Digital lending and payments provider WLTH has landed a $3 million seed round, with the Brisbane fintech now launching a $15 million series A with an eye to international expansion. The venture, founded in 2019, has trimmed its sails since originally announcing its intentions earlier this year for a $5m seed, followed by a $20… Read more »
Sydney telehealth startup Eucalyptus has raised A$30 million in a series B round led by California investor NewView Capital. NewView founder and managing partner Ravi Viswanathan will join the board. Existing investors Blackbird Ventures and W23, the Woolworths VC fund, also hit the transfer funds button, with AirTree Ventures signing on for the first time. Tim… Read more »
Sydney plant-based proteins startup Harvest B has raised $3.5 million in seed funding just 12 months after launching. The seed raise was led by Aura Ventures and W23, the venture capital arm of supermarket giant Woolworths. The startup also landed a $1 million grant from the federal government’s Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre Commercialisation Fund. It… Read more »
Space-focused tech incubator Moonshot has been awarded a $250,000 grant from the federal government’s Incubator Support Scheme to help develop space technology businesses. The grant delivers Moonshot a $500,000 boost thanks to matched backing from private investors. The funds will go towards expanding operations, launching new accelerator programs and amplifying support for local space startups.… Read more »
A Sydney data startup developing using machine learning software to map the brain and treat disorders such as depression, dementia and PTSD has raised $40 million in a series B. The investors reportedly include Western Australian mining billionaire Gina Rinehart and Sydney’s Gretel Packer, as well as Platinum Asset Management co-founder Kerr Neilson, and Caledonia… Read more »
A Brisbane startup following in the footsteps of electric vehicles (EV) charging unicorn Tritium has raised a $1.7 million seed round. EVOS was founded by three former Tritium employees. That fellow Brisbane venture is set to list on the US NASDAQ via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The new startup is focused on fleet energy… Read more »
Machine learning startup SourseAI has raised $1.5 million to help bosses make fewer calls based on their gut feeling. The round was led by Aligned Equity and TV and radio company Southern Cross Austereo (SCA), making its second investment in an AI-based analytics startup after backing spoken word analysis venture Sonnant earlier this year. The… Read more »
Sydney startup FL0 has raised $5.1 million in a seed round led by Blackbird Ventures. The venture (pronounced Flow), c0-founded by serial entrepreneur Dale Brett, is looking to speed up coding with a low-code format, pioneering what it calls “dev acceleration” in a Canva-style democratisation of software engineering While still in beta mode, early customer… Read more »
Simulate, a New York startup that makes “simulated” chicken nuggets, founded two years ago by Australian Ben Pasternak when he was just 19, has raised US50 million (A$65m) in a series B. The round was led by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, husband of tennis champion Serena Williams, through his VC fund Seven Seven Six. Ohanian… Read more »
Brisbane artificial intelligence startup Tribu, which aids IT helpdesks and managed service providers (MSP) automate assistance requests, has raised $1.25 million from Brisbane Angels and the California syndicate founded by US investor Jason Calacanis. Tribu is using machine learning and AI to help IT support companies deal with what the industry calls “level 1” calls… Read more »
Insurance giant IAG’s VC arm, IAG Firemark Ventures, has led a US$19 million (A$25m) series “B-1” raise into Australian cybersecurity startup UpGuard. Firemark was among several investors backing the nine-year-old business once again, including Pelion Venture Partners, Square Peg Capital and August Capital, bringing the total raised to A$59 million, following a previous raise in… Read more »
The forced closure of customer contact centres during the coronavirus pandemic delivered a silver lining for Cloudwave, which has raised $2m in a series A to expand into Asia and the US. The oversubscribed $2m round was led by Moelis Investment Bank, supported by Singapore-based VC fund Vulpes Investment Management. The cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) startup… Read more »
A year-old online car financing marketplace has raised a $3 million seed round led by Carthona Capital. Driva, which launched in early 2020, hopes to take on comparison sites such as Finder and Canstar, offering car buyers lending options from more than 30 auto financers. The fresh round of investors includes Stephen Das, founder of… Read more »
The Commonwealth Bank has made a second major investment in a digital startup, investing $20 million in a series B round for electricity retailer Amber. The deal follows a $30 million investment by CBA for a 23% stake in e-commerce retail platform Little Birdie. The Amber investment gives CBA a 25% stake in the business.… Read more »
A new e-commerce venture originally developed by Catch Group founders Gabby and Hezi Leibovi’s has scored a record $30 million from the Commonwealth Bank prior to its launch. CBA’s taken a 23% stake in Little Birdie, valuing the business at $130 million before the online retail deals marketplace has sold a single product. The Melbourne… Read more »
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