Ludovic Labat
Funding

Melbourne Uni-backed medical manufacturing startup Neo-Bionica scores $5 million from Breakthrough Victoria

- May 16, 2024 2 MIN READ

Budget cuts and ongoing criticism of the state government-backed Breakthrough Victoria have not slowed its capital deployment, with $5 million invested in medtech manufacturing startup Neo-Bionica. Founded in 2021 as a joint initiative of the Bionics Institute and the University of Melbourne and based at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, Neo-Bionica was developed to fill a… Read more »

Breaking Bad, money pile
Funding

Budget 2024: It seems the federal government went dutch with Queensland on the $940 million PsiQuantum deal, but the really surprising part is a $28m fine print cost

- May 14, 2024 2 MIN READ

We now know how much the federal government is spending to bring PsiQuantum, the California-based quantum computing company with Australian founders, to Brisbane. Well, almost. The budget says $466.4 million in equity and loans from Export Finance Australia on the National Interest Account. And it seems that a fair slab is a loan “estimated to exceed… Read more »

Tony Fitzgibbon and Charlie Minutella 
Funding

Identity verification fintech Data Zoo banks $35 million after 13 years of bootstrapping

- May 14, 2024 2 MIN READ

Sydney fintech Data Zoo has raised $35 million (US$22.7m) taking on external capital for the first time. The funding came from Ashok Jacob’s Sydney investment firm, Ellerston Capital, via its JAADE fund, which has also backed startups Mable, Camms, and Phocas. The deal values the business at more than $100 million. Data Zoo’s software provides… Read more »

AgriWebb
Funding

Farming stock management software startup plants $11 million raise

- May 10, 2024 2 MIN READ

Digital beef cattle management platform AgriWebb has raised US $US7.2 million (A$11m). The 10-year-old startup attracted listed Swedish climate solutions firm Munters Group as a new investor, with existing backers Germin8 Ventures, Grosvenor Food & AgTech, and Telus Ventures, the VC arm of the Canadian telecommunications giant, also part of the round. AgriWebb, founded in… Read more »

child with money raining down
Funding

Submissions to the parliamentary inquiry into the wholesale investor test close next week

- May 9, 2024 3 MIN READ

Rumours that the federal government was looking at dramatically ramping up the thresholds to qualify for the wholesale investor test sent shockwaves through the startup sector at the start of 2024. The purported changes being considered as Treasury looked into the issue were increasing the asset threshold to $4.5 million, up from $2.5m, with the… Read more »

Founder Craig Howe
Funding

Data transformation consultancy startup V2 Digital lands $30 million

- May 9, 2024 2 MIN READ

Melbourne tech startup V2 Digital has pocketed a $30 million equity investment from Columbia Capital just 12 months after launching. The digital transformation and data consultancy takes vision to value in companies, combining its experience, data, software, and cloud expertise to upskill internal talent. Founder Craig Howe launched the business in April 2023 and now has… Read more »

hysata
Funding

Green hydrogen startup Hysata pockets record $172 million Series B

- May 9, 2024 2 MIN READ

Wollongong-based electrolyser startup Hysata, which is developing production methods for low-cost green hydrogen, has raised $172 million (US$111.3m) in a Series B, a record for clean tech in Australia. The round was co-led by the venture arm of oil industry giant bp, and Investec’s Hong Kong-based  alternative investment firm Templewater, with both chipping in US$10m (A$15.2m).… Read more »

SupplyScope cofounders Raman Singh, Reinaldo Lie and Preet Singh.
Funding

Product development startup SupplyScope lands $300,000 pre-Seed from Skalata

- May 9, 2024 2 MIN READ

SupplyScope, a product development startup dealing with regulatory compliance and safety to get to market faster, has raised $300,000 from early-stage investor Skalata. The challenge faced by product suppliers is that takes months of testing and paperwork to get to market. As a result, many have bypassed larger stockists by selling direct-to-consumer and via online… Read more »

World View balloon
Funding

Breakthrough Victoria invests $37 million to lure US near-space exploration platform World View to Melbourne

- May 3, 2024 2 MIN READ

State government-backed investment fund Breakthrough Victoria is backing US stratospheric exploration company World View with $37 million to entice it to Melbourne. The strategic investment will see World View establish its Indo-Pacific headquarters in the capital, as well as building an advanced manufacturing facility in Victoria, creating up to 200 jobs in engineering, mission control… Read more »

Patrick Nappa and Alex Simmons
Funding

Startup lender Kashcade banks $1 million raise ahead of rolling out R&D tax incentive loans

- May 1, 2024 < 1 MIN READ

Fintech Kashcade has raised an additional $1 million from existing investor Prandium Capital and several high net worths, alongside a $22 million warehouse facility funded by asset-backed lending specialist Rixon Capital. The digital lender offers startup founders non-dilutive capital and will use the debt warehouse to expand into the R&D lending space, so companies can… Read more »

The tanneries of Fez, Morocco
Funding

Textiles dyeing climate tech startup Xefco raises $10.5 million Seed extension

- April 30, 2024 2 MIN READ

Sydney startup Xefco will ramp up its Victorian presence after raising $10.5 million in a Seed extension. The round was CSIRO-backed VC fund Main Sequence Ventures, with support from Virescent Ventures for the government-backed Clean Energy Finance Corporation, which chipped in $2.5 million, plus existing shareholders Investible and Voyagers Climate-Tech Fund in Xefco’s Seed investment round.… Read more »