Funding Archives

Breakthrough Victoria pours $43 million into five universities to help turn research into startups

Simon Thomsen - September 19, 2023 2 MIN READ

The Victorian government’s $2 billion investment fund, Breakthrough Victoria has backed five Victorian universities to help them bring research to market in a deal worth $87 million. Deakin, La Trobe, Monash and Swinburne universities have contributed $9 million funding matched by Breakthrough Victoria, with RMIT matching the $7.5 million it has received. Each partnership will… Read more »

Navi cofounders Assoc Prof Christiane Theda and Alex Newton, with Victorian industry and innovation minister Ben Carroll.

Funding

Breakthrough Victoria backs baby-saving medtech startup Navi in $2.4 million raise

Simon Thomsen - August 3, 2023 2 MIN READ

Breakthrough Victoria has backed Navi Medical Technologies as part of a $2.4 million raise to develop a medical device for newborn babies and children. The state government investment fund was lead investor chipping in $700,000, with the federal government also backing the medtech startup with grants. Also backing the round was Medtech Actuator and Artesian VC.… Read more »

health tech is a major focus for OneVentures

Venture Capital

“There is a real shift”: How Australian hospitals are driving a post-COVID healthtech boom

Cec Busby - July 25, 2023 4 MIN READ

Success in the health and biotech space takes time but can be hugely rewarding. However, startups in the sector often need help with significant hurdles, dealing with long development cycles, regulators, massive capital requirements and a higher chance of failure. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, a symbiotic relationship has emerged between Australian hospitals and tech innovators.… Read more »

Funding

“We’re back at 2015-level valuations.” A leading VC’s outlook on capital for founders right now

Simon Thomsen - July 18, 2023 5 MIN READ

When it comes to disruption, the COVID pandemic offered a masterclass for startup founders. It was the best and the worst of times, with the acceleration towards a digital economy backed by the tailwinds of what appeared to be unlimited capital… Then suddenly, central banks wrought their own brand of disruption on venture capital with… Read more »

Venture Capital

CommBank plants funding in $220 Series A for climate change investor Wollemi Capital

Simon Thomsen - July 17, 2023 3 MIN READ

A Sydney venture fund that co-led agtech startup Loam Bio’s huge $105 million round, has raised $220 million in a Series A. Sydney-based Wollemi Capital, founded in 2021, is the brainchild of former Macquarie Capital boss Tim Bishop and Boston Consulting Group’s Asian venture exec Paul Hunyor. The pair set out to raise $100 million,… Read more »

Funding

New analysis reveals Australian early-stage startup investment growth led the world over the last 5 years

Startup Daily - July 13, 2023 4 MIN READ

Sydney retains the crown has Australia’s top startup ecosystem, but Melbourne is rising rapidly through the ranks according to the latest (GSER). The report, an annual collaboration between Startup Genome and the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), analyses data on 3.5 million startups across 290+ global ecosystems. The Oceania region had highest early-stage funding in the world,… Read more »

Naked Life founder David Andrews pouring a beverage

Funding

Naked Life easily pulls off $3 million raise on Birchal

Startup Daily - July 6, 2023 2 MIN READ

Non-alcoholic cocktail company Naked Life comfortably landed its $3 million raise on equity crowdfunding site Birchal that finished on Thursday night. In the final 12 hours of the campaign, around 130 investors tipped the last $450,000 into Naked Life which easily walked away with what it sought from the funding drive. Founder and managing director… Read more »

Events

SPARK REIGNITED: Australia’s largest startup event, Spark Festival, refreshes after director departs

Simon Thomsen - June 5, 2023 3 MIN READ

The annual Spark Festival, the largest national event for Australia’s startup community, is the latest victim of a reduced funding for the sector, with the director departing and the board looking to refresh the event to present later this year. Festival director Maxine Sherrin left the organisation on Friday after nearly seven years, having successfully… Read more »

Funding

The Chainsmokers, Paris Hilton pile into $23 million Series A for expat Australian online shopping startup

Simon Thomsen - May 26, 2023 2 MIN READ

Paris Hilton and electronica duo The Chainsmokers have been added to the A-lister cap table of LA-based expat Australian startup Checkmate, which has raised US$15 million (A$23m) in a Series A. The round was led by GV (formerly Google Ventures), with support from DJ duo Alex Pall and Drew Taggart’s VC fund Mantis, plus several… Read more »

Politics

NSW startup sector sounds the alarm as the state government turns off funding taps in pre-budget review

Simon Thomsen - May 25, 2023 5 MIN READ

The NSW startup sector has responded with dismay after the NSW government suddenly shut down a range of funding programs for early-stage companies in the wake of an expenditure review by the new Labor government. Popular programs such as the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) grant have been put on hold “as part of the sector-wide… Read more »

SBE Australia's CEO Nicole Cook; director of community/services Carmen Pascoe, and programs director Sarah Curtis-Fawley, with BDO’s global leader, fintech, Tim Amam.

Women in tech

SBE launches advisory services for female founders as they scale up

Simon Thomsen - May 15, 2023 3 MIN READ

SBE Australia has launched a new advisory model to connect high potential female-founded businesses with the services they need for high growth in a partnership with professional services firm BDO. SBE CEO Nicole Cook said the SBE Advisory Collective was developed in response to reports the organisation commissioned last year, which found that between 2017… Read more »

Business

Brisbane blockchain provenance startup Everledger placed in administration after funding evaporates

Simon Thomsen - May 9, 2023 2 MIN READ

Blockchain provenance startup Everledger has been placed in voluntary administration after an existing investor failed to follow through on the 2nd tranche of their funding. The Brisbane tech company, founded in 2015 by former Queensland chief entrepreneur Leanne Kemp, offers supply chain traceability using blockchain, artificial intelligence, intelligent labelling and Internet of Things. They were… Read more »

Funding

CEFC pours $100 million more into Mike Cannon-Brookes-backed renewables finance firm Infradebt

Simon Thomsen - April 27, 2023 2 MIN READ

Federal government investment fund the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has doubled down on its funding for Infradebt, tipping an additional $100 million into the ACT-based renewables financing firm, taking its total backing to $150 million. Infradebt is a specialist infrastructure project finance fund manager/financier, providing capital for renewables and battery storage projects as well… Read more »

Funding

Techboard analysed the first quarter of 2023 VC funding and found more than $1 billion went into 111 deals

Startup Daily - April 21, 2023 3 MIN READ

Venture capital funding at the start of 2023 may not have been as bad as many thought according to new analysis from Perth-based investment data company Techboard. Releasing its March quarter Funded report this week, Techboard identified $1.01 billion in capital deployed across 111 deals. That figure is 50% higher than the $661 million across… Read more »

Funding

Crisis management startup CommandPost banks $200,000 Seed round

Simon Thomsen - April 18, 2023 2 MIN READ

CommandPost, a crisis management startup designed to improve emergency response times and coordination has raised $200,000 in Seed funding from Melbourne VC Skalata $200,000. Founder Alex Rixon-Booth worked in emergency service response and decided to take things to the next level in the wake of miscommunications during the recent NSW floods and Black Summer bushfires… Read more »