Australian venture funding, tracked

Sydney fintech BizPay sheds staff as it looks to raise $20 million

BizPay is cutting about 30% of its staff amid market uncertainty while a $20 million Series C raise, pursued via convertible note since March, remains underway.

$US 2.5 million seed round for Sydney sensor maker

Australian fitness tech startup Vitruvian raises US$15 million as it eyes US expansion

Perth fitness tech company Vitruvian raised US$15 million in Series A funding led by US-based funds, after earlier seed rounds, and now plans to scale production and grow its team for North America.

Also SmartCompany

QuantX’s atomic clock gets support

Adelaide timing company QuantX has received a million-dollar grant from SmartSatCRC to speed development of a compact atomic clock for satellites, built with the University of Adelaide.

Also Startup Daily

VC Giant Leap pioneers linking carbon reduction to startup company revenue

Impact investor Giant Leap sets a benchmark requiring its climate tech investments to avoid one kilogram of emissions per dollar of revenue, based on data from its portfolio companies.

Advanced Navigation acquires ANU tech spin-out

Robotics firm Advanced Navigation, backed by publisher OIF, is buying ANU spin-out Vai Photonics in an all-scrip deal of up to $40m; Vai's navigation tech is in talks with NASA.

Also OIF Ventures portfolio·Startup Daily·Dynamic Business·Startup Daily

Australian collaboration and AU$10m investment fuels Ankere Therapeutics’ efforts to target inflammatory lung conditions

Biotech startup Ankere Therapeutics launches with a $10 million seed round co-led by IP Group and Brandon Capital to develop inflammatory lung disease therapies, building on research from Monash and UniSA scientists.

Also Brandon Capital portfolio·Startup Daily·@AuManufacturing

Apartment delivery solution One Key Access raises $1 million in pre-Seed round

Melbourne parcel-access startup One Key Access has raised a seven-figure pre-seed round, with Antler following its initial backing and LaunchVic's Alice Anderson Fund investing, to grow the team and expand to other states.

Also Startup Daily·Dynamic Business

MotorOne, Swinburne team up for Industrial IoT project

MotorOne Group is leading a six-month manufacturing digitalisation project with Swinburne University and the Innovative Manufacturing CRC, backed by a $63,000 activate program grant, to capture factory data at its Bayswater facility.

Wellness and sport-focused VC XT Ventures launches with $5 million from health fund HCF

Health insurer HCF has committed a five-million-dollar cornerstone investment into the newly launched sports, fitness and wellness venture fund XT Ventures, run by Slingshot founder Craig Lambert.

Mr Yum completes first major acquisition, obtaining MyGuestlist to help restaurants build personalised marketing to diners

Hospitality tech firm Mr Yum has bought customer data platform MyGuestlist in a cash-and-stock deal worth tens of millions, its first acquisition, following an $89 million raise led by Tiger Global.

Also Ten13 portfolio·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·TechCrunch·Tech Funding News - Australia·Australian FinTech·AgFunderNews·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Women's Agenda·Beef Central / Grain Central·Forbes Australia

GBST appoints Kirsty Worgan as global Chief Commercial Officer

Fintech firm GBST has hired Kirsty Worgan as its global Chief Commercial Officer, returning her to the company where she previously led business development, with responsibility for commercial growth and mergers and acquisitions.

Federal dollars for Maryvale, Whyalla and Port Augusta

Weekend pre-election announcements detail federal support: a $48.2m grant for Opal's Maryvale waste-to-energy plant, $70m for the Port Bonython hydrogen hub, and a financing package for Vast Solar's planned solar thermal plant.

Three women appointed to VC OneVentures with women's health focus on the agenda

OneVentures adds three women to senior investment and marketing roles as the Australian venture firm pushes growth in healthcare, biotech and women's health, alongside a Victorian Government-backed venture credit fund.

Inside the secretive Silicon Valley startup trying to save the oceans with tech

TechCrunch reveals Oceankind, the secretive grantmaker behind Larry Page, which has quietly funded reef robots in Queensland and more than $121 million in marine projects.

Okra Solar is bringing renewable energy to underserved markets

Sydney solar startup Okra Solar announced a $2.1 million round led by Explorer Investments and Didendum to scale its mesh-grid technology, having earlier won TechCrunch's 2019 Shenzhen Hardware Battlefield event.

