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 »
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 »
Sydney software proptech Sitemate has raised $7.5 million in a pre-Series A for its no code platform for the construction sector. Marbruck Investments led the round, with participation from existing investors including Blackbird Ventures and Artesian. It’s 15 months since Sitemate raised $5.2 million in a round let by Blackbird, and since the the business… Read more »
Event rental e-commerce platform Gecko has raised $350,000 in a pre-Seed round led by the NSW government-backed Techstars program in Sydney. Gecko is one of 12 startups selected for the inaugural Techstars Tech Central accelerator program, which got underway earlier this month. US investors Goodwater Capital and Launch House also backed the startups pre-Seed raise. … Read more »
Sydney satellite data analysis startup Arlula has raised $2.2 million in a Seed round . The round was led by CSIRO’s deep tech VC fund Main Sequence, with support from Black Nova Venture Capital. Launched in 2018, Arlula makes Earth Observation (EO) data and imagery captured by satellites available for companies to make better decisions… Read more »
The founders of Sequoia Capital-backed Sample have rebranded and changed the focus of the business, raising another $2.4 million Seed round from new investors in the process. As Sample, cofounded in 2021 by former Grab staffers Jascha Zittel and Elliott Gibb, the startup raised $920,000 in pre-Seed funding, led by Sequoia Capital India, in December… Read more »
Cricketing Hall of Fame batsman Kumar Sangakkara has cofounded an esports platform that’s raised US$2.5 million (A$3.2m) in Seed funding to play sport in the metaverse. The round was led by new Singapore-based investment firm Hangar X, plus several sports and web3 investors, including US-based Nucleus Advisors founder Jordan Waxman, Perth-based 5point8 Capital director Mark D’Alessandro… Read more »
Digital news channel The Daily Aus, which has pioneered a social media-first approach to current affairs for younger Australians, has raised $1.2 million in Seed funding. The round was led by media former Nine CEO David Gyngell, supported by Canva executives Zach Kitschke and Rob Kawalsky, as well as festival the Untitled Group. The backing from… Read more »
Raising capital is a massive challenge for any startup. It’s not just the who, what and where – it’s the how. There are generally two types of capital available to a startup or scaleup: debt and equity. Debt capital is the kind you’re used to: you borrow money from a lender and pay it back… Read more »
A new shopping app developed by the twin sisters behind Stylerunner has raised $1.6 million in seed funding. The round was led by former banking exec Andrew Hagger, CEO of Fortescue founder Andrew Forest’s family investment firm, Tattarang and his charity arm, the Minderoo Foundation, supported by ASX-listed Touch Ventures, plus others. Sisters Sali Sasi… Read more »
Carbar has raised $28.9 million in a funding round led by IAG and Seven West Media. IAG, Australia’s biggest insurer, already has a majority stake in digital car subscription and trading startup Carbar following a $16.8 million raise in 2019. Founded in Melbourne in 2016 as a virtual car dealership, Carbar now has 80 employees… Read more »
HelpPay, a fintech for people seeking help to pay bills, has raised $2.4 million in series A ahead of its public launch this Monday, November 29. The first-of-its-kind platform lets people securely share bills with family and friends via a smartphone app, allowing others to chip in and help pay them off. Unlike crowdfunding options… Read more »
Melbourne construction tech startup BuildPass has raised $1 million in a pre-seed round. The raise was backed by local construction industry companies and strategic US-based investors with the company looking to expand into the US market in the next 1-2 years. BuildPass was co-founded by Matt Perrott and Aaron Vanston, who met with principle engineer, James… Read more »
Edtech startup Academy Xi has raised an additional $4.4 million to top up a $9.6 million round for a total raise of $14 million. New investors included philanthropist Robert McLean, Cuscal chair Bill Conn and funds manager Milford Asset Management. Previous backers Alium Capital Management, Giant Leap Fund, Pangaea Impact Investments and Perle Ventures backed… Read more »
Australian fintech Rush Gold (previously SendGold) has raised a $3 million Series A The round, led by Dragon Tree Capital, with several new backers including Andrew Barlow, Rami de Marchi, Prof. Gustavo Schwenkler, Tom Krulis and Matt Bailey hitting the EFT button alongside several existing shareholders including entrepreneur Darren Harrison. The venture, which is building… Read more »
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