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 »
Learning platform Secure Code Warrior has finished its Series C round, led by Paladin Capital Group, with $72 million (US$50 million) raised. The funding will help the company continue developing its platform and increase share in the important cyber skills development market. Managing director of Paladin and Secure Code Warrior board member Mourad Yesayan said… Read more »
Reactory founder Mark Eltom has a bonus incentive for investors who chip in $100,000 to his latest capital raise: a bottle of whisky that was accidentally left maturing for eight months. Now eight months isn’t usually a long time for whisky to mature, but Eltom claims his specialised maturing vats can make a whisky taste… Read more »
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 »
Australian-born non-alcoholic spirit company Lyre’s is celebrating the completion of its latest funding round, pulling in nearly £18 million ($34 million) to help bolster its supply chain and global inventory. Led by international investors DSquared and Morgan Creek Consumer Fund, the latest raise saw existing investors tip more funds into Lyre’s as a show of… Read more »
Australian dissolvable hand soap startup Single Use Ain’t Sexy has sold to travel amenities company Buzz for an undisclosed sum. Single Use Ain’t Sexy developed a clever method of delivering hand soap into a pump bottle with minimal extra plastics. Its product is a dissolvable soap tablet you drop into a reusable glass bottle which… Read more »
A agtech startup tackling the security and transparency of carbon credits has raised $6 million to take the next big leap in Australia’s digital farming revolution Melbourne-based Sensand brings together agricultural land management, carbon project operations, and environmental markets on a single platform. The funding came in a single cheque from Robert Costa, chair of… Read more »
A new impact fund for Indigenous startups has raised $15 million, taking it halfway to a $30 million target to back Aboriginal and TSI entrepreneurs. First Australians Capital (FAC), is an Indigenous-led organisation focused on business advisory services coupled with a social impact fund for Indigenous businesses. Since 2016, FAC has supported more than 700… Read more »
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 »
Sydney startup MagicBrief has raised $2 million in a pre-Seed round for its marketing platform which acts like the lovechild of Canva and Pinterest for advertising. The round was led by Blackbird with support from Archangel Ventures. Several individual founders also chipped in as angel investors, including Vimeo’s Zach Klein, UsTwo’s Matt Miller, Tim Doyle… Read more »
A Brisbane startup focused on fleet energy management and AC charging for electric vehicles (EVs) has raised $5 million in a Series A from existing investors. EVOS was cofounded by three former employees of the Nasdaq-listed Queensland fast charging company Tritium. It previously raised $1.7 million in a Seed round two years ago and since… Read more »
Proptech Inspace has raised $6 million in a Series A for its virtual inspection software platform for commercial property promotions. The round was co-led by Facebook cofounder Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital and local VC Our Innovation Fund (OIF), an existing investor, with Investible also once again chipping in. Inspace previously raised$ 4 million in a… Read more »
A deep tech startup cofounded by three globally recognised atomic physicists at Australian National University has raised $12 million to develop miniaturised quantum sensors for mining, underground resources and navigation. The round was led by existing investor Blackbird with support from Right Click Capital. A previous Seed round raised $2 million, with ANU also on… Read more »
South Australian customer retention fintech Sherlok has raised $3.4 million to help mortgage brokers get better home loan deals for their clients. The round was led by VC Rampersand, with participation from Investible and its Club Investible syndicate, supported by Paloma and Common Sense Ventures. A pioneering use case of open banking from the three-year-old… Read more »
A Kiwi B2B marketplace for the hospitality and food service industry developed by a cofounder Xero has crossed the ditch to Australia after raising NZ$6 million (A$5.5m). Upstock is the brainchild of Duncan Ritchie and Philip Fierlinger, who was part of the 2006 founding team of ASX-listed accounting platform Xero. The raise was backed by Icehouse… Read more »
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