Why Heaps Normal spent years perfecting its first alcohol-free wine
Heaps Normal has launched High Hopes, its first non-alcoholic prosecco, after years of development, choosing brand trust over a fast entry into the alcohol-free wine category.
Startup · $9.8m raised
Non-alcoholic beer company
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round Heaps Normal raised.
| Investor | Rounds | Invested |
|---|---|---|
| Andy Miller | Series A | - |
| Athletic Ventures | Series A | - |
| Bec Milgrom | Series A | - |
| Kate Morris | Series A | - |
| Matt de Boer | Series A | - |
| Ordinary Equity | Series A | - |
| Simon Griffiths | Series A | - |
| Startmate | Accelerator | - |
| Ten13 | Series A | - |
Investors whose own portfolio pages list Heaps Normal, even though we haven't found any coverage of the round yet.
| Investor | Listed on |
|---|---|
| Flying Fox Ventures | its portfolio page ↗ |
Companies Heaps Normal 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Andy Miller | CEO · Founder | SmartCompany (24 Jul 2026), Startmate, Startup Daily, SmartCompany (29 Nov 2021) |
| Bennie Holdstock | Head Brewer | SmartCompany |
Stories naming Heaps Normal. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Heaps Normal has launched High Hopes, its first non-alcoholic prosecco, after years of development, choosing brand trust over a fast entry into the alcohol-free wine category.
Startmate chief Michael Batko departs following an eight-year stint; COO Phoebe Pincus steps up. The piece credits his tenure for the accelerator's growth, returns and alumni, and notes his exits from two side ventures.
Long-serving Startmate chief Michael Batko departs the accelerator's top job, with operations lead Phoebe Pincus promoted to CEO; the piece also recalls two side ventures Batko previously exited.
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.
Ten13's monthly newsletter reports its first institutional mandate via Queensland's QVCDF, new seed investments in OneMRI and Source, follow-ons in Arintra and Everlab, and portfolio progress including Go1, Qsic, Pearler and After.com.
Archangel Ventures reviews 2021: the Australian early-stage firm closed its first annual fund, made 24 investments, and recalls portfolio raises by Atelier, Bardee, Heaps Normal and Relevance AI.
TEN13 newsletter reporting Chipper Cash's US$150m unicorn round, Mr Yum's Tiger Global-led Series A, and new investments in Payhippo, Preezie, Pushas and Heaps Normal, plus portfolio updates.
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Founder-backed syndicate Side Stage Ventures has become a $15 million seed fund, with LocalGlobe and several founders as limited partners, three startups already backed, and portfolio company Joyn acquiring event firm Arinex.
SmartCompany reports Side Stage Ventures has completed a $15 million first close of its debut fund, backed by founders of Airtasker, Linktree and Go1 plus LocalGlobe, targeting $30 million and already backing early startups.
Archangel Ventures' annual review recounts closing its second fund above $32 million, passing $10 million invested in Australian startups, and portfolio raises by Aerotruth, Bare, Trendspek, Pearler and Vively during 2022.
Manager-training platform The Mintable, founded by Lauren Humphrey and Melissa Miller, has raised a $6.8 million seed round led by Blackbird, after previously securing $1.3 million in pre-seed backing.
Also Startup Daily
Linktree's co-founders have launched Side Stage Ventures, a collective investing in very young creative-tech companies; it has already backed several startups, and associate Ben Grabiner's music platform Platoon was bought by Apple.
Also Australian FinTech
Roundup of nine startup raises totalling $70 million, including Q-CTRL's Series B, Foundry Lab's round led by Blackbird, and EnGeneIC's crowdfunded COVID-19 vaccine raise, plus a new Elenium Automation board member.
Also Startup Daily·Techboard·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily
Non-alcoholic beer maker Heaps Normal has secured Series A backing to fund a new brewhouse, onboarding strategic individual investors a year after graduating from Startmate with a smaller cash injection.