Investor · 30 deals
Every published round Hostplus 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.
Companies Hostplus has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Emesent | Drone and LiDAR mapping technology spinout of CSIRO for hazardous, GPS-denied environments | 4 Aug 2026 | 1 | 0 |
| RAGE Biotech | Therapeutics startup developing an inhaled treatment for chronic lung disease | 14 Nov 2025, Series A | 1 | 1 |
| Sonder | Safety technology company | 10 Mar 2025 | 1 | 0 |
| ElectraLith | Developer of a novel electrochemical direct lithium extraction technology producing batte… | 15 Jan 2025, Series A | 2 | 0 |
| SafetyCulture | Workplace safety and operations software company. | 9 Sep 2024, undisclosed | 1 | 0 |
| Gilmour Space | Queensland rocket builder and launchpad scaleup | 4 Mar 2024, Series D+ | 2 | 1 |
| Heidi Health | Australian HealthTech company | 25 Oct 2023, Series A | 1 | 0 |
| Fleet Space Technologies | nano satellite startup | 24 May 2023, Series C | 3 | 1 |
| Additive Assurance | In-situ quality assurance systems for metal 3D printing | 10 Dec 2022 | 1 | 0 |
| Morse Micro | Hardware/Robotics/IoT company | 28 Nov 2022, Series B | 2 | 0 |
| Vow | Cultivated meat company | 14 Nov 2022, Series A | 2 | 0 |
| Nourish Ingredients | Brews sustainable and animal-free fats and oils for alternative protein products | 20 Oct 2022, Series A | 1 | 0 |
| Airwallex | Fintech payments and financial infrastructure company | 11 Oct 2022, Series D+ | 4 | 0 |
| AMSL Aero | 7 Sep 2022, Series B | 1 | 0 | |
| Hysata | University of Wollongong spin-out developing capillary-fed electrolysis cells for green h… | 2 Aug 2022, Series A | 3 | 0 |
| Zeller | Integrated payments and business banking solution for SMEs | 3 Mar 2022, Series B | 1 | 0 |
| Rokt | E-commerce marketing technology platform | 2022, Series D+ | 1 | 0 |
| EBR Systems | Developer of a left ventricular cardiac resynchronisation device | Nov 2021 | 1 | 0 |
| Athena | Sydney, Australia-based online lending startup focused on home loans | 21 Oct 2019, undisclosed | 1 | 0 |
This is a stake in the fund itself, money that the fund's manager invests, not a stake in the fund manager.
Companies Hostplus has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Hostplus did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| David Elia | CEO | Startup Daily, Main Sequence |
| Greg Clerk | Deputy Chief Investment Officer | Brandon Capital |
| Sam Sicilia | Chief Investment Officer | Rampersand, RenewEconomy, TechCrunch Venture, Main Sequence |
Stories naming Hostplus. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Blackbird has locked in a second billion-dollar fund — its sixth, slightly bigger than the last — bringing in new institutional backers, and the article recalls portfolio wins, writedowns and failures.
A monthly Crunchbase roundup of five lesser-known AI funding deals: Greyparrot's Series B, Emesent's equity-plus-debt package, SoundHealth's Series A, Forge Industries' round and Cascade's seed raise.
Brisbane drone mapping firm Emesent secures $15 million SAFE Note plus $10 million venture debt from federal government's National Reconstruction Fund.
South Australian startups Lunio Energy and OptiGrid launch a 5 MW Strathalbyn battery into market trading; the piece recalls OptiGrid's seed round backed by CEFC, IP Group, Hostplus, universities and EnergyLab.
A 5 MW South Australian battery has started trading, the first project for developer Lunio Energy and the first four-hour site run on OptiGrid's optimisation platform, whose seed backers are recapped.
Novartis is acquiring London biotech Myricx Bio for US$1.1 billion upfront plus milestone payments, handing Melbourne venture firm Brandon Capital a record return on the startup it seeded in 2019.
Brisbane drone-mapping firm Emesent has raised $15 million via a SAFE note plus $10 million in venture debt from the National Reconstruction Fund — the fund's first such deal — four years after its Series A.
IP Group Australia and the CEFC launched the Climate Catalyst Fund with a first close of $50 million combined, targeting seed and Series A investments in Australian climate technology.
Roundup of four ANZ raises: a Queensland rocket company's nine-figure Series E, a New Zealand legal-AI firm's Series B, a seed round for AI code-security, and a Melbourne construction-software raise.
Roundup of four ANZ raises totalling over $307m: Gilmour Space's Series E, Ivo's Series B, Dam Secure's seed round and SPEC Toolbox's pre-Series A, plus a board appointment at Dam Secure.
Beaten Zone's blog touts Australia's space sector, citing CEO Steve Baxter and reporting Gilmour Space Technologies' $217 million Series E from National Reconstruction Fund Corporation and Hostplus, plus its investments in HEO and Zendir.
Also SmartCompany·Dealroom·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Business News Australia
Rocket firm Gilmour Space raised a $217 million Series E co-led by the National Reconstruction Fund and Hostplus, reaching a billion-dollar valuation; earlier Series B, C and D raises are recapped.
Blackbird's Rick Baker recounts backing rocket firm Gilmour Space from its 2017 Series A to a newly closed A$217 million Series E at a valuation above US$1 billion.
Also @AuManufacturing
Weekly roundup of eight raises totalling $572.12 million, led by Firmus's $500 million round; RAGE Biotech, SunDrive, Number 8 Bio, Fabra, Keeyu, MyGig and Drone-Hand also funded, plus two RAGE Biotech executive appointments.
Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Business News Australia
Melbourne biotech RAGE Biotech has raised a $29 million Series A, with IP Group Australia and Hostplus leading, to fund human trials of its lung disease therapy; new executives were appointed.
Also Startup Daily
SmartCompany reports MyGig's $1 million pre-seed round, led by Artesian with Hostplus funds, to grow an employer-of-record service handling payroll and workplace compliance for casual workforces.
Rampersand's newsletter announces it led Keeyu's $2.3 million pre-seed round, alongside portfolio updates from Quantum Brilliance, Cuttable, Hatch and Goterra, plus job listings and reflections on domain founders and Australian venture capital.
Also Rampersand·quantumwire.com·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·semiconductorindustrymonthly.com
Radium Capital's R&D lending has passed $1 billion across 1,000-plus companies since 2017; case studies recall WeMoney's $12 million Series A and ElectraLith's $27.5 million Main Sequence-led round.
Also Startup Daily·Australian FinTech·SmartCompany·Fintech News Australia·Fintech News Australia
Sydney chipmaker Morse Micro has banked an $88 million Series C led by Japan's MegaChips, with the national reconstruction fund and several existing backers also participating; funds will drive growth and future chip development.
Also Startup Daily·builtinsydney.au·semiiphub.com·Forbes Australia·morsemicro.com·Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia·smallbizai.au
RenewEconomy reports APG Asset Management has announced plans to put over $1 billion into Octopus Australia's OASIS renewables fund, joining existing backers including Rest, Hostplus and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
Australia's NRFC has injected $150m into Brandon Capital's sixth life-science vehicle, lifting it to a $439m close; past NRFC cheques to local deep-tech firms are also recapped.
Weekly roundup of seven Australian startup raises, led by Airwallex's Series F, plus EatClub, Kite Magnetics, Termina, Preve, Foremind and Liveheats.
Also Startup Daily
Payments firm Airwallex closed a large Series F at a $9.6 billion valuation, led by Square Peg with several local and global backers, while the piece recalls its earlier raises back to 2016.
Gilmour Space has final approval to launch its Eris rocket Thursday from Queensland, carrying Vegemite and a camera on the maiden flight of Australia's first home-grown orbital rocket.
Feature on Australian capital moving into fusion energy: super fund Hostplus backs Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Foxglove Capital's Matt Bungey backs Type One, and startup HB11 Energy pursues laser proton-boron fusion locally.
Tyson & Blake, which seeded StrongRoom AI, threatens legal action against EVP, which is suing to recover its $10.4 million after the Melbourne medtech entered administration.
Weekly roundup of eight Australian startup raises, led by Sonder's $40 million round, plus AMP's $20 million raise and acquisition of the Shopify app Back in Stock.
Also Startup Daily·Defence Connect·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Defence Connect·Forbes Australia
Sonder, a workplace health and wellbeing provider, closed a 40 million dollar round with Blackbird and Seek leading, Hostplus newly investing, and funds aimed at growth across Australia, New Zealand, Britain and AI features.
Sonder has wrapped up a $40m round backed by Blackbird Ventures, Seek and Hostplus; the Sydney staff-wellness firm says its app has passed one million members and will push overseas.
Investors bought existing Rokt shares in a tender at a higher valuation; the piece also reports the mParticle acquisition, a board addition, and past raises.
Breakthrough Victoria puts $2 million into ElectraLith, a Victorian startup whose lithium extraction technology was developed at Monash University, as part of a Series A led by Main Sequence.
Breakthrough Victoria's update describes its $2 million commitment to ElectraLith's Series A, led by Main Sequence, covering the lithium extractor's water-free refining technology, Monash ties, pilot plant plans and growing team.
Also Startup Daily
Employment Hero acquires Canada's Humi for $112m and, filings show, paid $43.4m for Ben Thompson's Employment Innovations; the story also recalls its 2023 Series F and investor clash.
Victorian epilepsy device maker Seer Medical has entered voluntary administration, with Pitcher Partners appointed amid a product recall and a cofounder's legal dispute; backers included Breakthrough Victoria and Cochlear.
Adelaide IoT satellite firm Myriota has raised $50 million, led by the National Reconstruction Fund’s $25 million contribution, with Main Sequence and Inter Valley Ventures also backing; an NRFC director has resigned.
Year-end roundup ranking 2024's twelve largest startup raises, headed by PsiQuantum's $940 million government-backed quantum computing round, plus Guzman y Gomez's ASX listing and Betashares' Temasek investment.
Adelaide satellite company Fleet Space has banked a $100 million Series D, with Teachers' Venture Growth leading and a $525 million valuation, to grow ExoSphere, its space-based mineral exploration platform.
Fleet Space Technologies has secured $150 million in a Series D round led by a Canadian pension fund, with existing backers Blackbird Ventures, Hostplus and Horizons Ventures also participating.
Satellite company Fleet Space has closed a Series D backed by Teachers' Venture Growth and prior backers, lifting its valuation past $800 million, with proceeds earmarked for its mineral-exploration platform.
Also Space Connect·spaceanddefense.io·aap.com.au·@AuManufacturing·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Space Connect·@AuManufacturing·Forbes Australia
Hostplus has tipped an additional A$125 million into the deep-tech fund IP Group runs, taking its overall backing to A$435 million across companies spun out of Australian universities.