Accelerator · 9 deals
Sydney, NSW
Every published round UNSW Founders 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, and a place in one of its own programs is under Cohorts.
Everyone UNSW Founders 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.
| Member | Program | Announced | Cheque | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breaker | Defence 10X | 2023 | - | Startup Daily (20 Feb 2026), Startup Daily (14 Mar 2025) |
| Contactile | 10x | 2020 | - | Startup Daily, contactile.com |
Companies UNSW Founders has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breaker | AI agent software letting operators coordinate teams of autonomous military systems via v… | 2023, Accelerator | 1 | 1 |
| Contactile | UNSW spinout whose tactile sensors let robot grippers measure force, slip and friction | 8 Aug 2026, Accelerator | 1 | 0 |
| Forage | 2020, Accelerator | 1 | 1 | |
| GonGlobal | Melbourne startup developing needle-free IVF treatment | Mar 2025, Pre-seed | 1 | 0 |
| HEO Robotics | 2017, Accelerator | 1 | 1 | |
| LendForGood | 30 Oct 2023, Accelerator | 1 | 1 | |
| Levur | Sydney startup using engineered yeast to produce oils as a palm oil alternative | 6 May 2025, Pre-seed | 1 | 0 |
| Number 8 Bio | Sydney-based innovator in sustainable agriculture technologies reducing livestock methane… | 15 Jun 2023, Pre-seed | 1 | 0 |
| Psylo | 2022, Accelerator | 1 | 1 | |
| Seitec | Canberra-based maker of software-defined seismic sensing systems for military operators | 17 Aug 2026, Seed | 1 | 0 |
| WorkbenchX | 30 Oct 2023, Accelerator | 1 | 1 |
Fund closes reported for UNSW Founders, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies UNSW Founders has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal UNSW Founders did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| David Burt | Director of Entrepreneurship (former) | Forbes Australia, SmartCompany, Startup Daily (9 Apr 2024), Startup Daily (25 Nov 2022), Startup Daily (31 Aug 2022) |
| Dina Titkova | Senior Manager (Entrepreneurship) | unsw.edu.au, nsw.gov.au, insidestategovernment.com.au |
| Eleni Assargiotis | Program Manager | Startup Daily (4 May 2026), Virescent Ventures, Startup Daily (30 Oct 2023) |
| Julie Pham | Program Manager | unsw.edu.au |
| Kristen Phillips | New Wave Program Manager | SmartCompany |
Stories naming UNSW Founders. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Beaten Zone Venture Partners led a US$25 million Series B in HEO Robotics, which images other spacecraft, with the NRFC contributing $10 million; the piece also recalls earlier Series A and seed rounds.
Opinion by UNSW Founders' entrepreneurship director arguing founders should pick geography strategically instead of debating staying or leaving, using Cauldron's recent raise and Breaker's US expansion as contrasting examples.
Four organisations join a NSW government diversity pre-accelerator program as delivery partners, running programs for migrant, disability and First Nations founders alongside two university-based partners already on the roster.
UNSW Founders marks a decade of its 10x Accelerator and opens 2026 applications across health, climate and all-industries streams; selected startups get $100,000 SAFE investments, and three alumni are profiled.
UNSW Founders will run the NSW Government's new $4 million Diversity Pre-Accelerator Program for female and culturally diverse health founders, with the University of Newcastle also delivering support; applications open in July.
The NSW Government has opened the first round of its $4 million Diversity Pre-Accelerator Program for female founders, appointing University of Newcastle and UNSW Founders to deliver training and mentoring for women-led startups.
The NSW Government has opened the first round of its $4 million Diversity Pre-Accelerator Program for female founders, appointing University of Newcastle's I2N and UNSW Founders to deliver training and mentoring.
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
NRF chair Martijn Wilder describes boardroom disagreement over risk appetite at the government investor, recounting earlier deals backing Harrison.ai, Quantum Brilliance, Myriota, QuintessenceLabs and Vault Cloud.
UNSW Founders partnered with Luminary Partners to invest $200,000 each in 18 early-stage deeptech startups across its 2025 accelerator cohorts, extending prior backing arrangements.
