A new agricultural innovation program for is setting up in Toowoomba, 125km west of Queensland, to support startups focused on enhancing plant health. The Agtech and Logistics Hub in Toowoomba is delivering the open innovation initiative in conjunction with industry body Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA). The OpenGround program will bring together scaleups and innovation… Read more »
Food waste recycling startup Goterra, a company Woolworths is relying on to help it achieve net zero food waste, has won the 2023 Startup Daily Best in Tech Awards’ Best Sustainability Startup award, sponsored by Zembl. In many ways Goterra is a simple idea – a circular economy business that harnesses the power of nature to… Read more »
Imagine if you could detect disease in ginger, fraud in Manuka honey and adulteration of tea tree oil using a smartphone? Those capabilities are among the plans of Zondii, winner of the 2023 Startup Daily Best in Tech Awards’ Best Regional Startup award, sponsored by Investment NSW. From Armidale in NSW’s northern tablelands, this innovative… Read more »
Victorian agtech startups have access to a new funding source with LaunchVic backing a new $1 million angel sidecar fund backed by Agriculture Victoria. The Hugh Victor McKay Fund is named in honour of the inventor who patented the combine harvester in the 1880s, one of the most important agricultural innovations in recent history. The… 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 »
Agri-food tech accelerator SparkLabs Cultiv8 is turning its attention to cleantech startups in a new program to fund and develop them. The SparkLabs Cultiv8 CleanTech Accelerator has selected 10 startups for its initial cohort backed by Malcolm Nutt and Jonathon Quigley’s VC fund Cultiv8 Funds Management. Since its launch in 2017, the SparkLabs accelerator program… Read more »
Danielle Morton, the Founder of agtech startup Zondii, is no stranger to doing things differently. “As a regional female founder I knew I would be an outlier on the path to big city investment,” she said. In support of this sentiment, according to research done by SBE Australia and Deloitte Access Economics she was fortunate to… Read more »
The Western Australian government has lured the AgriFutures evokeAG to Perth in 2024 following its sell out success in Adelaide earlier this year. The two day tech conference focused on agrifood will take place in the WA capital on February 20-21 next year at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. It had been scheduled for… Read more »
Applications for SparkLabs Cultiv8’s cleantech accelerator are open for another fortnight, with space for 10 startups ready to transform the future of agri-food tech. The global Sparklabs Group invests in early-stage companies and each startup will receive up to A$100,000 in seed funding. Apply here – but get cracking because they close on April 17. … Read more »
New Zealand agtech startup, which developed a GPS-enabled solar collar that “guides” cows around pastures using sound and vibrations, has raised NZ$85 million (A$79.5m) in a Series C. The round was led by US VC Bessemer Venture Partners with existing backers Blackbird, Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck Kiwi VC Icehouse Ventures and DCVC. Mechanical engineer Craig… Read more »
CSIRO-backed fintech DAS (Digital Agriculture Services) has raised $3 million in interim funding in a round led by the VC arm of Canadian communications giant TELUS. TELUS Ventures was supported by existing investors, which include CSIRO, Startmate and several high net worths – and ahead of a broader US series later this year. The business… Read more »
The Victorian government is offering $1.3 million in new funding to the agtech startup sector through LaunchVic. The funding including $1 million under the AgTech Grants Program, which will offer individual grant funding of $50,000 to 20 emerging agtech startups. The program is a partnership between Agriculture Victoria and the state’s startup agency LaunchVic. On top… Read more »
Farming automation management startup SwarmFarm Robotics has raised $12 million in a Series A to address agriculture’s worker shortage. The round was led by Canadian agtech fund Emmertech, from Conexus Venture Capital, supported by Brisbane VC Tribe Global Ventures and South Australia’s Access Capital. Existing investors Tenacious Ventures and GrainInnovate, the Grains Research and Development Corporation… Read more »
Decarbonisation startup Loam, which uses microbes to sequester carbon in farm soils, has raised $105 million in a Series B. The latest raise comes 20 months after its $40 million Series A – and brings the total raised to $150 million Loam’s Series B was co-led by US climate-focused VC Lowercarbon Capital and former Macquarie… Read more »
Microsoft founder Bill Gates has made his first investment in an Australian startup, backing Perth-based climate tech venture Rumin8 in a US$12 million (A$17m) second phase of its Seed round. The raise was led by the Gates-founded VC firm Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), with participation from fellow billionaires Andrew and Nicola Forrest via their agri-food… Read more »
Job-ready sales talent edtech Earlywork banks $1.5 million Seed round 
Airtasker cofounder Jonathan Lui’s proptech app, Soho, banks $750,000 to hit $20 million valuation 
Sweat re-equity: Bikini Body founders Kayla Itsines and Tobi Pearce buy back their fitness app 
B2B BNPL BizPay, which hoped to list at a $400 million valuation, has been placed in voluntary administration 
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