulled in a $53.5m extension to its seed round, led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures with Foxglove Ventures and GD1 taking part, to accelerate its stellarator reactor plans.
Also Forbes Australia
Roundup of the week's funding news: nine companies across Australia and New Zealand secured investment spanning clean energy, construction logistics, legal tech, coaching, research tools, creator media, medtech and marketing software.
Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·LaunchVic
Weekly roundup detailing funding rounds by five Australian and New Zealand startups: a diversity analytics platform, a thermal energy storage maker, a carbon accounting service, an activated carbon producer, and legal communications software.
Blackbird has hired On Deck co-founder David Booth for its New Zealand investing team in an EIR role; the post recounts his career and On Deck's roughly $100 million raise.
A weekly roundup detailing five raises across Australia and New Zealand: Marmalade, Cauldron, Prophet, Hola Health and Buddy, naming amounts, lead backers and founders.
Profile of New Zealand fintech Sugar Wallet, cofounded by Dev Soni and Sophia Ritchie, which simplifies investing for beginners and has joined GD1-backed Phase One incubator, with backing from fintech angel operators.
Profile of New Zealand call-administration software company Vxt and founder Luke Campbell, covering its product pivot, its place in the Phase One incubator, and early backing by venture firm GD1.
New Zealand surgical-planning startup Formus Labs raised US$5 million led by GD1 to launch its 3D joint replacement planner and expand into the US, with backing from four other investors and a Zimmer Biomet partnership.
Also Startup Daily