Every round, fund close and exit we can source, with the article it was reported in and what it actually said.
A year-in-review of Startup Daily's most-read 2021 stories, recalling major Australian tech exits including A Cloud Guru, Afterpay and Sweat, Canva's soaring valuation across three raises, Zero Co's crowdfunding record, and new VC funds.
Aura Group's year-end reflection argues strong culture drives startup success, citing Culture Amp's recently announced $100 million Series F at a $1.5 billion valuation and academic studies linking founder-set culture to outcomes.
Also TechCrunch Venture·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Techboard·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily
Techboard's year-end roundup catalogues November funding activity: big raises for Rokt, Harrison.ai and Pet Circle, five acquisitions, Investible's second fund closing at $51.6m, plus a watchlist of companies still seeking capital.
Also Australian FinTech
Square Peg Capital's year-in-review recaps its 2021 portfolio: raises it led or joined, SPAC listing decisions, Vend's acquisition, new investment-team hires, and its newsletter and podcast output.
Also TechCrunch Venture·TechCrunch Venture·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·myzeller.com·Australian FinTech·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Techboard·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Women's Agenda·Startup News (WA)·Australian FinTech·Tech Funding News - Australia·Australian FinTech·Australian FinTech·Australian FinTech·@AuManufacturing·Tech Funding News - Australia·Australian FinTech·Forbes Australia·Dealroom·Forbes Australia·TechCrunch Venture·TechCrunch Venture·Crunchbase News·TechCrunch Venture·TechCrunch Venture·Crunchbase News·TechCrunch Venture·TechCrunch Venture·TechCrunch Venture·TechCrunch Venture·SmartCompany·TechCrunch Venture·TechCrunch Venture
US startup acquisition marketplace MicroAcquire has raised close to $7 million, pushing its valuation beyond $110 million, according to founder Andrew Gazdecki, who previously sold Bizness Apps.
DigitalX announces a new chief executive, Wade, whose career spans Citigroup, Bendigo Bank and a recent digital innovation role at National Australia Bank, referring readers to an ASX announcement.
Satirical awards column recalling 2021 business failures and wins: Hosking's Redbubble share sale, Greensill's collapse, GetSwift's downfall, Better.com's layoffs and funding, Moviepass's sale, and Digital World's Trump SPAC deal.
Paint-tech startup Tint raised $600,000 via an equity crowdfunding campaign on Equitise, with earlier backing from prominent angels, to expand beyond Melbourne and grow its online paint business.
A year-end recap of SmartCompany's most-read startup stories of 2021, recalling raises by Carted, Octopus Deploy, Who Gives a Crap and Judo Bank, plus a bank acquisition, listings and a liquidation.
Desk booking startup Officely has raised a seed round led by TEN13 with angel backers to grow its team and product. Its founders previously ran HotelFlex, a Y Combinator-backed hotel booking venture sidelined by Covid.
SmartCompany's year-end list profiles ten Australian startups poised for a big 2022, recalling their 2021 raises, crowdfunding campaigns, government grants and accelerator origins, from mtime and Quantum Brilliance to Zoomo and Superhero.
Also SmartCompany
Melbourne PR agency Character + Distinction has launched Protagonist, a seed fund backing early-stage Australian startups, with founder Kate Dinon emphasising storytelling support for pre-revenue and early-revenue founders.
Terem announces Parc Capital has invested $3m to help the product-building firm scale its client work and pursue acquisitions, with Parc founding partner Jason joining its board.
Vivi, an Australian education technology firm, has secured $20 million from Quad Partners to enhance its platform and grow sales teams abroad, lifting its five-year capital total to $24.3 million.
Cision is acquiring Australian media monitoring firm Streem, with founders and staff staying on, pending regulatory clearance. The article also recalls Access Intelligence's June purchase of iSentia for $67 million.
Also Techboard
ANDHealth named five digital health startups, including child-focused Gheorg and Sound Scouts, for its inaugural ANDHealth+ cohort, sharing $3.75 million through its accelerator fund backed by government MRFF money.
LaunchVic profile of Tractor Ventures, a Victorian revenue-based lending fund co-founded in 2020, covering LaunchVic's initial backing, a $10 million second capital raise, and its support for profitable mid-stage startups.
Tribute piece and eulogy for New Zealand businessman Sir David Levene, covering his paint and housewares retail empire, its sale to Skellerup, his later investment companies, and decades of philanthropy.
Cyber security firm Haventec has banked $11 million in a round led by Macquarie Group and Future Now Capital, funding growth in finance, government and health and a push into the United States market.
Rokt raised a record A$458 million Series E led by Tiger Global, valuing it at $2.75 billion, while employees and investors sold down shares; the founder aims for a US listing in 2023.
Rokt's Series E tops a week of Australian raises including Dovetail, Inventia, DiviPay, Atomi, 6clicks, Replica Studios and ProForm Foods, with SimPro's recent raise noted.
New Zealand agritech startup Croptide raised a $1 million pre-seed round led by Icehouse Ventures, with K1W1 and Masfen Group, to advance plant water-sensing trials with wine and kiwifruit growers.
