Funding announcement
Welcome to the team Mark
Aura Ventures announces Mark Esterhuizen as a new team member, profiling his finance career and his role scaling a seafood e-commerce group from seed through Series B.
VC firm blog
Aura Ventures
Everything we hold that Aura Ventures published.
Articles
Every article we hold from Aura Ventures.
Series A
US$4.5m
Why We Invested in Jigspace
Aura Ventures sets out why it joined JigSpace's US$4.5 million Series A with Breakthrough Victoria, Rampersand and Investible, arguing spatial computing and accessible 3D presentation tools are ready for enterprise adoption.
Under Breakthrough Victoria ·leads this story in the feed
Key hire
Welcome to the team Sabrina
Aura Ventures announces Sabrina Zeng has joined as corporate development manager, citing her background across banking, Fishburners and UNSW, and the firm's funds and regional presence.
Seed
$7m
Why We Invested in Hatch
Aura Ventures explains its seed investment in Hatch, an Australian jobs marketplace for young professionals co-founded by Adam Jacobs and Chaz Heitner, alongside Rampersand, Investible, Jelix Ventures and Alberts.
Also Alberts Impact Ventures portfolio·Aura Group portfolio·Startup Daily·Early VC·SmartCompany·Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·Forbes Australia
Seed
Why We Invested in Sahha AI
Aura Ventures explains why it led Sahha's seed round, citing the health-data gap, Sahha's behavioural-health API, its neuroscience-led team and its University of Otago research partnership.
Pre-seed
Why We Invested In Haast
Aura Ventures' post sets out its case for leading Haast's pre-seed round alongside Black Sheep Capital and angel investors, backing the AI startup's platform for brand and regulatory compliance across digital marketing.
Also Aura Group portfolio·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily
Seed
Why We Invested In Tutero
Aura Ventures explains its seed investment in Tutero, an online tutoring startup, joined by Jagen and Commonsense Ventures, pointing to personalised mastery learning and early traction since the platform's December 2021 launch.
Also Aura Group portfolio
Pre-seed
Why We Invested In Zenphi
Aura Ventures' post explains its decision to lead Zenphi's pre-seed round, joined by Afterwork Ventures, citing the founders' Nintex roots and the opening for automation built around Google Workspace.
Also Aura Group portfolio
Seed
$3.9m
Why We Invested In Layer
Aura Ventures sets out why it backed Layer's seed round with several co-investors, covering the gaming IP licensing opportunity and the founders' relevant experience.
News
Web3: A Transformative And Disruptive Multi-Trillion-Dollar Opportunity
Aura Ventures maps the Web3 ecosystem, separating private blockchains from four public layers, and argues genuine value will migrate to scaling and application layers, citing its portfolio firm Lygon and Australian protocol Synthetix.
Seed
Why We Invested In Lygon
Aura Ventures sets out its blockchain thesis and announces it led seed funding in Lygon, a platform digitising bank guarantees built by a consortium of major banks and IBM.
Pre-seed
$4.5m
Why We Invested In Harvest B
Aura Ventures' thesis post explains its plant-based protein outlook and announces co-leading Harvest B's pre-seed round alongside Woolworths' venture arm W23.
News
Finding The Exit: Australian VC exits and market roundup
Commentary piece on VC exit strategies (IPO, trade sale, secondary sale) referencing recent Australian tech M&A deals and venture funding rounds including Sendle, UpGuard, Sonder and others.
Rounds reported
Deals recorded from Aura Ventures's coverage. A round is listed once, however many of their articles mention it.
Companies covered
Companies named in Aura Ventures's articles, most-covered first.
