YOU DESERVE A RAISE: The week's major startup funding rounds

Welcome to Startup Daily’s new weekly roundup of investment raises in the Australian and New Zealand startup sectors. Each Friday will give you a snapshot of the week’s investment activity. If we missed your raise, please let us know (contact details below).

Order management startup Fluent Commerce raised $33 million in Series B funding. US private equity company Arrowroot Capital led the raise, tipping in $20 million alongside $10 million from private investors and $3 million in a venture debt agreement. Arrowroot’s vice president Matt Klein and partner Clem O’Donnell will join the four-year-old cloud-based software venture’s board. The company will use the cash to expand in Australia, Europe and the US. Its omnichannel fulfilment software for retailers is used by Woolworths, Target, JD Sports and Pokemon, among others.

Sydney-based SpeeDx, a 10-year-old clinical diagnostic startup specialising in molecular diagnostic solutions, has raised US$10 million in equity investment from science-driven US venture capital ﬁrm Northpond Ventures. That raise follows on from US$5 million from Northpond Ventures in April this year. SpeeDx CEO Colin Denver said the funds will help expedite international expansion. The company has offices in London and the US and is working on health issues such as antibiotic resistance and better management of infectious diseases.

Fintech company eftsure, which helps prevent payments fraud and financial cybercrime, secured $2.5 million in funding to accelerate its growth. The round was led by venture capital firm Our Innovation Fund, which has backed its earlier investment rounds, as well as Stephen Allen, Macquarie Bank’s former Global Chief Risk Officer. The software business launched in 2014 and verifies supplier bank account details and compliance information around the point of payment.

Handdii co-founders Kathryn Wood and Christie Downs. Photo: supplied

Tech platform handdii, which connects insurance companies directly with contractors for property repair claims, has $1.5 million in seed funding. The round was led by Scale Investors, an Australian Angel network focused on high growth women-led tech companies, with Greenlight Re Innovations, Charles Robinson; and Assoc Prof John McBain. Handdii launched in Melbourne and is now in Adelaide and Sydney. Co-founders Kathryn Wood and Christie Downs (pictured above) said the funds will enable broker and landlord functionality and support further market expansion.

Sydney-based nutrition startup Pharmamark Nutrition scored $5.5 million from healthcare investment firm BioScience Managers. The funds will go towards developing baby milk formulas using the CSIRO’s microencapsulation technology IntEncap, and and the completing the company’s spray dryer facility in Thailand. IntEncap uses a protein and carbohydrate bases, coated in an emulsion film, to add bio-active ingredients from marine, algal, vegetable and fungal oils to foods and beverages to increase nutrition.

Victorian green energy venture DC Power Co raised $1.63 million 1, 691 investors in another equity crowdfunding campaign on Birchal. The latest raise comes a year after setting a $2.5 million new global record for the largest equity crowd-sourced campaign. The company wants to build the Big Aussie Battery – a virtual power plant connecting the battery storage at solar power-generating homes.

South Australian care management SaaS platform Lumary received $2 million investment from Sydney’s Equity Venture Partners (EVP). The Adelaide startup is developing software to manage workflow between providers, clients and others in the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The cash will go towards growth acceleration.