Giant Leap has become the first VC fund in Australia to set a minimum emissions reduction target for climate technology investments. The Melbourne impact investor has set a benchmark of 1 kilogram of carbon emissions avoided per $1 of revenue generated. Giant Leap Associate Charlie Macdonald said the minimum target was developed using data from… Read more »
In July last year, Brisbane-founded, US-based workplace productivity software startup Skedulo announced a A$100 million (US$75m) Series C from Japanese VC powerhouse SoftBank. In this special behind-the-scenes analysis, founder and CEO Matt Fairhurst and Skedulo chief of staff Nathan Merzvinskis reveal how they built the strategy behind the raise. You’ve made it — almost. Your… Read more »
A new venture capital fund, XT Ventures, led by Craig Lambert, founder of corporate innovation firm Slingshot, is on the hunt for startups in the sport, fitness, wellness and health sectors, with backing from health fund HCF. HCF’s tipped in a $5 million cornerstone investment in the XT Ventures High Performance Fund I, LP, through… Read more »
Biotech startup Ankere Therapeutics has raised $10 million in Seed capital to develop new therapies targeting inflammatory diseases, especially in the lungs. The funding round was co-led by IP Group and Brandon Capital, through Brandon BioCatalyst, and will support the company through its pre-clinical development and into clinical trials. Ankere, which has operations in both… Read more »
Melbourne startup One Key Access has raised $1 million in a pre-Seed round as it looks to solve the problem of parcel theft for deliveries to apartments. The startup, co-founded by former Australia Post employees Chanel Costabir and Raymond Ngai, emerged out of the Antler program last year. Antler, which made the initial investment in… Read more »
US VC powerhouse Tiger Global has once again backed logistics technology platform Shippit in a $65 million (US$48m) in an extension of its Series B round dubbed B2 Tiger also led Shippit’s $30 million Series B in December 2020. Another existing backer, Tidal Ventures, co-led this round with new investors including Leigh Jasper’s secondary fund, SecondQuarter,… Read more »
In 2015, I found a cracker of a pub for sale. The price tag? Around $4 million. At that time, I didn’t have the funds to buy it myself, so I went to my network, pitched the concept, and all of them said, ‘Sure Steve, we’ll invest in that!’ Off the back of those… Read more »
Share buying app Stake has raised an extra $50 million in a Series A extension 12 months after raising $40 million in its initial round. The world’s most active investor, US VC Tiger Global and DST Global Partners doubled down on the fintech in the extension raise, taking the total raised in over the year… Read more »
Vyro, the six-month-old startup looking to transform how electric vehicles are sold in Australia, has raised $1 million in Seed funding. The round was led by Ellerston Capital and Antler Australia, which delivered initial seed capital last year when Vyro was part of the Antler program. Also backing the Seed raise are several prominent angel… Read more »
Federal government-backed capital investor the Australian Business Growth Fund (ABGF) has tipped $11 million into Sydney enterprise software company, Capsifi. Founded in 2013, Capsifi is a business architecture platform for large and complex companies to plan and manage transformation initiatives from concept through to execution. ABGF provides growth capital to Australian small-medium enterprises (SME), filling… Read more »
Business and finance streaming service ausbiz has taken on its first venture capital, with Brisbane’s Sprint Ventures backing the two-year-old startup. Sprint joins a recent round with the capital earmarked towards the development of a new video platform, creating smarter ways for ausbiz subscribers to connect with investment information, ideas and opportunities. Launched just as… Read more »
Sydney fintech Reach Alternative Investments has raised $2.2 million in an oversubscribed Seed round. The raise was led by VC Carthona Capital, with Reach’s post-money valuation hitting $11.2 million just eight months after it emerged from the Antler program. Reach CEO and co-founder Sam Phillips said more than $3 million was on the table, exceeding their… Read more »
At-home subscription gym platform Vitruvian has raised US$15 million (A$20m) in a Series A. The raise was led by Larsen Ventures and Steve Baxter’s syndicate group, Ten13. Vitruvian – not to be confused with the Sydney-based personal training service Vitruvian Health – will use the capital injection to increase its 40-strong team and ramp up… Read more »
Melbourne tech startup Llama Life has raised $950,000 in a pre-Seed round to help people improve their focus and productivity. The round was led by Black Sheep Capital, with additional investment from US investor Jason Calacanis and his VC syndicate LAUNCH, for Llama Life to rapidly scale the product, and grow the team. The desktop… Read more »
Sydney startup Canopy Study, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to create adaptive and personalised ways to improve learning, has raised an $1.1 million in a Seed round. VC Folklore Ventures backed the edtech startup. The cash is earmarked for product development and to build out the team across Australia. Canopy Study uses AI and proprietary… Read more »
‘Have I gone too far?’ How founders can beat their startup demons 
Smart hotels get even smarter: 72 Byte to launch in Australia with AI expert backing 
Tassie carbon accounting startup banks $5.3 million Seed round 
Eucalyptus head of growth Matt Rossi departs to launch his own marketing startup, Oodle 
Daily startup news and insights, delivered to your inbox.
