OIF Ventures

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #180, 4th October 2026

Weekly roundup reporting Australian startup funding rounds and government grants, a venture fund close, agreed acquisitions, an IPO pricing, a collapse, plus executive hires and AI policy developments.

Asset analysis platform Trendspek banks $6 million to keep critical infrastructure upright

Trendspek, a Sydney maker of 3D infrastructure condition records, has banked $6 million in a round OIF Ventures led, funding North American and European growth and AI tools that flag defects in inspection imagery.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily·This Week in Australian Startups

15 ANZ startups that raised $67.2 million this week

Roundup of the week's Australia and New Zealand raises: Gridsight, Pearler and Apate.AI secure the biggest cheques, Drumbeat and GonGlobal add smaller sums, and ten AI startups join Airwallex's Latitude 37 program.

Apate.AI raises $11.4M Seed to turn AI scammers against themselves

Apate.AI, which deploys conversational AI to disrupt phone fraud, has banked $11.4 million in seed backing from Lobby Capital and others, with proceeds earmarked for overseas growth and a US re-incorporation.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·ARN (ARNnet)

ANU spinout Syenta raises $36 million Series A to make AI chips

Sydney-based chip packaging startup Syenta raised a Series A led by Playground Global and the National Reconstruction Fund to commercialise its interconnect manufacturing technology and expand into the US.

Seven ANZ startups that raised $17 million this week

Weekly roundup of seven Australian and New Zealand startup raises totalling $17 million, including two startups entering Y Combinator, plus a new QuantX Labs board director and SmartrMail's earlier sale to Relay Commerce.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily

DataMasque raises $5.6 million to tackle one of AI's biggest enterprise hurdles

DataMasque, whose platform masks customer data for AI use, has collected $5.6 million from Wavemaker Partners, OIF Ventures and Icehouse Ventures, with Wavemaker leading.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

Three ANZ startups that raised $61.4 million this week

Weekly roundup of three Series A raises: chipmaker Syenta (US$26m), insights platform Ideally and battery recycler Renewable Metals, detailing leads, amounts and each company's earlier funding.

Also Startup Daily

AI chip maker Syenta raises $36 million to expand to the US

Chip startup Syenta raised a Series A led by Playground Global with the National Reconstruction Fund to commercialise its packaging technology and expand into the US; ex-Intel chief Pat Gelsinger joins its board.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

ANU spinout raises $36 million Series A to make AI chips

Syenta, an ANU spinout in Sydney, has secured $36 million in Series A funding to commercialise its chip packaging technology; Playground Global and the National Reconstruction Fund led, and Pat Gelsinger joins the board.

Four Australian startups that raised $31.9 million this week

Weekly roundup of four Australian funding rounds: thermal energy storage, litigation data software, preventative health, and construction site documentation, together worth $31.9 million.

Also Startup Daily

Sydney's Mary Technology raises $7 million to tackle litigation 'fact chaos'

Sydney legaltech startup Mary Technology has raised $7 million, led by OIF Ventures with existing backers, to fund US expansion including a new San Francisco office.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

24 Aussie startups that raised $91 million this week

Roundup of the week's Australian startup funding: fresh raises for five companies, Startmate's Summer '26 accelerator intake of 19 startups, and Affinda's acquisition of Pathfindr.

Also Startup Daily

Our Investment in Appetise - Building the Intelligence Layer for FMCG Marketers

Ten13's post sets out its reasons for backing Appetise's A$7 million Series A with OIF, Icehouse, NZVC and K1W1, highlighting the grocery platform's shopper dataset and growth.

Also Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·Startup Daily

AI cybersecurity agent Nullify re-Seeds with $17.8 million

Australian-founded AI vulnerability platform Nullify, now San Francisco-based, has closed a second seed round led by SYN Ventures with returning backer Black Nova; SYN's Glenn Chisholm joins its board.

Also Startup Daily

Three Aussie startups that raised $55.8 million this week

Roundup of three Australian raises: Omniscient Neurotechnology's in-progress Series D drawing a $20m national fund investment, deceased-estates platform EstateXchange's first raise, and fitness software firm Hapana's Microequities-led round.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany

Gym software platform Hapana lifts $7.25 million

Hapana, a membership platform for gyms and studios, has closed a $7.25 million round led by Microequities with OIF Ventures returning, earmarked for AI features and overseas growth; backer Bailador revalued its holding.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

Six ANZ startups that raised $568.1 million this week

Funding roundup led by Airwallex's US$330 million Series G at a $12 billion valuation, with raises from Kasada, Hnry, All G, Bless Payments and Emanda, plus earlier rounds recalled.

Also Startup Daily

Data-scraping bot blocker backed by Malcolm Turnbull pockets $30 million

Bot defence firm Kasada has secured $30 million from EQT plus earlier backers Turnbull & Partners, Reinventure, Main Sequence, OIF, StepStone and Ten Eleven, with founder Sam Crowther back in Sydney.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

Cheque-in: 8 startups raised $113 million this week to end October

Weekly funding roundup covering eight raises totalling over $113 million across aerospace, biotech, materials, health and software, plus a pharmacy firm's acquisition out of administration.

