University of Melbourne

🇦🇺 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.

FeBI Technologies lands $1.52M grant for quantum iron blood test

FeBI Technologies won an Australian government grant of about A$1.52 million for its quantum-based iron blood test, building on earlier Stage 1 funding, and will partner with universities and Aboriginal health services.

Melbourne Uni concrete recycling spinout R2Crete raises $521,000 pre-Seed

A university spinout commercialising concrete recycling has secured pre-seed backing from Genesis Pre-Seed Fund and Uniseed to build a pilot plant, with field trials planned for early 2027.

Melbourne Uni concrete recycling spinout cements $750,000 pre-Seed

University of Melbourne spinout R2Crete, recycling waste concrete into aggregates and cement replacement, raised $750,000 pre-seed from the uni's Genesis fund and Uniseed to build a pilot plant.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily·This Week in Australian Startups

Paul Little's Skalata Ventures raising up to $50m for fund two

Skalata Ventures, the seed fund and founder-training program led by Paul Little and Rohan Workman, is raising a second vehicle plus growth capital, reporting 30 investments and a 44 per cent IRR.

From little things, big things grow

Profile of Skalata Ventures' Rohan Workman and Maxine Lee recounting the firm's founding, pandemic-era restructuring, $7 million raise, second fund deployment, and backing of Flux, Explorate and Preezie.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily

From solar cells to solar farms: Quest for ultra-low cost PV gets $100 million federal boost

ARENA will spend up to $105.6 million on 20 solar research projects, including grants for Sunspence, Proa Energy and a University of Sydney tandem-cell team working with panel maker Unison Solar.

Also Mirage News

ARENA invests $105.6 million in next wave of solar innovation

ARENA has announced $105.6 million in grants for twenty solar research projects, mostly at Australian universities, plus two companies, targeting cheaper cells, modules and solar farm operations.

Also Fintech News Australia·RenewEconomy·RenewEconomy·Dealroom

CyberHeed Unveils Live Integrations for Aussie Compliance

Melbourne GRC startup CyberHeed has released Live Integrations, which continuously pulls configuration signals from tools like GitHub and Microsoft products to assess compliance controls in context, extending its SmartPrep capability.

Building the First New Therapeutic Approach to Periodontitis in Decades

Brandon Capital's blog interviews Denteric's operating chief about its gingipain-targeting therapy for periodontitis, trial progress, and its origins in University of Melbourne oral health research.

News and Announcements

Wholesale Investor's news listing spanning Australian private capital: deep-tech and biotech company profiles, property and crypto commentary, Q1 2026 venture funding totals, and guides to wholesale investor qualification.

Seven ANZ startups that raised $71.8 million this week

Weekly roundup covering seven raises across the Tasman: Phonely's Series A, Pay.com.au's private placement, and rounds for Atomic Tessellator, Caruso, Deteqt, Clean Slate Clinic and Earthletica, worth roughly $72 million combined.

Also crane.vc

Once close enough for an acquisition, Stripe and Airwallex are now going after each other

Airwallex co-founder Jack Zhang recounts turning down Stripe's billion-dollar buyout, describes building a licensed global payments network, and argues the Melbourne fintech can now challenge Stripe directly.

Y Combinator-backed AI call receptionist raises $22 million Series A

Phonely, a University of Melbourne spin-out now in San Francisco, has raised a US$16 million Series A with Base10 Partners leading and Y Combinator plus three customers joining.

Also SmartCompany·Cut Through Venture

Breakthrough Victoria's university platform funds EntroMat, Excelligent and Remagine Labs

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.

BV Fellow Q&A: Noor E Karishma Shaik on Focused Commercialisation and Deep Conversations

Breakthrough Victoria interviews fellow Noor E Karishma Shaik, founder of DeepDerm, on building DermAI, an AI skin-cancer detection tool, her clinical trial breakthrough with nurses, and lessons from her first year as a founder.

Cheque in: 3 startups announced $161 million in raises this week

Funding wrap: Advanced Navigation lands a $158m Series C for GPS-free navigation, legal AI platform MiAI Law launches with $2m, and Deftbiotech raises $1m pre-seed toward a fungal nail treatment.

Also Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia

Three startups that raised $161 million this week

A roundup of three raises: Advanced Navigation's $158 million Series C, legal AI platform MiAI Law's $2 million launch funding, and Deftbiotech's $1 million pre-seed for a fungal nail treatment.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily

Breakthrough Victoria invests $500,000 in Deftbiotech

Melbourne biotech Deftbiotech secures $1 million combined investment from Breakthrough Victoria and La Trobe University's Eagle Fund to develop a topical nail fungus treatment.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

Breakthrough Victoria recaps a month of events across Victoria's innovation ecosystem

Breakthrough Victoria staff attended agrifood, climate finance, women's health and deep tech events, and joined the launch of agritech firm YieldX.

