Australian venture funding, tracked

From zero to Employment Hero

Sydney HR-and-payroll firm Employment Hero announced a TCV-led Series F reaching unicorn valuation; the profile covers its products, remote workforce and global ambitions, citing rival raises.

Also Tech Funding News - Australia·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·TechCrunch·Techboard·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia·employmenthero.com·employmenthero.com

Three Aussie entrepreneurs to watch

Profiles three founders: Kismet's Mark Woodland ($4m pre-seed for disability-services software), Forage's Tom Brumskill and Pasha Rayan (job-simulation platform, Series A and B), and Diolog's Amy Benson (self-funded investor-communications startup planning a seed round).

Also Blackbird Ventures portfolio·Startup Daily

HR 'double unicorn' Employment Hero valued at $2bn after $263 million raise

Employment Hero has landed a $263 million Series F with TCV at the helm, pending foreign investment sign-off, valuing the HR software firm at $2bn.

Also Tech Funding News - Australia·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·TechCrunch·Techboard·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia·employmenthero.com·employmenthero.com·TechCrunch

Navy veteran George McGuire appointed CEO at Sentinel Boats

A decorated former Navy officer with 28 years' service takes the top job at the Tasmanian high-performance vessel maker, bringing defence-industry management experience from QinetiQ's local arm.

Darwinium brings digital security and fraud prevention to the perimeter

Fraud-prevention startup Darwinium, built by ThreatMetrix's co-founders, has announced an $18m Series A backed by USVP; the piece also recalls its 2022 seed round and ThreatMetrix's 2018 sale to LexisNexis.

Australian ‘pod’ hotel startup Wander secures investment from ex-Airbnb chief

Luxury pod-hotel venture Wander has landed angel backing from Airbnb's former Australian chief inside an ongoing Birchal crowdfunding campaign that has drawn nearly $600,000 in pledges for regional expansion.

Also SmartCompany

Investment Announcement: Outstaffer Raises $1.5 Million From Leading Australian Venture Capital Investors

Outstaffer announced a $1.5 million strategic round to grow its global hiring platform, with Utiliti Ventures, 1in100 Ventures and Side Stage Ventures leading and several other Australian investors taking part.

Accelerating Global Adoption for Fraud Prevention | Darwinium

Fraud-prevention platform Darwinium announces an $18m Series A with USVP at the helm and its earlier backers taking part, lifting lifetime funding to $26m; the CEO's former firm ThreatMetrix was bought by LexisNexis.

Also TechCrunch·SmartCompany

Employment Hero valued at $2bn after $263 million raise

HR platform Employment Hero announced a Series F of $263 million with TCV leading, valuing the company at $2 billion, pending foreign investment approval, to speed global expansion.

Also Tech Funding News - Australia·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·TechCrunch·Techboard·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia·employmenthero.com·employmenthero.com·TechCrunch

UNSW quantum founder Michelle Simmons wins $250,000 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science

SQC founder Michelle Simmons receives a $250,000 science prize from the prime minister, with the article recalling the quantum company's seed round, government stakes, and July valuation jump.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily

Air traffic management platform lands $120 million

Canberra startup Skykraft raised $120 million for its space-based air traffic management system, led by Foresight's Australian arm with Main Sequence Ventures and OPTrust, following an earlier $3.5 million round.

Also @AuManufacturing·Startup Daily

Canberra-based satellite maker Skykraft raises $120 million

Canberra satellite firm Skykraft has raised $120 million to manage air traffic from space, with backing from Foresight Australia, OPTrust and Main Sequence; the round trails only Saluda Medical's this year.

Also Startup Daily·@AuManufacturing·proactiveinvestors.com·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany

Edible Cutlery, the Startup Eliminating Single-Use Cutlery Waste

Profile of edible cutlery maker Edible Cutlery, founded by Abhinav Biijavera Nagaraj, covering its expansion from Perth into Tasmania and its place in Startupbootcamp's FoodTech Tasmania 2023 accelerator.

Recruitment marketing startup The Martec bags $8 million

The Martec, a Sydney talent-marketing platform, has secured an $8 million round led by family office AS1 with Airtree backing, to grow its offshore presence; its customers include Telstra, Coles and Adobe.

Also SmartCompany

Manufacturing news briefs — stories you might have missed

Manufacturing briefs roundup: LBT Innovations launches a $4.5m shareholder offer, AnteoTech collects a $3.77m research tax payment, with updates from Pact, Evnex, First Graphene, Austal, ASM and the University of Adelaide's space course.

Also @AuManufacturing

Lab launched to make synthetic human bones

Broome biotech Marine Biomedical opened a facility to make PearlBone, a synthetic bone substitute from oyster nacre, backed by a WA government grant, and plans regulatory submissions in Australia and the US.

Alpha HPA battery anode plant nears completion

Alpha HPA's Gladstone high purity alumina plant upgrade, backed by a $15.5 million federal government grant, is nearly complete, with commissioning expected by end of October 2023 and Stage 2 project financing advancing.

Future of Hydrogen Production Solved by Adaptive Hydrogen

Startupbootcamp Australia's EnergyNext profile introduces Adaptive Hydrogen, Steven Percy and Joe Sealey's venture, whose AI system schedules electrolysers around wholesale power prices to make hydrogen more cheaply.

