A startup turning agricultural waste into activated carbon, which is used to filter environmental toxins, has raised $2.6 million in a Series A. Government-backed investment fund Breakthrough Victoria chipped in $1 million, joined by VCs Alberts Impact Ventures, Investible, Artesian and Startmate. The funds will support the testing and establishment of Bygen’s large-scale production plant,… Read more »
Western Australian self-manage care platform PlanCare has topped up its Seed round to $2.5 million from existing backer Purpose Ventures. The new Perth VC originally backed PlanCare in July 2023, and the additional funding is the first follow-on investment from Purpose. PlanCare founder Dave Newman previously ran Morning Startup for more than a decade and… Read more »
Victorian startup Diversity Atlas, a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) data analytics platform, has raised $6 million in a bridge round. The capital came via Canadian impact investment platform Gener8 VC. The Melbourne-based startup is looking to double the size of its current team of 35 as it expands into new markets in the EU and… Read more »
Away from the VC mega-round headlines or the hard stories of founders who can’t raise capital at any price, is the solvable problem of how much money a new founder should raise. I’ve participated in hundreds of investments where founders have opted for different answers to this question, and watched the consequences unfold over the… Read more »
Australian disability tech accelerator Remarkable has backed a US med tech startup reducing urinary tract infection (UTI) risks in a US$6 million (A$9.1m) Seed raise. The round for New York medtech startup Aurie, was led by existing investor Lakehouse Ventures. Founded in 2018, Aurie has developed a reusable, no-touch, intermittent catheter system used by people… Read more »
National science agency CSIRO has allocated $20 million towards supporting startups and smaller companies with greater access to vital research and development (R&D) opportunities to accelerate their growth. Up to 750 small to medium enterprises (SMEs) will be supported under the banner of SME Connect via programs that provide facilitation, training, dollar-matched funding and support… Read more »
A $20 million business investment fund has launched in the Northern Territory in a partnership between the government and Darwin investment firm Paspalis Corporation. The Territory government is tipping in $10 million through the Local Jobs Fund, matched by Paspalis, with funding of up to $5 million available for domestic and international businesses looking to… Read more »
Australia’s startup world glorifies venture capital as the holy grail—the insider’s ticket to fast scaling and billion-dollar valuations. FOMO sets in when headlines splash record-breaking funding rounds, fuelling a culture that views VC backing as the singular metric for success. As an ecosystem, we fixate on spinning the VC roulette wheel. Even founders who don’t… Read more »
Perth telehealth and medicine delivery startup Hola Health has raised $4.5 million in a pre-Series A. The round was led by M8 Ventures, marking a return to investing for partners Alan Jones and Emily Rich, four years after they put the fund on ice as Covid hit. The raise also included follow-on capital from FundWA… Read more »
An advertising analytics startup offering a solution to the end of internet cookies to track marketing has raised $5 million in Seed funding The round for Prophet was backed by Australian Community Media owner Antony Catalano, Seek cofounder Matt Rockman and Cheuk Chiang APAC CEO of Dentsu Creative, among others. The business intelligence platform has been… Read more »
A new online marketplace for vintage, and antique furniture and homewares, Bazaa, has raised $650,000 in pre-Seed funding from angel investors and syndicates. The idea is the brainchild of Voly cofounder Thibault Henry, and Aria Wigneswaran, a former director of e-commerce fashion marketplace Depop. Henry calls Bazaa a new way for people to discover, buy… Read more »
Wellbeing expert advice marketplace Anni has banked $1 million in a Seed raise just five months after launching. The round has backed by several unnamed high net worth individuals and family funds and will be used to build out the wellbeing platform in areas such as online video consults, digital goods and distributed cross-platform on-demand… Read more »
A Victorian startup based at Monash University has raised $9 million to develop carbon-neutral “green” ammonia for the agriculture sector. Jupiter Ionics is the result of research by scientists at the university’s School of Chemistry, Prof Doug Macfarlane, and Assoc Prof Alexandr Simonov. The electrochemical technologies they’ve developed has resulted in modular ammonia production systems… Read more »
More than $9 million has been awarded to Australian startups focused on space supply chain solutions for NASA’s Artemis program for lunar exploration. The recipients include Victorian startup NextAero, which is developing cryogenic rocket propellants, and South Australia’s Neumann Space, which is focused on electric spacecraft propulsion. The both received $1 million grants from the… Read more »
Welcome to The Ask, Our new column on Startup Daily designed for founders looking for capital. It may be venture capital, crowdfunding or another path, and is designed to flag your startup to potential investors. If you’re on the hunt for cash, we’re happy to share the news with Australia’s startup community. This is your… Read more »
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