Startup · $175.5m raised · AI · Hardware
Maker of reconfigurable measurement devices originating from ANU research
San Diego, OS
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round Liquid Instruments raised.
| Investor | Rounds | Invested |
|---|---|---|
| Acorn Capital | Series C · undisclosed · Series C | - |
| Anzu Partners | Unnamed stage | - |
| Breakthrough Victoria | Series C · Series C · undisclosed | $15,000,000 |
| Keysight Technologies | Series C · Series C | $25,000,000 |
| Lockheed Martin Ventures | undisclosed | - |
| National Reconstruction Fund Corporation | Series C · Series C | - |
| NRF Corporation | Series C | $28,450,000 |
| Powerhouse Ventures | undisclosed | - |
| Significant Capital Ventures | Series C | - |
| Tribeca | Series C | - |
Investors whose own portfolio pages list Liquid Instruments, even though we haven't found any coverage of the round yet.
| Investor | Listed on |
|---|---|
| MA Financial Group | its portfolio page ↗ |
| MA Growth Ventures | its portfolio page ↗ |
Companies Liquid Instruments 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Prof Brian Schmidt | Board Member (former) | liquidinstruments.com |
| Professor Daniel Shaddock | CEO (former) · Founder | Startup Daily (5 Aug 2026), iTnews, Startup Daily (29 Apr 2026), SmartCompany (29 Apr 2026), Significant Ventures, liquidinstruments.com (28 Apr 2026), Breakthrough Victoria (10 Dec 2025), Startup Daily (10 Nov 2025), Breakthrough Victoria (28 Feb 2025), SmartCompany (21 Jun 2024), Startup Daily (19 Jun 2024), @AuManufacturing, SmartCompany (19 Jun 2024), liquidinstruments.com (19 Jun 2024), Breakthrough Victoria (19 Jun 2024) |
| Dr Danielle Wuchenich | COO · Founder | Significant Ventures |
| Joaquin Torrecilla | Vice President of Software Transformation | Startup Daily |
Stories naming Liquid Instruments. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Victoria's opposition pledges to shut down Breakthrough Victoria and sell its investments, calling the state fund a failure. The piece recalls portfolio raises, a rescue deal, an NYSE listing and the LaunchVic merger.
The Australian government is lifting its industry-policy focus on space; the National Reconstruction Fund has already put $200 million into local space companies, among them Gilmour Space Technologies and Southern Launch.
Cut Through Venture's Q2 2026 report counts $1.7 billion announced across 64 venture rounds, carried by two mega-deals, with record median deal sizes, AI concentration, and deal counts at their slowest since before 2020.
Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany
Breakthrough Victoria announces it made follow-on investments in four portfolio companies during 2025-26 — Number 8 Bio, Navi Medical Technologies, Liquid Instruments and Type One Energy — to support their growth and commercialisation.
A directory of fifteen Canberra investors backing deep tech, noting ACTivate Capital's fund first close, several government-backed company raises, an incubator's alumni, and one portfolio acquisition.
Breakthrough Victoria rounds up April–May 2026 portfolio news, including grants for Number 8 Bio and Xefco, Liquid Instruments' Series C, program selections, partnerships, regulatory clearances and two new Aravax directors.
Analysis of Liquid Instruments' $50m Series C, whose co-leads were Keysight and Australia's NRF, examining defense-tech capital trends alongside comparable 2026 hardware raises.
Retrospective on Liquid Instruments, the Canberra-born software-defined test instrument maker, which has closed a fifty-million-US-dollar Series C co-led by the reconstruction fund and Keysight, with Significant Ventures among existing investors.
Also Breakthrough Victoria·Breakthrough Victoria·Breakthrough Victoria·Breakthrough Victoria·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Cut Through Venture·Startup Daily
Liquid Instruments has raised a $50m Series C for its reconfigurable testing hardware, co-led by Australia's National Reconstruction Fund Corporation and Keysight Technologies; proceeds go to AI development and aerospace, defence and chip markets.
Breakthrough Victoria highlights portfolio achievements including Amber Electric's forty-five million dollar raise, Bygen and Diag-Nose grants, and Quantum Brilliance series A funding.
Also Breakthrough Victoria·Breakthrough Victoria·RenewEconomy·Startup Daily·RenewEconomy·Dealroom
The ACT Government launched the ACTivate Capital Fund with $23 million committed, backed by Epicorp, UNSW Canberra and family offices, targeting Canberra early-stage companies.
Breakthrough Victoria's CEO sets out the fund's investment record and an EY report finding its portfolio delivers strong returns and economic impact for Victoria.
Breakthrough Victoria highlights recent achievements of portfolio companies including funding, awards, and expansions for firms like Liquid Instruments, Quantum Brilliance, and Samsara Eco.
The Victorian government's VC fund Breakthrough Victoria slipped to a loss, its annual report showing startup investments, cost cutting and boardroom departures amid criticism of its spending and performance.
Roundup of nine local startups that together banked a combined $38m-plus this week, spanning precision instruments, proptech, adtech, robotics, food, energy storage and AI, with several earlier raises recalled.
Also Australian FinTech·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·AgFunderNews
Victorian government-backed investor Breakthrough Victoria has put $15 million into Liquid Instruments, a maker of reconfigurable instruments expanding to Melbourne; earlier raises by Acorn Capital and Anzu Partners are also recalled.
Also SmartCompany
Breakthrough Victoria announces a $15 million investment in Liquid Instruments, a maker of software-defined test instruments, which plans a Melbourne office, local manufacturing growth and dozens of high-tech hires.
Also Breakthrough Victoria·Breakthrough Victoria·SmartCompany·@AuManufacturing·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·liquidinstruments.com·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany
Techboard's September 2022 roundup reports Australian raises led by Morse Micro's $140m Series B, several acquisitions including ResApp Health to Pfizer, fund closes by Telstra Ventures, OIF and Main Sequence, and open raises.
Robotics firm Advanced Navigation, backed by publisher OIF, is buying ANU spin-out Vai Photonics in an all-scrip deal of up to $40m; Vai's navigation tech is in talks with NASA.
Also OIF Ventures portfolio·Startup Daily·Dynamic Business·Startup Daily