Sydney startup Levur has banked $1.2 million in a pre-seed round, with Main Sequence and GrainCorp Ventures leading, to brew palm oil alternatives; its KPMG prize win and 2024 accelerator stint are recalled.
Breaker, a defence robotics startup out of UNSW Founders' Defence 10X program, has closed a $2 million pre-seed round, led by Main Sequence, to triple headcount and deepen its US push.
Weekly roundup detailing six Australian startup raises announced this week, covering Heidi Health, Instant, Esper, Trusst AI, Flowing Bee and GonGlobal, with investors, founders, valuations and earlier rounds.
Also Startup Daily
Psylo, a Sydney maker of psychedelic therapies, has landed a US$8 million seed round led by Tenmile while moving to the US; earlier raises in 2022 and 2021 are recalled.
Australian job-simulation edtech Forage has been bought by US education company EAB on undisclosed terms; the story also recalls its accelerator days and earlier venture raises.
A student-run venture fund launches alongside research showing university founders have attracted backing topping $1.2 billion, though women-led teams receive a small share; Blackbird is the most active backer.
CSIRO and Main Sequence's updated synthetic biology report projects a $30 billion annual sector and 50,000 jobs by 2040, citing startup capital raised, research grants, and the 2022 launch of UNSW Founders' SynBio 10x accelerator.
Virescent Ventures and TRaCE will jointly back UNSW Founders' Climate 10x accelerator with $1.6m for local climate startups; successful applicants can get $120,000–$330,000 each, and expressions of interest open 12 April.
Five climate startups from UNSW Founders' Climate 10x accelerator shared $580,000 backed by Virescent Ventures and UNSW, presented at the 10x Demo Day featuring 25 ventures across several founder programs.
Sydney spacetech firm HEO Robotics has closed a $12m Series A led by AirTree Ventures, with Salus, In-Q-Tel, Y Combinator and angels also in, as federal cutbacks hit Australian space programs.
Also Business News Australia·Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·Startup Daily
Deep tech venture firm Main Sequence has reached an initial A$450 million close on its third fund, pushing money under management past A$1 billion; Hostplus, Temasek and CSIRO are among the backers.
Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·TechCrunch Australia·@AuManufacturing
Weekly roundup of six Australian startup raises: Lyka's Series B extension, plus new funding for HydGene, JDoodle, One Future Football, Aquila and Number 8 Bio, with investors and founder comment.
Also RenewEconomy·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·RenewEconomy·RenewEconomy
A biotech startup making a methane-cutting cattle feed additive has raised pre-seed capital from four backers, with the piece also recalling recent emissions-focused raises by two other Perth ventures.
Also AgFunderNews·AgFunderNews·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·AgFunderNews
UNSW Founders profiles its alumnus HEO Robotics, a Sydney company that inspects satellites from orbit, recounting its founding, accelerator history, and founders' backgrounds.
UNSW Founders honoured eight winners at its inaugural awards, with Forage taking Startup of the Year; the piece also notes Psylo's $5 million seed raise and this year's 10x Demo Day cohort.
Sydney psychedelic biotech Psylo has banked a $5 million seed round led by CSIRO's Main Sequence Ventures, its second raise since emerging from Startmate, to advance a fast-acting psilocybin therapy toward clinical trials.
UNSW Founders' New Wave program has named the winners of its tenth cohort showcase, with five female-led startups sharing prize money across judge, people's choice and faculty award categories.
Carbon measurement startup NetNada has raised seed money from Skalata Ventures, which is shifting to rolling investments, and previously won a NSW government grant and completed UNSW and CSIRO programs.
Also Techboard
UNSW Founders is launching SynBio 10x, a synthetic biology accelerator run with Main Sequence, CSIRO's venture arm, which plans $120,000 per startup plus UNSW's $20,000; applications close May 15.
Sydney AI personalisation startup Cherry Recommends joins Y Combinator, which invests US$125,000 in each intake company, as it targets US growth; it earlier raised $500,000 in a CP Ventures-led seed round.