Queensland at-home catering platform Gathar has raised nearly $800,000 in a crowdfunding on the female-founder focused Microwd. The private chef platform, dubbed the Airbnb of dinner parties, partnered with expat celebrity chef Curtis Stone to take the concept to the US, kicking off in his home state of California at the start of 2023. More… Read more »
ASX-listed jobs marketplace is looking to ramp up its UK business in a deal with leading TV station Channel Four. The broadcaster’s VC arm, 4 Ventures, Britain’s leading media-for-equity investor, is tipping in $6.5m million (£3.5m) in value for a 20% stake in Airtasker UK, the company’s UK subsidiary. Channel 4, which gave the world… Read more »
Sydney VC OneVentures has pledged $15 million as a cornerstone investment towards a $25 million Series B raise for life sciences startup ImmVirX. The biotech startup is developing cancer treatments using oncolytic viral immunotherapies (viruses that infect and destroy cancer cells without damaging normal cells). The remaining $10 million in the Series offered to existing… Read more »
A New Zealand entrepreneur who developed virtual reality software to treat anxiety and phobias is heading to Australia as part of a bid to source additional funding to help further enhance his product. oVRcome founder Adam Hutchinson, from Christchurch, will pitch to investors at the Digital Health Festival in Melbourne starting June 6. Funding will… Read more »
A Brisbane startup that has developed waterproof coatings for packaging than ensures it’s still recyclable has raised $1.85 million in a pre-Seed round. Earthodic’s bio-based coating solution, Paperbarc, provides paper and packaging with enhanced water resistance while still being strong and recyclable. It’s a potential replacement for the current use of wax or plastic-coated packaging.… Read more »
New Zealand digital teaching aid Education Perfect has acquired a bootstrapped Victorian edtech assessment platform Essential Assessment in a deal believed to be worth $40 million Education Perfect (EP) saw global equity giant KKR take a majority stake in the business two years ago in a deal worth more than $400 million. The terms of… Read more »
Enterprise software startup Complexica has raised $6.5 million in a round backed by Acorn Capital. The nine-year-old Adelaide tech company has now taken on $31 million in external capital over the last two years as it ramps up the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in software for optimising and automating sales, marketing, and… Read more »
Edtech Cleverbean has raised $200,000 in Seed funding from Victorian early-stage investor Skalata Ventures to help reduce teacher burnout, at a time when a record number are leaving the profession. The startup offers thousands of evidence-based and research-backed learning materials for the K-6 Australian English curriculum. Cleverbean was cofounded Lucy Chambers, a teacher, and Alina… Read more »
Paris Hilton and electronica duo The Chainsmokers have been added to the A-lister cap table of LA-based expat Australian startup Checkmate, which has raised US$15 million (A$23m) in a Series A. The round was led by GV (formerly Google Ventures), with support from DJ duo Alex Pall and Drew Taggart’s VC fund Mantis, plus several… Read more »
While startup funding globally fell last year, New Zealand venture capital investment was still on the rise, with NZ$726 million poured into 154 deals in 2022, according to the Technology Investment Network (TIN). The Technology Investment Report, launched in Auckland as part of Techweek 2023, covers funding Pre-Seed to Series C+, tracking record levels of funding… Read more »
Fleet Space Technologies has raised $50 million in a Series C round that values the South Australian satellite startup at more than $350 million. The round was led by existing backers Blackbird, with support from Atlassian cofounder Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures, Alumni Ventures and super fund Hostplus. New to the cap table are TelstraSuper, former… Read more »
Climate change and natural capital technology company FLINTpro has raised US$9 million (A$13.5m) in a Series A as it looks to ramp up its US growth. The round was led by Understorey Ventures with new participation from Pollination, Persei Venture and existing investors Ananta-OM and Synovia Capital. FLINTpro is a pioneering software system that integrates… Read more »
Sydney satellite data analysis startup Arlula has raised $2.2 million in a Seed round . The round was led by CSIRO’s deep tech VC fund Main Sequence, with support from Black Nova Venture Capital. Launched in 2018, Arlula makes Earth Observation (EO) data and imagery captured by satellites available for companies to make better decisions… Read more »
Enterprise software startup Servicely has raised $3 million as it looks to transform how people work. The round was led by Sydney B2B SaaS focused venture fund EVP. The funding is allocated towards further international expansion and enhancing the startup’s Enterprise Service Management (ESM) platform. Servicely’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) to augment… Read more »
Medical cannabis company Cannaponics has raised a record-equalling $5 million – the maximum allowed under Australian law – in an equity crowdfunding campaign via Birchal. The campaign for the West Australian startup lasted just two weeks with 2,771 investors buying in. The only other company to raise the $5 million maximum was Byron Bay’s plastics… Read more »
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