Startup · $5.1m raised · Education
University leading the Current and Emergent Quantum Technology training centre
Adelaide, SA
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round University of Adelaide raised.
| Investor | Rounds | Invested |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator | Grant · Grant | - |
Every published round University of Adelaide 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bygen | Unnamed stage | Jun 2025 | $3.5m | Participant | Alberts Impact Ventures, SmartCompany |
Everyone University of Adelaide 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.
Companies University of Adelaide has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bygen | Carbon activation technology company that completed a Life Cycle Assessment | Jun 2025 | 1 | 0 |
Fund closes reported for University of Adelaide, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies University of Adelaide has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal University of Adelaide did.
| Company | Bought by | Kind | Announced | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No portfolio company of University of Adelaide is recorded as having been acquired. | ||||
Companies University of Adelaide 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Dr Ali Pourmousavi Kani | Senior Lecturer | @AuManufacturing |
| Ben Morton | Researcher (former) | SmartCompany, Startup Daily, Alberts Impact Ventures |
| Dr Lewis Dunnigan | Researcher (former) | SmartCompany, Startup Daily, Alberts Impact Ventures |
| Dr Erik Schartner | Researcher | Defence Connect |
| Jenny Mortimer | Professor of Plant Synthetic Biology | @AuManufacturing |
| Professor Kerry Wilkinson | Professor | Business News Australia, @AuManufacturing |
| Professor Tat-Jun (TJ) Chin | Professor | @AuManufacturing |
| Sahand Karimi | PhD Candidate | @AuManufacturing |
| Trong Nam Dinh | PhD Candidate | @AuManufacturing |
| Professor Anton Middelberg | Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) | dtb.solutions, @AuManufacturing |
| Professor Jessica Gallagher | Deputy Vice Chancellor – International and External Engagement | dtb.solutions |
| Professor Prash Sanders | Clinician-Scientist (former) | Brandon BioCatalyst, Brandon Capital |
| Professor Stephen Rodda | Bid Lead | @AuManufacturing |
| John Culton | Associate Professor | @AuManufacturing |
Stories naming University of Adelaide. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Defence Trailblazer funds emissions-reduction projects with Electric Motor Power, Ocius Technology and Praxis, and profiles renewable-technology ventures from its Entrepreneurial Foundations for Defence program.
Adelaide's Cambrian Defence & Space partners with Adelaide University cancer researchers to fly human stem cells on a European research rocket from Sweden, studying microgravity's effects, with South Australian government fund support.
MA Financial Group announces the appointment of Professor David Lloyd as an independent director to its board, effective 21 August 2026, citing his governance and leadership experience.
Defence Trailblazer showcases its researchers, ventures and projects at an Adelaide defence summit, citing over $140 million in industry support, as it prepares to hand over to AUSDII.
South Australian startups Lunio Energy and OptiGrid launch a 5 MW Strathalbyn battery into market trading; the piece recalls OptiGrid's seed round backed by CEFC, IP Group, Hostplus, universities and EnergyLab.
A 5 MW South Australian battery has started trading, the first project for developer Lunio Energy and the first four-hour site run on OptiGrid's optimisation platform, whose seed backers are recapped.
Historical profile of the Fremantle craft brewery founded in 2000, covering its rise, its 2012 acquisition by Lion and 2023 sale to Asahi, and its lasting mark on Australian beer culture.
Eight South Australian space startups have joined the 2026 Venture Catalyst Space accelerator, a six-month Adelaide University program backed by SASIC that helps founders turn space ideas into businesses.
Eight university- and company-led Australian quantum projects share $12.7 million in stage-two Critical Technologies Challenge Program grants, funding prototypes for data-centre cooling, medical imaging and rare-earth detection.
South Australian hollow-core fibre navigation project by Adelaide University, Northrop Grumman Australia and Norseld won almost half a million dollars in federal Ignite grant funding, adding to earlier Defence Trailblazer support.
Breakthrough Victoria's release marks Infleqtion's New York Stock Exchange listing, the investor's first portfolio listing, and notes further quantum backing of Quantum Brilliance plus Infleqtion's Victorian operations and partnerships.
Also Breakthrough Victoria·Breakthrough Victoria·Breakthrough Victoria·Breakthrough Victoria·Startup Daily·SmartCompany
Sparc Hydrogen, a Fortescue-backed joint venture, says its South Australian pilot plant has produced hydrogen continuously using sunlight and a catalyst; Fortescue Future Industries bought its stake in 2022.
A South Australian pilot plant run by Sparc Hydrogen, a venture of Sparc Technologies, Fortescue and the University of Adelaide, has shown sustained hydrogen production from sunlight and water alone.
