COO, Athena · angel in 1 deal
| Role | Organisation | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Board Member (former) | Australian Payments Council | Square Peg Capital |
| COO | Athena | Square Peg Capital (20 Apr 2022), Square Peg Capital (19 Apr 2022) |
| Director (former) | New Payments Platform | Square Peg Capital |
| Founder | Athena Home Loans | Square Peg Capital (1 Sep 2022), Square Peg Capital (7 Apr 2022), Business News Australia |
| Founder | iSelect | Square Peg Capital (1 Sep 2022), Square Peg Capital (20 Apr 2022) |
Every published round Michael Starkey 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Send Payments | Series A | 9 Jan 2022 | $5m | Participant | Startup Daily (25 Aug 2025), Startup Daily (7 Feb 2022), Australian FinTech, Business News Australia |
Companies Michael Starkey has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Send Payments | Cross-border payments fintech | 9 Jan 2022, Series A | 1 | 0 |
Fund closes reported for Michael Starkey, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies Michael Starkey has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Michael Starkey did.
Stories naming Michael Starkey. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Square Peg podcast episode with Athena Home Loans' founders Nathan and Michael on lessons from building the mortgage challenger, their earlier ventures iSelect and NABTrade, and its record raise from local backers.
Square Peg explains its rationale for leading Athena's Series B, joined by Hostplus and Airtree, with analysis of the Australian mortgage market, the challenger lender's model, and its founding and senior team.
Square Peg's post explains why it led mortgage platform Athena's $70 million Series C, with Hostplus and Airtree reinvesting and Australian Super, NAB Ventures and Salesforce Ventures joining as new backers.
Square Peg announces it led Zeller's AU$6.3 million seed round with Apex Capital co-investing, profiling co-founders Ben Pfisterer and Dominic Yap and their merchant payments and business banking offering ahead of launch.