Sydney insurtech Picnic Labs received a $25,000 NSW Government MVP grant to grow Our Ark, its customer-owned mutual offering community groups an alternative to traditional insurance.
ASX-listed lender Wisr has added Cathryn Lyall, a veteran of exchanges and Deutsche Bank's UK board, as a non-executive director from January 2022, its second board addition in months.
New Zealand fleet inspection software firm Whip Around raised a Series B led by Punakaiki Fund and Amplo, to grow its product and engineering team.
ASX-listed lender MoneyMe is acquiring rival consumer credit fintech SocietyOne in a scrip-based deal valued at $132 million, aiming for scale, cost synergies and revenue growth.
Sydney cyber security firm Haventec announced an $11 million capital round led by Macquarie Group and Future Now Capital, funding US expansion, alongside two North American hires and recent industry award wins.
Perth startup SpaceDraft has released a tool for planning spaces in 4D on a shareable digital canvas, created by ex-Hollywood visual-effects worker Lucy Cooke, with Curtin University backing its recent seed round.
Solar startup SunDrive has produced its first full-size panels using copper-based cells, a manufacturing milestone after September's efficiency record; the piece recalls backing from Cannon-Brookes, ARENA and Blackbird Ventures.
Andrew Forrest's family company Tattarang, via its agri-food venture Harvest Road, has taken a roughly $5 million strategic minority stake in Sydney plant-based meat maker ProForm Foods as it targets international growth.
Wholesale Investor profile of Gembot, an AI-driven trading platform and fund covering US equities, derivatives and DeFi crypto, citing strong 120-day fund returns, high customer retention, and a debt capital raise now open.
Brisbane fintech YouPay launched its cart-sharing checkout with retailer Culture Kings, after closing a $4 million seed round with venture firm Sprint; Culture Kings CEO Simon Beard also invested personally.
Also Startup Daily
Zip Co has hired Travis Tyler, previously a founding leader at neobank 86 400 with past roles at Westpac and St George, as its Australian Chief Product Officer, starting January 2022 and joining the ANZ leadership team.
UNSW spin-out SunDrive has made its first full-size rooftop panel using record-efficiency copper-based cells; the piece recalls the $9 million ARENA grant it won in October 2020.
Also RenewEconomy
Australian growth fund HEAL Partners announces an investment in US Montessori school operator Higher Ground Education, with partner Mark Evans joining its board.
Victoria's women-focused Alice Anderson Fund has made its first investments, backing five women-led startups including Team Timbuktu, mtime, Steppen, Talkiplay and Milkdrop; individual amounts were not disclosed.
Also LaunchVic
Six Peel-region manufacturers, including caravan builder Caravan King and brewer Spinifex, have received shares of $780,000 in round three of Western Australia's Regional Economic Development grant program, announced by minister Alannah MacTiernan.
Also Startup News (WA)
Horizon 3 Biotech, an Australian life sciences venture fund, announces Dr Tam Nguyen joining its investment committee, citing his board, research commercialisation and healthcare experience and past Brandon Capital secondment.
Wholesale Investor profiles NeXTRADE, a paperless cross-border trade SaaS platform working with UN bodies, whose CEO holds a UN/CEFACT bureau role and which is seeking A$2 million for 15% equity.
Sydney instant grocery delivery startup Voly has raised A$18 million in a seed round led by Sequoia Capital India, with Global Founders Capital and Artesian Capital participating; both also joined its earlier $1 million pre-seed.
Also SmartCompany·Tech Funding News - Australia·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily
Opinion piece arguing Peloton's rapid follow-up ad after a character's on-screen death was clever entertainment but no substitute for proper crisis planning, noting the share price fall and earlier controversies.
Perth solar and battery company Plico Energy has finalised a multi-million-dollar investment from Swiss fund manager SUSI Partners, which took an equal stake; SUSI's energy transition fund topped $450 million in commitments at its 2020 first close.
Payments startup QuickaPay has been bought by legal payments platform RapidPay, marking the first exit for accelerator Antler Australia, which provided the company's pre-seed funding in 2019.
Also Techboard·SmartCompany
Profile of construction technology startup CalcTree, founded by three engineers, whose platform connects engineering designs and calculations; the article covers its product aims and credits Antler's early investment and strategic guidance.
Atomi, an online teaching platform, has closed a $9 million Series A led by OIF Ventures, which backed it before, with angels also taking part; schools in Australia and the UK use its tools.
Also OIF Ventures portfolio·OIF Ventures portfolio·Startup Daily·SmartCompany
Hydration Pharmaceuticals, which sells Hydralyte in North America, listed on the ASX, raising $17 million at 29 cents and closing 22.4% higher. Former Swisse executives hold key roles and large stakes.
LaunchVic will give MedTech Actuator a further $2.4 million over three years to double its accelerator intake and back at least 30 Victorian startups; Nutromics is cited as a past funding recipient.
LaunchVic's Alice Anderson Fund reveals its first five women-led startups, with $727,167 invested directly and private co-investors adding over $2.3 million; the three-year, $10 million Victorian sidecar fund plans 40-60 investments.
Software vendor CT4 completed a $12.5 million round led by Shaw and Partners to fund growth, including a move into aged care and health, after acquiring NewBase Computer Services in October.