Fintech startup Athena has closed a $70 million Series C round as it looks to push into mortgage origination. The country’s largest industry fund, AustralianSuper, joined the raise alongside long-term backers Square Peg Capital, AirTree Ventures and Hostplus, as well as Salesforce Ventures and NAB Ventures. Square Peg’s Paul Bassat joined the Athena board… Read more »
The Airwallex team. Investments in Australian startups have nearly doubled in the past 12 months to nearly $7 billion, with Victoria leading the way, according to data analytics firm Techboard. The Techboard Australian Startup and Young Technology Company Annual Funding Report 2018/19, released at Intersekt on Friday. Techboard co-founder and CEO Peter van Bruchem said… Read more »
Canva co-founders Cameron Adams, Cliff Obrecht and Melanie Perkins. Photo: supplied Privately-owned online design startup Canva says its market value is now US$3.2 billion (AU$4.7bn) after a US$85 million (AU$125m) raise revealed on Thursday. Those lining up to support Canva’s 7th raise – taking the total investment to AU$333 million in five years – with… Read more »
The most recent trends in fintech investment in Australia will be debated by some of the investors at the forefront of the sector a special Techboard Roundtable in Melbourne this Friday, October 18. Presented in association with Fintech Australia and the Intersekt Festival, the Techboard roundtable discussion will focus on the future of funding for… Read more »
July co-founders Athan Didaskalou and Richard Li, with Strandbags MD Felicity McGahan (centre). Melbourne luggage brand July, already set to book more than $5 million revenue in its first year, has raised A$10.5 million in a Series A, led by veteran accessories retailer Strandbags and a private investor. Strandbags is owned by Michael Lewis, chairman… Read more »
This is Startup Daily’s regular roundup of investment raises in the Australian and New Zealand startup sectors. At the end of each month we’ll give you a snapshot of that month’s investment activity. If we missed your raise, please let us know (contact details below). Sept 30: Sydney fintech DiviPay, a virtual credit… Read more »
Practice Ignition, cloud-based software that helps accounts manage their own business, has raised AU$26 million in a series B, led by New York’s Tiger Global Management. MYOB co-founder and Xero Board member, Craig Winkler and Right Click Capital were among those also investing in the software startup, co-founded by Guy Pearson in Sydney in 2011.… Read more »
Car Next Door co-founder and CEO Will Davies Automotive giant Hyundai has doubled down on its support for vehicle -sharing marketplace Car Next Door, which lets people rent out the cars, investing another $6.2m in the venture in the hope that more people will buy more of the South Korean manufacturer’s products to rent out.… Read more »
Wellington-based RedShield, a cybersecurity startup that provides API protection via web application shielding, has raised NZ$14 million (AU$13m). New Zealand private equity firm Pencarrow led the round ahead of existing shareholder Sage Technologies. RedShield’s CEO and co-founder Andy Prow (pictured above) said the support recognised the company’s success in New Zealand , the US, UK… Read more »
This is Startup Daily’s regular 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). Quantum computing startup Q-CTRL has raised US$15 million (AU$22m) in a Series A round led… Read more »
AmazingCo founders Silvia Hope, Jeremy Cox and Nick Brozovic. Photo: Supplied Melbourne experiences platform AmazingCo raised AU$5.1m in a Series A round backed by Aconex co-founders Leigh Jasper and Robert Phillpot. Rampersand VC, Artesian and Macdoch Ventures were also part of the raise. The Series A follows a $2.3m seed funding round last year, with those… Read more »
Square Peg Capital Partner Tushar Roy with Professor Michael Biercuk, founder and CEO of QCTRL. Photo: supplied Quantum computing startup Q-CTRL has raised US$15 million (AU$22m) in a Series A round led by Square Peg Capital. Silicon Valley’s Sierra Ventures also joined the raise beside existing investors, including Sequoia Capital, Main Sequence Ventures, and Horizons… Read more »
Melbourne HR tech business Culture Amp raised US$82 million (AU$121m) in Series E to value the business at US$700 million – more than AU$1 billion. It’s the third Australian startup this year to reach the magic $1 billion valuation – “unicorn” status – after Judo Bank and Airwallex, in the second biggest tech… Read more »
Parkable CEO, Toby Littin, and Spark Future of Connectivity Lead, Renee Mataparae Auckland-based parking app Parkable has raised NZ$4.6 million in a Series A round, valuing the business at NZ$36 million. The raise was led by Kiwi telco Spark, with some prominent local investors joining for the first time, including Trade Me co-founder Rowan Simpson,… Read more »
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). Parental engagement platform Circle In has raised $1.5 million seed investment led… Read more »
Atlassian cofounder Scott Farquhar steps down as co-CEO 
The lessons from Uber, Ola and rideshare’s disruption is that in the end, the consumer still pays 
Kiwi tech skills startup NextWork pockets $2.3 million pre-Seed raise 
Logistics software startup Veyor Digital shifts $2.75 million pre-Series A for US plans 
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