Auckland-based NZVC is planning to invest in 50-60 Australia and New Zealand early-stage founders with its new NZ $50 million Fund II. Fund II invests from Pre-Seed to Series A, with smaller initial cheques and significant follow-on reserves. General partner Mark Pavlyukovskyy founded NZVC in 2021 as Aotearoa’s first operator-led venture fund, having relocated to… Read more »
A Brisbane startup developing hydrogen-powered aircraft engines and hypersonic Unmanned Aerial Vehicles has raised $46 million in a Series A as NASA prepares to test its 3D-printed ideas. The round for Hypersonix Launch Systems was led by UK national security investor High Tor Capital, with support from European defence company Saab and Polish family office RKKVC,… Read more »
Melbourne biotech ENA Respiratory has raised $34 million (US$22.4m) in a Series B funding round to support the development of its virus-agnostic nasal spray, INNA-051, designed to boost the body’s natural defences against respiratory infections. The raise was led by existing investors Brandon Capital and Uniseed, with participation from Stoic Venture Capital, the Gates Foundation… Read more »
Startup operator community Overnight Success has partnered with Aussie Angels to launch a new angel syndicate and education pathway, opening early-stage startup investing to more operators by lowering cheque size barriers.
The Victorian government is investing $75 million across five specialist venture capital firms. The funding, via Breakthrough Victoria, will go to VCs backing climate-tech, life sciences, and female founders, as well as a cornerstone investment in an unnamed US specialist healthcare fund manager as they launch their first Australian fund. All five have committed to… Read more »
It has been relatively quiet on the startup funding front this week: we’ve counted only two local startups with fresh capital raises. But Australian talents are still shining abroad, with one founder raising tens of millions of dollars for a new tool empowering sales teams. Keep reading to learn more about 2cloudnine and SeaStock, which… Read more »
Startmate is getting into the streaming business with the next evolution of its Accelerator program – dedicated Founder Streams. Streams is designed to deliver more focused, hands-on support for founders across key startup sectors. It also features Stream Leads, experienced founders who’ve lived the journey themselves, to guide startups through tailored 12-week programs focused on… Read more »
FinTech Australia has warned that financial and other digital technologies risk being unintentionally excluded from future innovation funding unless explicitly recognised in the federal government’s current Strategic Examination of Research and Development (R&D). The fintech peak body argue its case in a submission to the R&D review’s expert panel, led by Tesla chair Robyn Denholm,… Read more »
After last week’s $211 million raised across six startups – that largely to Heidi Health’s $98m Seris B as well as details of Octopus Deploy’s 2024 $45.6m round emerging, mid October seems more normal, with six Australian companies collectively raising a collective $13.4m. The biggest raise came from GXE, which secured $3.3 million in Series… Read more »
A Sydney startup using batteries to replace gas for industrial heat, and cut business energy costs, has raised more than $2 million. Good Heat will deploy large-scale thermal energy storage (TES) systems powered by cheap renewable electricity to provide industrial heat at prices below gas. Plans for Australia’s largest heat battery development, for a significant… Read more »
PredicTx Health, a University of Melbourne spin-out that uses AI to personalise chemo dosing based on body composition analysis, has raised $1.6 million. The funding came from the University’s Genesis Pre-Seed Fund, a government grant and angel investment and will be used to commercialise a world-first AI-powered precision oncology platform. PredicTx was cofounded Professor Justin… Read more »
Breakthrough Victoria has selected the first three recipients of its new Fellowship program, which hopes to turn academic research into startup reality. The $7.5 million, multi-year program offers each recipient $150,000 to kick off their entrepreneurial efforts, and Breakthrough Victoria is hoping it will result in around 50 startups commercialising research and IP. The trio… Read more »
Melbourne air-conditioning startup Conry Tech has raised $3 million in Seed funding as it looks to transform workplace cooling. The round was led by specialist climate tech investor, Audacy. The cash will help complete development of the startup’s revolutionary “BullAnt” air-conditioner, which has the potential to halve energy bills in commercial buildings, as well as… Read more »
Startup funding topped $1 billion in the third quarter of 2025, with investors eager to back data centres and AI with enthusiasm that recalls the mid-pandemic valuation bubble of 2021-2022 Investors threw money at AI startups like fans tossing underwear on stage at a Tom Jones concert in Q3, according to the latest Cut Through… Read more »
An AI-based “cloud waste” startup has raised $3 million in pre-Seed funding to help companies save billions on their cloud costs. The round for Optimaze was led by Arconic and The Innovation Club. The Sydney startup is currently in private beta, with a waitlist for preview access to the software. The funding is to expand… Read more »
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