Women-founded and focused superannuation fintech Verve Super has been acquired by the parent company of Simon Sheikh’s Future Super, just five months after raising $3 million in a pre-Series A. Verve cofounder and CEO Christina Hobbs announced news of the deal on Wednesday saying it gives the five-year-old startup the ability to leverage Future Group’s… Read more »
New Zealand’s most active venture capital firm Icehouse Ventures, says it has “VCed itself” after raising NZ$10 million (A$9.3m) in equity capital. The raise was supported by business leaders and family offices across Aotearoa, as well as Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, and the US. Icehouse’s backers are a who’s who… Read more »
New Zealand funds management software startup Caruso has raised A$3 million in Seed funding as it looks to cross the ditch as establish an Australian office. The round was led by Kiwi VC Icehouse Ventures, with support from GD1, Chris Heaslip, founder of Pushpay, and the Rae family of Gull Oil. Caruso plans to add… Read more »
Artificial intelligence loans assessments platform Rich Data Co has raised $28 million (US$17.5m) in a Series B as it looks to ramp up its North America expansion The round was led by Westpac and Nasdaq-listed cloud banking firm nCino, supported by existing backer BMYG and a new investor, Singapore-based Octava Fund. The funds will be used… Read more »
Australian fintechs are looking offshore for success, hampered by the funding climate and regulatory complexity account to the latest EY FinTech Australia Census. The eighth census, a collaboration between Ernst & Young and industry group FinTech Australia, reveals a mature sector that overall is performing well. A record 88% of respondents said they are post-revenue,… Read more »
Crowd-sourced funding (CSF) fintech Birchal is hoping to raise $3 million in a second campaign on its own platform. The capital raising platform, which has been popular with brewers, medicinal cannabis ventures and impact cleaning products startup Zero Co launched in 2018 when crowd-funding was legalised, has facilitated more than 100 capital raises worth $190… Read more »
SBE Australia will expand its services supporting women entrepreneurs in Victoria thanks to support from LaunchVic. The state government-backed startup agency is provided a $100,000 grant towards the development of SBE Advisory, to ensure that women-led businesses are receiving much needed independent, bespoke advice and more tailored solutions needed to amplify their growth and scale.… Read more »
The University of New South Wales (UNSW) has become the first tertiary institution to implement the federal government’s accredited Startup Year program for recent university graduates. Federal industry and science minister Ed Husic confirmed plans for the HECS-style loans program, an election promise designed to back university students to launch their own startups ideas, late… Read more »
Virtual reality property walkthrough startup EnvisionVR has raised $2.585 million in a round backed by industry leaders. EnvisionVR, founded in 2019, is a mobile platform that uses virtual and augmented reality experiences for the off-the-plan property developments. In the last 18 months, more than $500 million worth of property has been showcased and sold by… Read more »
Melbourne fintech TaxLeopard, an accounting and tax app for sole traders, has acquired rival BAS and income tax return lodgement startup Airtax in a six-figure deal. TaxLeopard, founded in 2022 by accountants Selda Kaplan and Michael Kambouridis, was a recent finalist in the Startup Daily Best in Tech Awards. The platform helps sole traders, freelancers… Read more »
Invoice payment buy now pay later (BNPL) fintech BizPay was placed in voluntary administration last week Jonathon Keenan and Peter Krejci from BRI Ferrier were handed the books as administrators on November 23. The company’s website says no new loans are being issued while a restructure is being explored. Ironically for a fintech offering a… Read more »
Financial industry professional development platform Nuggets Academy has raised $700,000 in a round led by Antler Australia. The edtech, which deals with the mandatory Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training people are required to undertake annually, emerged out of the Antler program last year with its initial pre-seed funding from the accelerator and VC. Also backing… Read more »
Brisbane lending fintech WLTH has raised $14 million alongside acquiring home loan manager Mortgage Mart. The funding came from Melbourne-based healthtech-focused investor Rajomon and ASX-listed PNG digital lender Kina Bank (ASX:KSL). WLTH CEO and cofounder Brodie Haupt has put the capital to immediate use as part of his ambition to build Australia’s leading digital lender,… Read more »
New Zealand healthtech startup Carepatron has raised A$6 million in a Seed round co-led by existing backer Blackbird Ventures and US-based TQ Ventures: Carepatron, launched in late 2021 by David Pene and Jamie Frew. It practice management software helps healthcare practitioners deal with administration, cutting the time spent dealing with it by around 8 hours… Read more »
HSBC Australia has added to the growing options for Australian companies seeking capital launching a venture debt product late stage venture capital-backed scaleups. It’s the first time a major bank has offered venture debt locally, with the option only appearing in recent years for early stage startups via the likes of OneVentures, Lighter Capital, San… Read more »
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