Accelerator · 4 deals
Every published round muru-D 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, and a place in one of its own programs is under Cohorts.
| Company | Stage | Announced | Amount | Role | Alongside | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farmbot | Bridge / extension | 13 Jun 2024 | $4.6m | Participant | AgFunderNews (20 Jun 2024), SmartCompany (14 Jun 2024), AgFunderNews (13 Jun 2024), SmartCompany (11 Jun 2024) | |
| Zetifi | Series A | 9 Dec 2022 | $12m | Lead | Startup Daily (12 Aug 2025), SmartCompany (30 Jan 2023), Techboard, SmartCompany (14 Dec 2022), @AuManufacturing (11 Dec 2022), SmartCompany (9 Dec 2022), @AuManufacturing (9 Dec 2022), Startup Daily (7 Dec 2022), SmartCompany (7 Dec 2022), GrainCorp Ventures | |
| Alta | Seed | 7 Feb 2022 | US$12.4m (A$17.3m) | Participant | Startup Daily, TechCrunch Australia | |
| Farmbot Monitoring Solutions | Series A | Oct 2021 | $2.7m | Lead | Startup Daily (11 Jun 2024), Startup Daily (8 Dec 2022) |
Everyone muru-D has named to a program in published coverage. A place in a program is not a raise: the cheque is the figure recorded with the place, which is the program's standard terms where we hold them, and a blank is one we don't.
| Member | Program | Announced | Cheque | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smart Paddock | muru-D accelerator program | the first Melbourne intake | - | Skalata Ventures, Breakthrough Victoria |
Companies muru-D has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alta | 7 Feb 2022, Seed | 1 | 0 | |
| Farmbot | Farmland remote water and asset monitoring platform for livestock farms | 13 Jun 2024, Bridge / extension | 1 | 0 |
| Farmbot Monitoring Solutions | Oct 2021, Series A | 1 | 1 | |
| Smart Paddock | Agricultural tech company making a reusable, battery-free smart ear tag for livestock mon… | Accelerator | 1 | 1 |
| Zetifi | Farm communications startup | 9 Dec 2022, Series A | 1 | 1 |
Fund closes reported for muru-D, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies muru-D has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal muru-D did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Ben Sand | Folklore Ventures | |
| Luke Harwood | Head of Innovation | Beef Central / Grain Central |
Stories naming muru-D. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Victorian agtech firm Smart Paddock has raised a $1.7m seed round co-led by Breakthrough Victoria and Telstra's muru-D, with Skalata, Twynam and Little Group also investing; Telstra executive Jon Young Flores joins the board.
Folklore Ventures Q&A with Strong Compute founder Ben Sand covering its enterprise AI compute offering, community events, grant programs, hiring and his take on how AI market assumptions have shifted.
Farm water monitoring firm Farmbot raised A$4.6 million, topping its initial $3 million goal, with Telstra and Macdoch Ventures among returning backers as it pushes US growth through subsidiary Ranchbot.
Farmbot has closed a bridge round to bankroll its push into the United States, with prior backers and fresh investors taking part, following raises in 2021 and 2022.
Seven Australian startups together banked over $90 million in the past seven days across venue software, hydrogen aviation, social media, craft brewing, plastics alternatives, aged-care robotics and accountant training.
Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Forbes Australia
Telstra has put another $2 million into water-monitoring agtech Farmbot, its third backing of the business, to support growth and an upcoming United States launch.
Zetifi, a regional NSW farm connectivity startup, raised a $12m Series A led by Telstra and GrainCorp's ventures fund, with existing backers returning; it earlier won accelerator places, government grants and a Grow-NY prize.
Virtual reality studio Alta has secured a $12.4 million seed round backed by Makers Fund and Andreessen Horowitz, valuing the Sydney-founded company at $62 million to build content and expand its team.
Also Startup Daily
Org-design software maker Functionly announced a AU$3.6m seed round with Black Nova Venture Capital leading and several funds plus angels taking part, bringing its overall funding to AU$5.9m alongside an earlier A$598k government grant.