Australian government-backed Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has doubled down on rideshare car rental firm Splend, investing another $20 million in the scaleup to increase its electric vehicles (EVs) fleet. The fresh cash comes just 13 months after the initial CEFC investment of $20 million in June 2023, which then saw Splend add 500 EVs… Read more »
ASX-listed defence tech scaleup DroneShield has made hay while its shares shine, raising $120 million from institutional and sophisticated investors at $1.15 a share. Shares in the Sydney-headquartered US tech business (ASX: DRO) have been on tear over the last seven months, climbing from $0.31 cents in mid-December 2023, the $1 April and then a… Read more »
A fintech tackling one of the toughest pain points of going on holidays – having to book so far in advance for cheaper fares, and finding the money at the time to do it – has raised one of 2024’s biggest Seed rounds, taking on its first external capital after six years of bootstrapping. The… Read more »
A startup that checks in on how well university students are learning has been accepted into the University of California, Berkley’s SkyDeck accelerator program, banking US$200,000 (A$305k) as part of the deal. Sindy Labs is the brainchild of former University of Melbourne medical student Benjamin Arya, Taha Ansari and Oliver Cucanic. They founded their startup… Read more »
Shareholder engagement platform InvestorHub topped up last year’s Series A with an extra $4 million. The new round was led by existing backer EVP, with follow-on investment from Archangel Ventures and Flying Fox Ventures too. It takes the total value of the Series A to $9 million after an initial $4 million in May 2023,… Read more »
Business lending fintech Fundabl has raised $3.2 million in an equity round as it looks to increase its venture debt business as alternative capital for startups. Fundabl was founded by Ethan Singer and David Salkinder in 2021 before launching in March 2022, going on to raise $16 million in a mixture of equity and debt… Read more »
Crowdfunding market leader Birchal has cut its costs base by 30%, along with several roles, after the first half of 2024 “significantly underperformed” the platform’s expectations. News of the job losses were first revealed by SmartCompany just 24 hours after Birchal set out to paint a positive picture for the sector in its annual review… Read more »
Three years after selling A Cloud Guru for $2 billion, cofounder Sam Kroonenburg is back in early-stage startup land with an AI-based adtech and $5.5 million in Seed funding to kick it off. His new play is Cuttable, an automated content marketing agency that’s like Canva-for-ads, so users can create digital advertising rapidly, at a lower… Read more »
Workplace talent management platform SeenCulture has raised $1 million in a round backed by LaunchVic’s Alice Anderson Fund for female founders. The software startup helps management make smarter, fairer and faster decisions around employee issues such as promotions, performance/pay reviews, and team design. Founded in 2023 by psychologist Nikki Tugano, it currently serves more than… Read more »
Medical staffing platform Go Locum, which connects doctors with temporary roles in regional and remote areas, has raised $350,000 in Seed funding from Darwin VC Paspalis. This round will support the software startup’s international expansion plans and the launch of an app to streamline locum (fill-in doctor) recruitment in Australia. Go Locum was founded by… Read more »
New Zealand building management proptech Tether has raised NZ$655,000 (A$592k) as it expands into the Australian market and Europe. The startup managed to avoid venture funding, securing backing from high net worth individuals on three continents as part of its global focus. In May 2023, Tether raised NZ$844,050 via crowdfunding platform Snowball Effect, taking the… Read more »
US private equity has swooped into Australia to back construction site safety platform HammerTech in a $105 million (US$70 m) raise. Californian investment firm Riverwood Capital has backed the Melbourne startup as it eyes off a larger slice of the US building market. HammerTech is a cloud-based performance and productivity platform for the building industry… Read more »
An agtech startup cofounded by the former boss of CSIRO’s Data61 has raised $5.3 million in a Seed round. The round was led by existing investor Salus Ventures, which has also backed local deep tech startups such as HEO, Advanced Navigation, and Q-Ctrl. Also chipping in for ExoFlare were Harris Farm’s David and Cathy Harris,… Read more »
A Melbourne startup described as the Canva of 3D presentations has raised another $13 million as it becomes part of $6000 Apple headset. The state government’s $2 billion venture fund, Breakthrough Victoria, led the round for Jigspace, tipping in $4.4 million, joined by existing investors including Rampersand, Investible, Vulpes and angel investor Hugh Bickerstaff. The… Read more »
The country’s largest e-waste processor, Sircel, has banked $5 million from impact investor Kilara Capital to tackle solar panel recycling amid national ambitions. The Sydney startup, founded in 2018, grew rapidly in May when it acquired venture-backed Victorian recycler Scipher Technologies, including its solar panel recycling plans, for $5 million, after it collapsed into administration… Read more »
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