Company
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round River City Labs raised.
Companies River City Labs 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Pauline Fetaui | General Manager | Startup Daily |
| Peta Ellis | Foundation CEO (former) | Beaten Zone Venture Partners |
| Steve Baxter | Founder | Business News Australia, Beaten Zone Venture Partners (20 Aug 2026), Beaten Zone Venture Partners (17 Sep 2025), Beaten Zone Venture Partners (3 Sep 2025), Beaten Zone Venture Partners (6 Feb 2025), Ten13, Startup Daily |
Stories naming River City Labs. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Steve Baxter's Brisbane defence-tech venture firm Beaten Zone has wrapped its first fund at $26 million, with Baxter the largest backer at $6 million of his own money.
Beaten Zone Venture Partners announces Fund 1 joined Activate Capital and UNSW in a seed round for Seitec, a Canberra defence startup whose seismic sensors find unexploded ordnance and hidden drones.
Also Dealroom·Business News Australia·Defence Connect·Startup Daily
BZV's post announcing it co-led Zendir's oversubscribed seed round with Investible, joined by Galileo Ventures, TEN13, Jelix Ventures and Innovation Bay, to fund overseas growth of the spacecraft digital-twin platform.
Steve Baxter's Brisbane defence-tech fund announces it now holds unconditional early-stage venture capital registration, giving investors tax breaks; it has put A$4.45m into four companies so far.
Brisbane defence-tech fund manager BZV says Fund I has drawn over A$10 million in commitments, meeting its ESVCLP condition, with A$60 million targeted and a final close expected inside 18 months.
Also Startup Daily
Defence-focused VC firm Beaten Zone Venture Partners adds two people: ex-Army general Mick Ryan as advisor, and Peta Ellis rejoining Steve Baxter's team alongside existing staff.
Interview with entrepreneur Mick Dempsey recalling founding payments firm Ezidebit, its 2014 sale to Global Payments, his family office's early-stage tech investments, plus his new legal-tech venture EzyLegal.
Interview with angel investor Carl Hartmann covering his Temando exit, co-founding Compono and Lyre's, what he looks for in founders, and his early-stage portfolio strategy.
PledgeMe's Australian crowdfunding arm, bought by Finley Capital Partners, rebrands as Microwd under new Head of Equity Crowdfunding Megan Owen to back female-led startups; past campaigns include Mungalli Creek Dairy and Food Connect Shed.