University–government partnership Defence Trailblazer showcases the clean, low-emission defence projects it is funding with industry, plus ventures developed through its entrepreneurship readiness program.
Also Startup Daily
Defence Trailblazer is advancing emissions-cutting defence technology projects pairing companies with university researchers, and names seven ventures in its Entrepreneurial Foundations for Defence program.
Defence Trailblazer is running clean-energy projects with university and industry partners for Australian defence; its EFD program backs seven ventures developing batteries, drone power, hull-cleaning robots and solar tech.
Breakthrough Victoria reflects on its 2022 investment in quantum company Infleqtion, part of a larger raise, detailing Victorian operations, university partnerships, workforce programs and a planned US listing via SPAC.
Iondrive has secured up to $3.9m from Canberra's Industry Growth Program for a battery-recycling pilot plant, with an earlier $100,000 award from Green Industries SA funding urban mining research.
Profile of MEQ, whose beef-grading camera became the first video system the USDA certified in 15 years, recalling its 2023 raise and covering deployments at meat processors in the US, Australia and New Zealand.
Weekly roundup of readers' five favourite stories: a hydrogen grant for 1414 Degrees, LS Precast's rail tunnel contract, AML3D's US Navy pact, quantum clock breakthrough, and Suntory Oceania's launch.
The hydrogen partnership and a university have won a $2.75 million federal Innovate grant to advance a South Australian pilot reactor, adding to money their shareholders committed during 2025.
University of Southern Queensland-led researchers won an AEA Ignite grant of $198,679 to develop duckweed grown on dairy manure as biofuel feedstock, working with the University of Adelaide and Active Research.
Sparc Technologies, Fortescue and the University of Adelaide have switched on an Adelaide pilot plant that makes green hydrogen from sunlight without electrolysers.
Roundup of two raises: a seed round for a cloud-security startup protecting enterprise infrastructure, and growth money for a cleantech firm converting nut shells into filter material.
Also Startup Daily
Manufacturing roundup: two hydrogen aircraft developers register cryogenic hydrogen tanks, a new WA Chief Scientist begins, a battery recycler wins a state grant, and the steel lobby seeks US tariff relief.
A profile of fusion startup HB11 Energy, its collaborations, and founder Warren McKenzie's argument that Australia lacks a fusion strategy, pushing the company toward the US.
Roundup of manufacturing news: Sydney Rum Distillery's plans for a former dairy factory site, HiveKeepers beating its Kickstarter target, FBR's $6.3 million placement and restructure, plus research on enzymes, timber supply and waste-to-energy.
Weekly most-read roundup: a NSW lean-manufacturing program opens, Simcoa wins a $39.8m grant, First Graphene ships additive to the UK, Oceania Glass collapses, and a battery-recycling profile.
A satellite-servicing firm leads a collaborative effort, backed by program funding, to build a robotic test facility with university and defence partners; its 2026 debris mission earlier received an $8.5 million space agency grant.
Battery recycler Iondrive completed a $6.1 million share placement to fund a pilot plant for its deep eutectic solvent recycling process; proceeds may partly fund acquiring the University of Adelaide technology.
Also @AuManufacturing
Defence grants totalling over $60 million went to 21 Australian organisations, with quantum software firm Q-CTRL among the recipients of contracts under a federal emerging technologies program.
Canberra is funding 21 quantum and counter-disinformation defence projects, awarding $60 million in grants through ASCA's Emerging and Disruptive Technologies programme to universities and companies nationwide.
Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·@AuManufacturing
1414 Degrees says its SiBox silicon heat-storage technology is nearing commercialisation, with federal expansion support on offer, and recalls a February consortium grant win for its SiPHyR hydrogen project.
Roundup of Australian manufacturing briefs: Provaris bids for a hydrogen tank production cell, Lithium Australia wraps a share purchase plan, QEM launches a rights issue, and Laronix hires a speech pathologist.
Roundup of Australian manufacturing updates: Sparc Hydrogen's R&D tax refund, executive appointments at Lockheed Martin Australia, Wellnex Life and Raytheon, a ReNu Energy power purchase deal, and BlueScope joining a low-carbon research centre.
Briefs roundup: Forbidden Foods is acquiring oat milk maker Oat Milk Goodness alongside a $650,000 raise, Orbital Corporation wins a $1 million WA grant, and Sam Roberts becomes Professionals Australia's CEO.
Roundup of Australian manufacturing news: IDT Australia wins a Sanofi mRNA contract, Amplia collects an R&D tax refund, OptiGrid enters EnergyLab's accelerator, plus a ship launch, hydrogen towers, road works and a job listing.
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.
The Defence Innovation Partnership opens applications for a $2.4 million Activator Fund grant round, and recalls Acacia Systems leading a $1.6 million government-funded undersea surveillance project for the Navy, announced in January.