HealthTech announces acceptance into the government-backed MDPP

Peak Medical's acceptance into the Medical Device Partnering Program is announced, alongside MTPConnect launching a government-funded medtech commercialisation program with partners including Flinders University and Cicada Innovations.

Vast Solar reboots Port August solar thermal plans, with $110m federal funds

Vast Solar has won $110 million in federal finance to revive a 20MW solar thermal plant with storage at Port Augusta, five years after SolarReserve won the same support then abandoned the project.

Also @AuManufacturing·RenewEconomy·RenewEconomy

OneVentures is growing its healthcare and biotech portfolio, with a focus on women-led startups

OneVentures has appointed three women to senior roles as it expands healthcare and biotech investing, with the Victorian Government backing a venture credit fund and the firm winning a diversity award.

Investment Notes: Stropro

AfterWork Ventures reflects on backing Stropro in February 2020, explaining why the platform opening structured bank products to sophisticated investors fits its unbundling-of-banks thesis and Asia-Pacific ambitions.

Lava Blue in Critical Minerals Accelerator Grant

Also @AuManufacturing·@AuManufacturing

Nimo aligns leadership team for growth

Nimo Industries, a Melbourne digital lending platform, announces Leann Jones stepping into the CEO role full-time while previous chief executive Peter Jones shifts to lead product strategy as it targets smaller lenders.

Food marketplace ChefPrep raises $3 million less than a year after launching to kickstart growth

Sydney meal marketplace ChefPrep has secured $3 million in seed funding led by Artesian Ventures and Global Founders Capital, following an earlier angel round, to grow its restaurant network and delivery zones.

Also Startup Daily·Techboard·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily

Mark Bouris backs food delivery marketplace ChefPrep in $3 million Seed round

Also SmartCompany·Techboard·Startup Daily·Startup Daily

Corrs advises Stake on Series A capital raising

Online trading platform Stake raised A$90 million in Series A funding from Tiger Global and DST Global Partners, with law firm Corrs Chambers Westgarth advising on the transaction.

Also Techboard·Australian FinTech

This award-winning startup is getting ready to take its methane-eliminating seaweed feedstock to market. Will it work?

Feature profile of Sea Forest, a Tasmania-based asparagopsis seaweed venture, covering its lifetime backing, trial partnerships with dairy and wool players, government grants and its founder's push toward commercialisation.

Vyro raises $1 million Seed round to create a virtual EV dealership

Six-month-old EV sales startup Vyro has raised a million-dollar seed round led by Ellerston Capital and Antler Australia, with several angels, to launch a digital electric vehicle dealership.

Digital broker Stake boosts Series A with $50 million top up from Tiger Global

Share trading app Stake secured a $50 million Series A extension from Tiger Global and DST Global Partners, a year after its initial $40 million round, lifting total funding to $90 million ahead of a crypto launch.

Also SmartCompany·Australian FinTech·Startup Daily·Startup Daily

Ground Control is making product development faster, cheaper and more sustainable for startups

Profile of Ground Control, a platform helping brands design more affordable, sustainable products, and founder Karl Vaupel, covering the challenges and the fundraising support it receives from investor Antler.

Titomic adds “two giants of the cold spray industry” to management

Two-year, $5.2 m project will apply Australian sensors and AI to aged care delivery

A consortium led by Vlepis received a $1.48 million federal CRC-P grant for a two-year sensor and AI project supporting aged-care triage, with partners including CARETEQ, UTS, RMIT and the NSW Smart Sensing Network.

MUSK BUY: Tesla boss wins war for Twitter with $61 billion

Startup Daily relays Elon Musk's agreed takeover of Twitter for roughly US$44 billion, including his earlier 9.2 per cent stake purchase, board reactions, and the debt and equity financing behind the deal.

Australian flower delivery startup LVLY acquired for $35 million by south-east Asian e-commerce firm

Melbourne flower and gift delivery business LVLY bought by Asian e-commerce group for $35 million, founders reportedly pocketing $20 million; one co-founder joins the buyer's board, the other departs.

Wolves of Waterloo say Australian space success hinges on collaboration

A Sydney space incubator, a joint venture of TCG Group and Saber Astronautics, hosts six startups; three collaborate on an earth observation project supported by a manufacturing grant and university engineering help.