Federal government slips $12.7 million to 8 quantum projects tackling energy, minerals and health

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.

Infleqtion lists on the NYSE

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

CEO Message — One Year In

Breakthrough Victoria's chief executive marks his first year, tallying 70 investments, university and fellowship programs, a Jumar Bioincubator grant with partners, and looks ahead to a consolidated Victorian innovation entity.

Inside Ochre: a new startup program for First Nations entrepreneurs

Profile of Dr Kyle Turner launching the LaunchVic-funded Ochre pre-accelerator for First Nations founders, recalling his dental AI startup Pearlii and his role at a new First Nations venture fund.

Epilepsy device-maker Epiminder lists on the ASX with $290 million market cap

Medical device firm Epiminder has joined the ASX, its shares dipping below issue price on debut, with the $125 million IPO proceeds earmarked for an American launch of its implantable epilepsy monitoring system next year.

Also Startup Daily

Science: The World's Shared Language That Carried One Founder Across Continents

Profile tracing Sara Prickett's path from UK labs to co-founding Aravax, the peanut-allergy biotech Brandon Capital backed, as its Phase II trial nears readout in mid-2026.

Eight Aussie startups that raised $108.6 million this week

Roundup of eight funding deals: Synchron's Series D, plus raises by Lumonus AI, Hullbot, Nbryo, Cytophenix, Giftbee, Understanding Zoe and Zeligate, spanning medtech, robotics, agtech and AI.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily

Uniseed boss Peter Devine calls time on 20 years leading Australia's OG VC

Uniseed chief executive Peter Devine departs after two decades; Monash's Alistair Hick takes over in 2026. The piece recounts Uniseed's fund history and recent stakes in ENA Respiratory and Morse Micro rounds.

Australian-made “world-first” battery with no inverter hits the market, backed by new grant from ARENA

Melbourne battery maker Relectrify has launched its inverter-free AC1 commercial battery, supported by a $25 million ARENA grant and a fresh $2.9 million federal grant to extend the technology into electric vehicles.

Also @AuManufacturing

Australian battery recycling hopeful raises cash to beef up operations

ASX-listed Livium has raised $4.5 million to expand its Envirostream battery recycling hub in Victoria, while its subsidiary VSPC continues talks to match a $30 million ARENA grant for a Brisbane cathode powder plant.

Melbourne Uni spin-out PredicTx Health, an AI-powered oncology platform, raises $1.6 million pre-Seed

A University of Melbourne spin-out using AI to tailor chemotherapy doses has banked pre-seed capital from the university's Genesis fund, plus public grant money and angels, to commercialise its oncology platform.

Also Startup Daily·Women's Agenda

Six Aussie startups that raised $13.4 million this week

Also Startup Daily

Breakthrough Victoria hands out $150,000 fellowships to 3 academics to turn their ideas into startups

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 Fellowship Program

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.

Fellowship Investment Update: Noor E Karishma Shaik, DeepDerm

Breakthrough Victoria's fellowship has put $150,000 into DeepDerm, a startup building AI to spot skin cancer without biopsies, founded by University of Melbourne researcher Noor E Karishma Shaik.

Neurala is Rewiring Mental Health with Psychedelic Biotech

Profile of Melbourne-based biotech Neurala Biosciences, founded by two researchers turning DMT and harmala compounds into medicines, covering its origins, grant and investor backing totalling $4.5m, and planned first-in-human studies.

Breakthrough Victoria and Infleqtion: Powering Victoria’s Quantum Future

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.

Andromeda's animated approach to $100m Abi and AI

Andromeda Robotics raised a $23 million Series A led by Forerunner Ventures, valuing the Abi humanoid robot company at $100 million, with founder CEO Grace Brown relocating to San Francisco to hire Hollywood animators.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup News (WA)

NASA is sending an Australian-made lunar rover to the Moon by 2030

NASA confirmed the Australian-built Roo-ver will reach the Moon by 2030 under its Artemis program. The ELO2 consortium, technically led by Lunar Outpost Oceania of Melbourne, has $42 million in Australian Government backing.

Additional contract recipients announced for emerging, disruptive tech program

Defence's innovation accelerator has awarded three more contracts under its emerging and disruptive technologies program, funding quantum and information-warfare work at CSIRO, four universities and Silicon Quantum Computing, adding $9 million to the program.