Eight ANZ startups that raised $113 million this week

Weekly roundup of eight trans-Tasman startup raises worth a combined $113 million-plus, alongside Joe Zhou's buyout of StrongRoom AI from administrators.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily

Former Canva employees raise $8.5 million for patient care startup Human Health

Human Health, a Sydney patient-care platform built by two ex-Canva product leaders, has landed $8.5 million in a round led by LocalGlobe to expand across the US and UK.

Also Forbes Australia·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily

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.

TEN13 wins first institutional mandate under the $130m Queensland Venture Capital Development Fund, managed by QIC

Ten13 announces its appointment as a manager under Queensland's $130m VCDF, run by QIC, and its first investment through it: co-leading a $2.5m seed round for OneMRI, a Brisbane healthtech company, alongside OIF Ventures.

Cheque-in: 19 ANZ startups that raised $69 million this week

Weekly roundup covering 19 Australian and New Zealand raises, headlined by Andromeda Robotics' $23m Series A, plus Freckle, Marloo, X-Hemp, Harvest B, Wable, Starboard and Techstars Sydney's 12-startup cohort.

Also SmartCompany

19 ANZ startups that raised $66.7 million this week

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

OIF Ventures takes CBA-backed Payble off ASX-listed Identitii's hands for $1.6 million

Identitii has exited Payble in a $1.6 million stake sale to OIF Ventures, with proceeds going to its BNDRY compliance platform; OIF lifts its holding in the council-payments startup it backed in 2023.

Identitii sells remaining Payble stake to OIF Ventures for $1.6 million

Identitii, an ASX-listed firm, has offloaded its last Payble shares to OIF Ventures, receiving $1.6 million it will direct toward its BNDRY compliance product for hospitality venues.

Five Aussie startups that raised $95.45 million this week

Weekly roundup detailing five Australian raises: Vaxxas' Series D plus debt facility amid executive changes, Skutopia's growth round, Send Payments' backing and CEO change, Apate.ai's seed, and Coursebox's seed.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Australian FinTech·Dealroom·Startup Daily

AI-powered cyber-intelligence startup Apate.AI nabs $2.5 million Seed round for its anti-scam bot army

Apate.ai, which floods scammers with AI bots that soak up their time, has raised a $2.5 million seed round — OIF Ventures leading, Investible taking part — to build product and expand overseas.

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

Our $5.5m Series A investment in DataWeavers

Five V Capital announced leading Dataweavers' $5.5 million Series A with QIC and returning backer OIF, funding the cloud-operations platform's continued team, technology and international growth.

Go1 founders’ new body scans startup, OneMRI, spots $2.5 million Seed raise

Body scan startup OneMRI, co-founded by Go1's Andrew Barnes and Dr Vu Tran, has secured $2.5 million in seed funding from a broad investor group to expand its preventative whole-body MRI scanning service nationally.

Also Forbes Australia·Startup Daily

Five Aussie startups that raised $85 million this week

Roundup of five Australian raises totalling $85 million: National Renewable Network's Series A, plus Syenta, Cuttable, SprintSuite and Bitwise Agronomy, with lead investors and expansion plans for each.

AI semiconductor tech startup generates $8.8 million pre-Series A

ANU spin-out Syenta has secured $8.8 million to commercialise its chip-packaging technology, with Investible leading; the piece recalls its 2022 seed round and selection for Applied Materials' ASTRA accelerator.

Also Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily

Five Aussie startups that raised $35.2 million this week

Weekly roundup detailing five Australian startups' raises: a PR platform's Series B, a biotech's post-stealth funding, a defence tech round, a pre-seed voice-AI raise, and a crowdfunding campaign.

Also Startup Daily

Pedestrian cofounder Chris Wirasinha nails $23 million Series B for adtech startup Linkby

Sydney adtech firm Linkby secured US$15 million in a Volition Capital-led Series B to expand in the US; CEO Chris Wirasinha earlier founded Pedestrian.tv, later sold to Nine.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

Six Aussie startups that raised $56.7 million this week

Weekly roundup detailing six Australian startup raises announced this week, covering Heidi Health, Instant, Esper, Trusst AI, Flowing Bee and GonGlobal, with investors, founders, valuations and earlier rounds.

Also Startup Daily

Couple's start-up clinches $25m valuation with Blackbird backing

Melbourne developer-tools startup Factor House closed its first external round — $5 million, led by Blackbird, valuing it at $25 million — with OIF Ventures, Flying Fox Ventures, the Alice Anderson Fund and two angels joining.

Rosterfy raises $5.5 million as volunteer tech powers Super Bowl LIX

Rosterfy, an Australian maker of volunteer-management software, has landed fresh capital from OIF Ventures as its platform runs Super Bowl volunteering; the piece also recalls earlier Bailador investments from 2024 and 2023.

Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily