Alt.Leather founder Tina Funder and chief scientific officer Dr Tuan Nguyen
Funding

Tesla chair Robyn Denholm backs substitute leather startup in $1.1 million angel round

- January 29, 2024 2 MIN READ

Plant-based leather substitute startup Alt. Leather has raised $1.1 million in an angel round to replace the alternative of petroleum-based synthetic leathers. The Melbourne-based startup, founded in 2022 by Tina Funder, was backed by Startmate, The Austin Group, Robyn Denholm’s family office Wollemi Capital Group, and LaunchVic’s Alice Anderson Fund, along with strategic angel investors. … Read more »

At the University of Melbourne Started@Melbourne Showcase were Jaala Pulford, Vice Chancellor’s Fellow; Justin Spangaro, CEO, Carbon Cybernetics; Prof Jerome Sarris, cofounder, Psychae Therapeutics; Assoc Prof Fiona Brownfoot, cofounder, Kali Healthcare; Jeffrey Ng, CEO, NIRGenie; Assoc Prof Daniel Perkins, cofounder, Psychae Therapeutics.
Funding

University of Melbourne mental health startup using psychedelics kicks off with $4.5 million

- November 17, 2023 2 MIN READ

Medtech startup Pyschae Therapeutics, which hopes to develop botanically-derived treatments and psychedelic-assisted therapies for mental health issues such as PTSD, anxiety and addiction, has scored $4.5 million in syndicated investment from the University of Melbourne. The funding came from the university’s Genesis Pre-Seed Fund, which backs early-stage research and technologies from the campus, as well… Read more »

The Lounge team
Funding

Square Peg backs expat Australian’s Facebook alternative for Gen Z in $4 million Seed round

- November 9, 2023 2 MIN READ

With Facebook now the social media version of a nursing home, a rival London-based startup cofounded by expat Australian Jack Symonds, has bagged $4 million in Seed round. The raise for Lounge, which is connecting the current generation of university students on in four countries, including Australia, was led by Square Peg with support from existing… Read more »

Renewable Metals CEO Luan Atkinson, CTO Mark Urbani, board members Gary Johnson and Peter Beaven, Investible's Ben Lindsay and director Nick Vines.
Funding

Battery recycling startup Renewable Metals charges up on $8 million Seed round

- October 5, 2023 2 MIN READ

Western Australian battery recycling startup, Renewable Metals has raised $8 million in Seed funding to address low levels of lithium battery materials recovery. The round was led the Investible’s Climate Tech Fund, with support from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) through Virescent Ventures, which tipped in $2.5 million, and US VC the Grantham Foundation… Read more »

Office meeting, telephone, historic
Funding

Work comms startup that tells you how much time and money you’re wasting on emails and meetings raises $1.8 million Seed round

- September 22, 2023 2 MIN READ

While most of us suspect we waste too much of our working day in meetings and dealing with emails, employee communications startup Traffyk.AI has had a look at the size of the problem – it’s a day a week – and done something about it. The enterprise software startup has raised $1.8 million in a… Read more »

Emily Casey, Jaddan Comerford, Anthony Zaccaria, cofounders of Side Stage Ventures.
Venture Capital

Linktree cofounders back new $15 million VC fund

- August 7, 2023 < 1 MIN READ

Early stage investment syndicate Side Stage Ventures, which is backed by multiple founders, including Linktree cofounders Anthony and Alex Zaccaria, has moved into mainstream VC 15 months on, raising $15 million for its first fund. The Zaccaria siblings, along with What the Health founder Emily Casey, UNIFIED Music Group’s Jaddan Comerford, and others, originally launched… Read more »

Cybersecurity
Funding

Atlassian’s VC arm backs cybersecurity startup in $15 million Seed round

- August 1, 2023 < 1 MIN READ

Sydney cloud-based cybersecurity startup Plerion has raised US$10 million (A$15m) in a Seed round led by Prosus Ventures, a South African-owned, Netherlands-listed global consumer internet investor. The round was supported by US investment firm Cercano and Atlassian Ventures.  The funds will be used on accelerated product development, talent acquisition, and go-to-market strategies.  Plerion was founded… Read more »

Dr Amanda Vrselja
Other

Biotech incubator CUREator tips $12 million into 19 startups tackling global health

- June 2, 2023 3 MIN READ

Biotech incubator CUREator has allocated $12 million in venture funding to 19 projects focused on a range of global health issues, ranging from treatments for lupus, motor neurone disease, brain and ovarian cancer, and inflammatory bowel disease, as part of its second cohort. Backed by the federal government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), which invested… Read more »

Andrew Forrest
Accelerator

Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo is looking to back Indigenous startup entrepreneurs

- May 19, 2023 2 MIN READ

Applications have opened for the Minderoo Foundation’s 2023 Dream Venture Masterclasses with $200,000 in seed funding on offer for First Nations business owners. The Minderoo Foundation is mining billionaire Andrew Forrest and his wife Nicola’s philanthropic venture. Dream Venture is led by Minderoo Foundation’s Generation One initiative to equip First Nations entrepreneurs with the connections,… Read more »

Michele Stansfield
Funding

Female-founded fermentation startup Cauldron lands $10.5 million to transform how new foods and fibres are developed

- March 27, 2023 2 MIN READ

Cauldron speeds up development of new food, feedstock and fibre ingredients Its hyper-fermentation platform lowers commercial risk & production costs $10.5m Seed round led by Main Sequence + Horizons Ventures An ambitious plan to transform the way new food, feedstock and fibre ingredients are created, by using fermentation has raised $10.5 million in seed funding… Read more »

NetworksX
Funding

Investment insights platform NetworksX lands $610,000 Seed round

- February 15, 2023 2 MIN READ

Investment and market research services provider, NetworksX, has landed $610,000 in the Seed capital Melbourne-based Pitch Venture Capital and European investors led the round.  The fresh cash will expand the company’s operations to provide deeper and faster research services, increase automation, and broaden its offering to investors.  NetworksX does deep-dive analysis of markets using industry… Read more »

Tracksuit, Matt Herbert, Connor Archbold
Funding

Kiwi brand tracking startup Tracksuit bags $6.8 million Seed round

- February 13, 2023 2 MIN READ

New Zealand brand tracking startup Tracksuit has raised NZ$7.5 million (A$6.8m) in Seed round. The raise was led by Blackbird, which chipped in $3.6 million, supported by Kiwi VC Icehouse Ventures, Ascential, Shasta Ventures and veteran brand consultant Mark Ritson. Tracksuit helps companies measure and understand brand value via weekly global surveys to track consumer… Read more »

Peter and James Iansek
Funding

Contact centre responses startup raises $5 million Seed round

- December 6, 2022 < 1 MIN READ

A Melbourne startup hoping to improve the customer experience for people dealing with contact centres has raised $5 million US VC firm Bonfire Ventures led the round into Operative Intelligence, with additional funds from Wonder Ventures. The funds will be used to expand staffing and scale its customer intelligence product capabilities. The company, founded in… Read more »