Ledger. Australian venture funding, tracked

Startup · $8.5m raised

Heaps Normal

Non-alcoholic beer company

Coverage

Stories naming Heaps Normal. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.

Funding announcement

Startmate CEO Michael Batko calls time after 8 years, Phoebe Pincus takes the helm

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.

Exit / M&A

Startmate CEO Michael Batko steps down after eight years, COO Phoebe Pincus takes top spot

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.

Funding announcement

From 0 to 4.5 billion: how the Startmate pay-it-forward mentorship model built a startup powerhouse

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.

Funding announcement

TEN13 Newsletter - Flight Path (September 2025)

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.

5 deals

Archangel Ventures 2021 - A year in review

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.

Also SmartCompany·Women's Agenda·Startup Daily

7 deals

Chipper Cash Becomes A Unicorn & Mr Yum raises US$65m Series A led by Tiger Global

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.

Also Skalata Ventures·Skalata Ventures·Archangel Ventures portfolio·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Beef Central / Grain Central·Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·LaunchVic

Fund close $15m

Linktree cofounders back new $15 million VC fund

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.

Fund close $15m

Side Stage Ventures secures $15 million for its launch fund with support from Linktree, Airtasker

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.

Also Startup Daily·Australian FinTech

Fund close $32m+

Archangel Ventures - 2022: Year in Review

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.

Seed $6.8m

This female-founded startup wants to build better managers – and raised $6.8 million in Seed funding to do it

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

Funding announcement

Linktree founders back creative startups with new venture fund

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

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