Elon Musk to buy Twitter: Will the trolling stop?

Twitter's board has approved Elon Musk's multi-billion-dollar takeover offer, prompting the author to ask whether the platform's harassment and safety problems will improve or worsen for women under its new owner.

Global Sustainable Fintech Fund Launches in Melbourne to Accelerate 30 Fintech Startups.

Startupbootcamp announces a new sustainable fintech fund based in Melbourne, planning to back 30 startups, with Dom Pym's family office increasing its commitment ahead of a May fundraising close.

BLOOMING MARVELLOUS: Gifting startup LVLY sells for $35 million with global plans

Melbourne gifting startup LVLY has been bought by Malaysia's Limitless Technology for about $35 million, with co-founders receiving around $20 million; the deal is financed via a convertible and venture debt raise.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Techboard

Intellihub targets gigawatts of behind the meter capacity with GreenSync buy

Smart metering venture Intellihub has completed its purchase of Melbourne energy tech firm GreenSync, whose deX platform will join Intellihub's new CrescoNet technology arm to expand virtual power plant capability.

Also Startup Daily·RenewEconomy

More grants to Boeing for Ghost Bat jet manufacture

Federal grants totalling $58.6 million across nine defence manufacturing projects include $34 million for a Boeing-led aerospace network building the Ghost Bat jet in Queensland.

Sydney 'smart bin' startup Charopy ramps up to stop recycling ending up as waste

Sydney smart-bin startup Charopy has taken its first outside investment from waste-industry investor Chad Holland, with working shareholders partly selling down, as founder Martin Collings targets councils, stadiums and schools.

Oscar Oberg - WAM Asset Management - Equity ASA | Acast

Podcast episode interviewing Wilson Asset Management's Oscar Oberg about his listed WAM funds, market conditions, and investment process; no funding, exits, or other transactions are reported.

VC Sprint Ventures backs media startup ausbiz amid Series A+ raise

Brisbane VC Sprint Ventures has invested in business news streamer ausbiz, whose Series A+ raise continues; the company also added a new Head of Product and an extra market commentator to its on-air desk.

Investment Notes: Tirtyl

AfterWork Ventures explains its pre-seed investment in Tirtyl, a zero-waste cleaning tablet startup, covering the founders' backgrounds, early traction, unit economics, and competitors including ZeroCo and Blueland.

INOPTEC delivered 400% ROI

German-British startup INOPTEC raised €250,000 from a plastic parts supplier, adding to €1 million previously raised; the vision-enhancement smart glasses maker also names UK development partners PA Consulting and Kinnier Dufort.

Fintech Reach Alternative Investments banks $2.2 million Seed round

Reach Alternative Investments, a Sydney platform opening private equity funds to wealthy individuals, raised an oversubscribed seed round led by Carthona Capital, reaching an $11.2 million post-money valuation eight months after leaving Antler.

Also Techboard

Bolstered By Investment, Pictor Partners with Mobility Health to Offer PictArray SARS-CoV-2 Antibody Test, Indicating Whether Patients Require COVID-19 Booster

Diagnostics firm Pictor raised $6.1 million led by Marko Bogoievski and K1W1, and unveiled a partnership with US laboratory provider Mobility Health to launch its COVID-19 antibody test across several markets.

Perth fitness startup Vitruvian raises $20 million in Series A

Perth fitness company Vitruvian has banked a Series A led by Larsen Ventures and Ten13, with the money set for hiring and scaling production of its AI-driven home gym hardware.

Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany

Soter Analytics raises A$16 million

Perth-founded, London-based ergonomic wearable maker Soter Analytics has raised US$12 million (A$16 million) in a round led by AV8 Ventures, with funds earmarked for expansion and further development of its injury-prevention technology.

Victoria Schmorl Joins Nodifi BDM Team Amid Growing Demand

Nodifi has hired Victoria Schmorl as a BDM covering Queensland and the Northern Territory, its latest addition amid rising dealership demand and a string of recent appointments.

Downsizer.com Joins R3’s Venture Development Program

Australian proptech Downsizer joined blockchain firm R3's startup program, where it launched a deposit bond product, and has just banked a A$1.7 million seed round ahead of a larger raise planned for 2022.