Investor · 1 deal
Melbourne-based university where Michelle Chen completed her PhD and collaborates on research
Melbourne, VIC
Every published round RMIT University 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GonGlobal | Grant | Sep 2026 | $1m | Participant | SmartCompany (16 Sep 2026), Startup Daily (15 Sep 2026), SmartCompany (4 Sep 2026), datapile.co, Startup Daily (2 Sep 2026), Dealroom (1 Sep 2026), Dealroom (1 Sep 2026) |
Companies RMIT University has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GonGlobal | Melbourne startup developing needle-free IVF treatment | Sep 2026, Grant | 1 | 0 |
Fund closes reported for RMIT University, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies RMIT University has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal RMIT University did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Arnan Mitchell | Director of the Integrated Photonics and Applications Centre | Defence Connect |
| Leslie Yeo | Distinguished Professor | Startup Daily |
| Professor Vipul Bansal | Nanotechnology Specialist | Mirage News, proactiveinvestors.com, newshub.medianet.com.au |
Stories naming RMIT University. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
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.
Melbourne medical device maker GonGlobal has received a A$1 million grant, split evenly between Innovation Victoria and RMIT University, to develop Ovulair, which delivers fertility medication by inhalation instead of injection.
Also Dealroom·Startup Daily·datapile.co·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany
Private-equity-backed drinks group Fermentum has bought Melbourne craft brewer Two Birds for $24.7 million, its sixth brewery; the piece also reviews the site's sustainability record and earlier sector consolidations.
Also glassandnote.com
Victorian pre-seed program BVUIP, backed by Breakthrough Victoria and seven universities, has funded startups EntroMat, Excelligent and Remagine Labs, plus fellowship grants for three PhD-led ventures.
Breakthrough Victoria staff attended agrifood, climate finance, women's health and deep tech events, and joined the launch of agritech firm YieldX.
Q&A with a Breakthrough Victoria fellow reflecting on her early months building Mental Jam, a mental-health games startup, and her plans to apply for an AEA grant.
Profile of Snoretox, a biotech using a modified tetanus toxin to strengthen weak muscles in dogs and humans, which has won a $1 million government research grant and is seeking investors.
Wholesale Investor's Steve Torso highlights Australian life sciences companies from the Emergence Preview Series, noting government grant funding, a Series A extension, venture co-investment, and a medtech company's ASX listing.
Also Wholesale Investor
Roundup of manufacturing news: Archer Materials' biochip results with IMEC, Resmed's CPAP mask launch, Boeing's RAAF P-8A upgrades, Breakthrough Victoria's $75m across venture funds, an Avalon Airport freight facility, and Sleeptite's FlexiSense.
Breakthrough Victoria has chosen three academic founders for its new fellowship, providing each with $150,000 to help commercialise research in mental health, IVF and skin cancer detection.
Breakthrough Victoria announces the first three fellows of its $7.5 million fellowship, giving each researcher $150,000 and support to turn research into startups in mental health games, IVF imaging and skin cancer detection.
Breakthrough Victoria's fellowship has put $150,000 into Mental Jam, whose mobile games build emotional coping skills; the fellowship is a $7.5 million Victorian initiative to create up to 50 research startups.
Australian nanobiotech firm Nexsen has begun trading on the sharemarket after an $8m IPO; earlier government grants and an RMIT research collaboration are also noted.
Construction firm Northern Trade Solutions is launching a glass-making arm, Northern Glass Solutions, with a $668,072 Northern Territory Government grant toward a $5.4 million, 12-month project alongside industry and university partners.
Atmo Biosciences has won American regulator clearance for its swallowable gas-sensing capsule, an RMIT invention licensed in 2018; sales begin in July, after RMIT swapped the patents for equity in April.
CSIRO's ninth ON accelerator cohort of eleven research teams has completed the program, with three members winning grants, two filing patents, and individual awards announced.
CSIRO's ON Accelerate program presents its ninth intake of eleven research startups, drawn from universities nationwide and the agency itself, spanning biotech, healthcare and sustainability, at a Melbourne showcase.
Australian Catholic University signs on as the seventh university in Breakthrough Victoria's co-investment platform, with matched funding pledged; the article also recaps four earlier startup investments via Melbourne's Genesis Pre-Seed fund.
Roundup: Space Machines' joint India mission clears a design milestone with an $8.5m government grant behind it, RMIT and Skykraft scale up photonics-based navigation tech, and SunCable names a new group CEO.
Quantum Brilliance, a Canberra-based maker of diamond-based quantum chips, has drawn fresh equity from the National Reconstruction Fund and more from Breakthrough Victoria to build a diamond foundry, with prior grants and backers recapped.
The National Reconstruction Fund has taken a $13 million stake in quantum maker Quantum Brilliance, while a defence accelerator funds University of Western Australia quantum research and Germany's Cyber Agency contracts the company.
Also Forbes Australia·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany
Quantum Brilliance has locked in a $30 million Series A, with Breakthrough Victoria and the National Reconstruction Fund backing its plan to open the nation's first foundry making quantum diamond devices.
Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Tech Council of Australia
Breakthrough Victoria has put another $10m into Quantum Brilliance, which builds diamond-based quantum hardware, funding a new Victorian foundry and its joint research hub with two universities.
Also Breakthrough Victoria·Breakthrough Victoria·Breakthrough Victoria·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia·Startup Daily·quantumbrilliance.com·quantumwire.com·quantumzeitgeist.com
Manufacturing sector roundup: Whyalla steelworks resumes production, Maggie Beer Holdings' chief executive to depart, ReNu Energy secures hydrogen funding, Defence names grant recipients, Orthocell gains Canadian approval, and AEA appoints its advisory board.
Breakthrough Victoria's agrifood director reflects on Victoria's food-system challenges and how portfolio companies Smart Paddock, Jupiter Ionics and Eden Brew could help build a more sustainable food future.
Manufacturing roundup: Australian Vanadium and entX land government grants, Hexagon Energy Materials completes a $1 million round, Australian Dairy Nutritionals appoints a CEO, Aurora Labs adds a director, plus vessel, export and research briefs.
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
Breakthrough Victoria bought shares in Atmo Biosciences from Planet Innovation, size undisclosed; the article also recalls Atmo's February 2023 Series B and Breakthrough Victoria's earlier investments in three manufacturers.
Manufacturing news roundup: CSL opens a Melbourne headquarters, Hazer raises $14.7m, Iluka advances its refinery with federal loan backing, plus executive appointments at Lithium Australia, Vast Solar and CSIRO's board.
Stress-imaging startup 1Millikelvin won two innovation awards at the Avalon airshow, including a $50,000 SME prize, with individual and commendation awards going to BAE Systems, MicroTau and RMIT-affiliated researchers.
Roundup of Australian manufacturing news: Austin Engineering and Thales win government grants, IMCRC hands futuremap to the Australian Industry Group, AMSL Aero completes its eVTOL's first flight, and Gale Pacific reports half-year earnings.
Biotech firm BiomeBank raised $10.65 million from Ellerston Capital, the South Australian Venture Capital Fund and The Hospital Research Foundation to expand manufacturing and advance its microbiome therapies.
Also SmartCompany·Techboard
Podcast interview with Green Thermal Energy Technologies managing director Paul Keen on high-speed turbomachinery, heat pumps and a RMIT project, backed by an Innovative Manufacturing CRC grant, to reshore production.
Ojas Group's solar panel upcycling plant in Victoria, backed by a 2020 federal grant and university partners, is set to begin operating by late 2023, alongside other Australian recyclers.