Techstars' 2024 cohort kicks off with record number of women-led startups
Ten of the twelve startups joining the NSW-backed Techstars Sydney accelerator for 2024 have a female founder; past participant SeenCulture earlier banked $1m in capital.
Startup · $1m raised
Melbourne, VIC
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round SeenCulture raised.
| Investor | Rounds | Invested |
|---|---|---|
| Alice Anderson Fund | Pre-seed | - |
| Cut Through Ventures | Pre-seed | - |
| InterValley Ventures | Pre-seed | - |
| Kirstin Hunter | Pre-seed | - |
| M8 Ventures | Pre-seed | - |
| NSW Government | Accelerator | - |
| Preethi Mohan | Pre-seed | - |
| Techstars | Pre-seed | - |
| Torus | Pre-seed | - |
Companies SeenCulture 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Kirstin Hunter | Board Member | SmartCompany |
| Nikki Tugano | CEO & Founder | SmartCompany (5 Mar 2026), SmartCompany (10 Sep 2024), SmartCompany (15 Aug 2024), SmartCompany (26 Jul 2024), Startup Daily (20 Jul 2024), SmartCompany (8 Mar 2024), Startup Daily (3 Oct 2023), Startup Daily (24 Jul 2023) |
| Lea Rausch | Head of Operations and Customer Success | SmartCompany |
| Aubrey Blanche-Sarellano | HR Tech Advisor | SmartCompany |
Stories naming SeenCulture. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Ten of the twelve startups joining the NSW-backed Techstars Sydney accelerator for 2024 have a female founder; past participant SeenCulture earlier banked $1m in capital.
Advice piece in which two founders who competed in a SmartCompany pitch competition share lessons on pitch deck content, using analogies, demonstrating traction, and rehearsing answers before a live investor pitch.
Weekly roundup of three Australian raises: adtech firm Cuttable's seed round, Fundabl's equity round and SeenCulture's funding, naming investors, plus new Cuttable co-CEOs and a board appointment.
SeenCulture, a workplace platform, has secured $1 million in a pre-seed round from Alice Anderson Fund, M8 Ventures, InterValley Ventures and Torus, having earlier joined Techstars' first Sydney cohort with Cut Through Angels backing.
Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany
SeenCulture's founder marks IWD by profiling four women who backed her HR-tech startup's growth: a mentor, its first investor, its operations head and an adviser, recalling its first cheque and Techstars Sydney cohort.
Cut Through Angels launched a syndicate letting wholesale investors back the twelve startups in Techstars' Sydney accelerator class of 2023 ahead of Demo Day, with each cohort company and founder named.