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 |
|---|---|---|
| Go1 | Startup that reached unicorn status in 1H 2021 | 3 |
| Autodesk | US design software giant | 2 |
| Coinbase | US crypto exchange | 2 |
| Deloitte | Professional services and advisory firm | 2 |
| IBM | Technology company providing private blockchain infrastructure | 2 |
| Lygon | Digitises bank guarantees using private blockchain | 2 |
| A Cloud Guru | Cloud computing training platform sold for $2 billion in 2021 | 1 |
| Adobe | Public software company mentioned as example of falling valuations | 1 |
| Afterpay | Buy now pay later company | 1 |
| Airbnb | US home-sharing platform | 1 |
| Altium | Listed electronic design software company | 1 |
| ANZ | 1 | |
| Apple | 1 | |
| Atlassian | Australian software company referenced as Accel's earlier investment. | 1 |
| Aura Group | Investment and wealth management for institutions and individuals | 1 |
| Australian National University | University from which Liquid Instruments spun out | 1 |
| Barclays Africa | Financial services company | 1 |
| BCG | Global management consulting firm | 1 |
| Beyond Meat | 1 | |
| Binance | 1 | |
| Booktopia | Online bookseller | 1 |
| Campus Plus | 1 | |
| Canva | Online design and visual communication platform | 1 |
| Commonwealth Bank | Australian bank | 1 |
| Compound | Men’s longevity play | 1 |
| Cosmos | Layer 1 blockchain protocol | 1 |
| CrossCountry Consulting | Consulting firm assisting with post-merger integrations | 1 |
| Dassault Systèmes | 1 | |
| Demyst | Data platform company | 1 |
| Disney | 1 | |
| DoorDash | US food delivery company | 1 |
| US tech giant | 1 | |
| Fishburners | Australia's largest and longest-standing tech startup community | 1 |
| Gamurs | Gaming media company previously backed by Aura Ventures. | 1 |
| GPC Asia Pacific | Car parts retailer, trading as Repco | 1 |
| Haast | AI-native compliance platform automating marketing content review for enterprises | 1 |
| Harvest B | Developing plant-based meat ingredient systems for food manufacturers | 1 |
| Hatch | AI-powered employment marketplace connecting young professionals with employers | 1 |
| Hipages | Online job marketplace | 1 |
| HTC | 1 | |
| Immutable | 1 | |
| Impossible Foods | 1 | |
| Indeed | 1 | |
| Integrated | Portfolio company referenced as 'our own' | 1 |
| JigSpace | Platform enabling creation, sharing and viewing of interactive 3D presentations across de… | 1 |
| Khan Academy | 1 | |
| KKR | 1 | |
| KPMG | Professional services firm | 1 |
| Layer | Managed marketplace democratising access to licensed content for games and metaverse owne… | 1 |
| 1 | ||
| MessageMedia | Global SMS service provider | 1 |
| Meta | 1 | |
| Metamask | 1 | |
| MYOB | Australian accounting software company | 1 |
| Nike | 1 | |
| Nintex | No-code workflow automation unicorn built on Microsoft Office Suite | 1 |
| Nuix | Data analytics and investigation software company | 1 |
| Nvidia | Technology company developing platforms for AI computing including orbital compute. | 1 |
| Peter Manettas Seafood Group | Food e-commerce and supply chain technology group operating seafood and produce marketpla… | 1 |
| Pluralsight | US online learning company | 1 |
| Propeller Aero | 1 | |
| Prospa | Fintech lender | 1 |
| Rich Data Corporation | Fintech data analytics company | 1 |
| Sahha | API-based HealthTech company providing behavioural, physical and mental health data insig… | 1 |
| Scentre Group | 1 | |
| SEEK | Online employment marketplace co-founded in 1997 | 1 |
| Sendle | Delivery logistics company | 1 |
| ServiceNow | Enterprise workflow automation platform | 1 |
| Snowflake | US data cloud company | 1 |
| Sonder | Safety technology company | 1 |
| Sparesbox | Australia's largest online car parts marketplace | 1 |
| Starkware | 1 | |
| Startmate | Early-stage investment and mentorship for founders | 1 |
| Synthetix | Australian decentralised derivatives trading protocol | 1 |
| The Iconic | Australian online fashion and lifestyle retailer | 1 |
| Tutero | Australian online tutoring platform personalising K-12 education through diagnostic asses… | 1 |
| Udacity | 1 | |
| Udemy | 1 | |
| Uniswap | 1 | |
| Unity | 1 | |
| University of Otago | University research partner for scientific studies | 1 |
| UNSW Business School | Business school within the University of New South Wales | 1 |
| UpGuard | Cybersecurity firm providing AI-powered cyber risk posture management | 1 |
| Walmart | Retailer requiring suppliers to use its private blockchain | 1 |
| Westpac | Australian bank | 1 |
| Messaging app acquired by Facebook | 1 | |
| Woolworths | Australian grocery retailer using electric truck delivery fleets | 1 |
| Xreal | 1 | |
| Zapier | 1 | |
| Zenphi | No-code workflow automation platform built for Google Workspace | 1 |
| Zip Co | 1 | |
| zip.co | Buy now pay later service splitting purchases into four installments | 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 |