Sydney quantum startup Q–CTRL has raised US$25 million (A$35m) with Silicon Valley VC Airbus Ventures leading the round. Q-CTRL previously raised $22 million in 2019 in a Series A round led by Square Peg Capital. The early-stage VC arm of Airbus was drawn to the work of founder and CEO Professor Michael J. Biercuk after… Read more »
Adelaide satellite startup Fleet Space Technologies has raised US$26.4m (A$36m) in a series B. The round was led by existing backers Artesian Venture Partners, Blackbird Ventures, Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures, and Horizons Ventures – the private investment arm of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing – with new investors including Alumni Ventures, Hostplus, the South Australian… Read more »
Atlassian co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar have backed electric delivery bike startup Zoomo in an A$80 million series B. The round was led by Grok Ventures, Cannon-Brookes’ family VC, supported by Farquhar’s private VC, Skip Capital and ArcTern Ventures. Existing investors, AirTree Ventures, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), Contrarian Ventures and Maniv Mobility also participated in the round.… Read more »
Anti-money laundering regtech startup First AML has raised A$28.7 million (NZ$30m) in a series B. The round was led by Blackbird Ventures, with support from new investors Headline Ventures, and existing backers Pushpay founder Eliot Crowther, US firm Bedrock Capital and Kiwi VC Icehouse Ventures. Blackbird partner Samantha Wong will join the board. The funds… Read more »
Canberra-based quantum cybersecurity venture QuintessenceLabs has raised $25 million in a series B. The round was led by the CSIRO’s VC fund Main Sequence Ventures and Canadian VC TELUS Ventures, with additional participation from Mizuho Financial Group-backed InterValley Ventures, which helps early stage Australian tech companies crack the Japanese market, and Capital Property Group. The… Read more »
Digital energy platform Wattwatchers has raised $5.3 million in the Series B round. The round was led by private equity impact investor Kilara Capital’s new Growth Fund, with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), doubling down on the startup after backing its series A and initial capital raise in 2017 through its specialist Innovation Fund.… Read more »
Sydney gaming startup Immutable has raised A$82 million to ramp up its Ethereum-based trading platform in non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The round was co-led by California’s BITKRAFT Ventures and Sydney’s King River Capital. Other backers include AirTree Ventures, Prosus Ventures, Galaxy Interactive, Fabric Ventures, FTX, Reinventure, Apex Capital, and VaynerFund. The raise comes two years after… Read more »
Sydney health analytics startup Prospection, which uses AI and machine learning to provide patients insights on potentially life-threatening diseases, has raised $45 million in a series B. The round was led by Ellerston Capital’s JAADE fund, chipping in $30 million, with the balance coming from existing backers, the CSIRO VC fund Main Sequence Ventures, and Hong… Read more »
Sydney-based digital twin tech startup Willow has raised US$43 million (A$58 million) in a pre-Series B. Existing shareholders, including Willow Chairman Nicholas Moore, the former Macquarie Group CEO, and Willow director Jim Cooney, doubled down on their investment along with institutional investor Perennial Value Management. The four-year-old software venture also took on WatermanCLARK co-founder Ric Clark, the former… Read more »
Australian insurtech Open has raised a $31 million series B as it looks to launch in New Zealand and the UK in the 12 months. The round was led by Kiwi VC Movac and Latitude in the UK. Existing investor AirTree Ventures backed the scale-up once again, taking the total capital raised to $53 million.… Read more »
Skills training startup Forage has raised US$25 million (A$35m) in a series B. The round was led by Blackbird Ventures, with participation from Telstra Ventures, Citi Ventures, Gaingels, Cap Table Coalition, ETF@JFFLabs and existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and FundersClub. The raise comes less than 12 months after the four-year-old Y Combinator graduate, previously known as InsideSherpa, landed a US$9.3 million series A. Forage… Read more »
Finance-for-kids fintech Spriggy has raised a $35 million Series B round led by NAB Ventures. Perennial Value Management also invested, with previous backer, Grok Ventures, the family investment vehicle of Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes and his wife, Annie, also topping up the piggy bank. Grok led the $12 million Series A round in 2019 as… Read more »
InDebted, the Sydney fintech that successfully collects outstanding debts with digital carrots rather than sticks, has raised $25 million in a series B. The round was led by Perennial Value Management alongside follow-on investments from Carthona Capital, Reinventure and Mass Mutual Ventures Southeast Asia, as well as several prominent local investors, including former Tiger Global… 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 »
Congratulations! You’ve launched your startup, survived the notorious “valley of death” for early stage funding between seed rounds and series A. Your venture is now on the road, with products in place and the revenue rolling in. But perhaps, as you look to scale rapidly, your story is of growth (*waves at BNPL fintechs*), and… Read more »
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