| Company | What it does | Articles |
|---|---|---|
| zip.co | Buy now pay later service splitting purchases into four installments | 1 |
| Zip Co | 1 | |
| Zenphi | No-code workflow automation platform built for Google Workspace | 1 |
| Zapier | 1 | |
| Xreal | 1 | |
| Woolworths | Australian grocery retailer using electric truck delivery fleets | 1 |
| Messaging app acquired by Facebook | 1 | |
| Westpac | Australian bank | 1 |
| Walmart | Retailer requiring suppliers to use its private blockchain | 1 |
| UpGuard | Cybersecurity firm providing AI-powered cyber risk posture management | 1 |
| UNSW Business School | Business school within the University of New South Wales | 1 |
| University of Otago | University research partner for scientific studies | 1 |
| Unity | 1 | |
| Uniswap | 1 | |
| Udemy | 1 | |
| Udacity | 1 | |
| Tutero | Australian online tutoring platform personalising K-12 education through diagnostic asses… | 1 |
| The Iconic | Australian online fashion and lifestyle retailer | 1 |
| Synthetix | Australian decentralised derivatives trading protocol | 1 |
| Startmate | Early-stage investment and mentorship for founders | 1 |
| Starkware | 1 | |
| Sparesbox | Australia's largest online car parts marketplace | 1 |
| Sonder | Safety technology company | 1 |
| Snowflake | US data cloud company | 1 |
| ServiceNow | Enterprise workflow automation platform | 1 |
| Sendle | Delivery logistics company | 1 |
| SEEK | Online employment marketplace co-founded in 1997 | 1 |
| Scentre Group | 1 | |
| Sahha | API-based HealthTech company providing behavioural, physical and mental health data insig… | 1 |
| Rich Data Corporation | Fintech data analytics company | 1 |
| Prospa | Fintech lender | 1 |
| Propeller Aero | 1 | |
| Pluralsight | US online learning company | 1 |
| Peter Manettas Seafood Group | Food e-commerce and supply chain technology group operating seafood and produce marketpla… | 1 |
| Nvidia | Technology company developing platforms for AI computing including orbital compute. | 1 |
| Nuix | Data analytics and investigation software company | 1 |
| Nintex | No-code workflow automation unicorn built on Microsoft Office Suite | 1 |
| Nike | 1 | |
| MYOB | Australian accounting software company | 1 |
| Metamask | 1 | |
| Meta | 1 | |
| MessageMedia | Global SMS service provider | 1 |
| Lygon | Digitises bank guarantees using private blockchain | 2 |
| 1 | ||
| Layer | Managed marketplace democratising access to licensed content for games and metaverse owne… | 1 |
| KPMG | Professional services firm | 1 |
| KKR | 1 | |
| Khan Academy | 1 | |
| JigSpace | Platform enabling creation, sharing and viewing of interactive 3D presentations across de… | 1 |
| Integrated | Portfolio company referenced as 'our own' | 1 |
| Indeed | 1 | |
| Impossible Foods | 1 | |
| Immutable | 1 | |
| IBM | Technology company providing private blockchain infrastructure | 2 |
| HTC | 1 | |
| Hipages | Online job marketplace | 1 |
| Hatch | AI-powered employment marketplace connecting young professionals with employers | 1 |
| Harvest B | Developing plant-based meat ingredient systems for food manufacturers | 1 |
| Haast | AI-native compliance platform automating marketing content review for enterprises | 1 |
| GPC Asia Pacific | Car parts retailer, trading as Repco | 1 |
| Go1 | Startup that reached unicorn status in 1H 2021 | 3 |
| Gamurs | Gaming media company previously backed by Aura Ventures. | 1 |
| Fishburners | Australia's largest and longest-standing tech startup community | 1 |
| US tech giant | 1 | |
| DoorDash | US food delivery company | 1 |
| Disney | 1 | |
| Demyst | Data platform company | 1 |
| Deloitte | Professional services and advisory firm | 2 |
| Dassault Systèmes | 1 | |
| CrossCountry Consulting | Consulting firm assisting with post-merger integrations | 1 |
| Cosmos | Layer 1 blockchain protocol | 1 |
| Compound | Men’s longevity play | 1 |
| Commonwealth Bank | Australian bank | 1 |
| Coinbase | US crypto exchange | 2 |
| Canva | Online design and visual communication platform | 1 |
| Campus Plus | 1 | |
| Booktopia | Online bookseller | 1 |
| Binance | 1 | |
| Beyond Meat | 1 | |
| BCG | Global management consulting firm | 1 |
| Barclays Africa | Financial services company | 1 |
| Autodesk | US design software giant | 2 |
| Australian National University | University from which Liquid Instruments spun out | 1 |
| Aura Group | Investment and wealth management for institutions and individuals | 1 |
| Atlassian | Australian software company referenced as Accel's earlier investment. | 1 |
| Apple | 1 | |
| ANZ | 1 | |
| Altium | Listed electronic design software company | 1 |
| Airbnb | US home-sharing platform | 1 |
| Afterpay | Buy now pay later company | 1 |
| Adobe | Public software company mentioned as example of falling valuations | 1 |
| A Cloud Guru | Cloud computing training platform sold for $2 billion in 2021 | 1 |
Investors covered
Investors named in Aura Ventures's articles, most-covered first.
| Investor | What it does | Articles |
|---|---|---|
| Aura Ventures | 12 | |
| Black Sheep Capital | 2 | |
| Investible | 2 | |
| Rampersand | 2 | |
| Afterwork Ventures | 1 | |
| Alberts | 1 | |
| Antler Australia | Global early-stage VC investing in founders from first check to IPO | 1 |
| Breakthrough Victoria | 1 | |
| Carthona Capital | 1 | |
| Commonsense Ventures | 1 | |
| Flying Fox Ventures | 1 | |
| Jagen | 1 | |
| Jelix Ventures | 1 | |
| Ten13 | 1 | |
| W23 | 1 |