Go Zero becomes nation’s biggest bus maker with BusTech buy

Australian bus maker GoZero Group has prevailed in the bidding to acquire BusTech Group, a purchase the piece says puts it on course to rank among the country's largest bus manufacturers.

Antler Investor Memo Series: Skipped solves the out-of-stock pain point for retailers and customers

Startup Daily's investor memo series profiles Skipped, a Sydney e-commerce inventory startup founded in 2023, recording its pre-seed investment from Antler Australia and its progress tackling stockouts for online retailers.

First “stand-alone” renewable hydrogen system plugs in at manufacturing facility

Boundary Power's solar-and-hydrogen off-grid unit, built with LAVO technology, is now operating at Ampcontrol's Ringwood plant, backed by a Victorian government hydrogen grant.

Five Aussie startups that raised $7.5 million this week

Weekly roundup covering five Australian startups' raises: Phasio's seed led by AirTree, CLT Toolbox, X-Hemp's crowdfunding, gridmo's first round, and Humpday's pre-seed from Antler.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Forbes Australia

How do you pronounce IaaS?

Equity podcast panel parses the week: California's venture disclosure law, ALIAVIA Ventures' fund for women founders, Canopy Servicing's Series A1, EVPassport's $200m deal, plus shutdowns and Blue Apron's sale.

The Factor picks up Microsoft's Colin Gniel for govt sales

Technology services firm The Factor has hired a former Microsoft director to drive its sales to the federal government in Canberra, adding three decades of industry experience to the team.

Atlassian bets $1.5 billion on the future of hybrid work with Loom acquisition

Atlassian is buying US video-messaging firm Loom for $1.5 billion in a mostly-cash deal, folding its async video tool into Jira, Confluence and Trello while it stays standalone; regulatory sign-off still pending.

Also Startup Daily·ARN (ARNnet)·Forbes Australia·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily

Two Australian startups are part of this year’s Ocean Impact Pitchfest

Ocean Impact Organisation has chosen 12 finalists for its 2023 Pitchfest, among them Australian startups Kelp Island and Washbox, with the winner to be revealed at a November showcase.

Healthy children’s snack brand Nourish Foods lives on after Tempo Group acquires it from the receivers

Grant Thornton receivers sold children's snack company Nourish Foods to Tempo Group after a crowdfunding target fell short; founder Monica Meldrum stays on under the new ownership.

Manufacturing design collaboration software startup pockets $3.8 million Seed raise

AirTree Ventures leads a $3.8 million seed round for Phasio, which digitises manufacturer quoting and design collaboration; Gattaca Ventures, 500 Global and Entrepreneur First also back it.

Also @AuManufacturing·SmartCompany

Ampcontrol launches hydrogen standalone power generator

Ampcontrol has unveiled a hydrogen-based off-grid power system built by its subsidiary Boundary Power with utility Horizon Power, supported by a Victorian government grant, at its Ringwood factory.

Site may have been selected for Australian-first food and beverage precinct

Council has received a development application for a planned Sunshine Coast food and beverage manufacturing precinct, reportedly at Corbould Park; the developer previously received two federal manufacturing grants worth a combined $45 million.

S2E11: Scott Taylor ＜＞ Perx Health: creating over 4000% more engagement in health self-management with tailored gamification

Podcast interview with Perx Health co-founder and CEO Scott Taylor on empirically designed gamification for chronic condition self-management and business models aligned with health system and insurer incentives.

Shark Tank Australia recap: $300,000 for 35mm Co. a picture-perfect deal

Four founders pitched on Shark Tank Australia: 35mm Co. landed $300,000 from Herjavec and Lu, Burleigh Wagon $450,000 from Fogarty, Nevabuds $28,000 from Wallace, while Vanable left with no deal.

Also Women's Agenda·SmartCompany

JET Charge's new business model to simplify EV charging for fleets

The renewable energy agency announces a $12 million government grant enabling JET Charge to roll out a subscription model for fleet EV charging infrastructure across Australia, targeting more than 3,100 new electric vehicles.

Also SmartCompany·@AuManufacturing

HBR prioritises US market for Hadrian X robot

Perth bricklaying-robot maker FBR is directing new Hadrian X units to its US operations and raised $6.2 million in a share placement to fund the push.

Corbiota, Harnessing Natural Solutions for Healthier Animal Farming

Profile of Corbiota, a German startup using worm-based products to boost gut health in young livestock, as it joins Startupbootcamp Australia's FoodTech Tasmania 2023 accelerator.

How To Be An Investor at Blackbird

Blackbird publishes the internal growth framework it uses to develop and assess investment team members, shares lessons from rolling it out, and opens a permanent application process for Principal and Associate investor roles.

Aconex cofounder and Bluescope back $1.5 million Seed round for proptech software

CLT Toolbox, a Melbourne maker of software teaching builders about mass timber, has raised $1.5 million from BluescopeX, Gravel Road, Archangel Ventures, Flying Fox, Ecotone and several angels.

Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily

Global giants back network of small scale solar and battery projects in regional Australia

Yes Group, a South Australian solar and storage developer, has secured $70 million from A-SIF, a fund created by the Patrizia-Mitsui joint venture, to develop a portfolio of small renewable projects in regional areas.

Axiom and Nupress get the nod for Orion spacecraft program

Lockheed Martin has chosen Australian firms Axiom and Nupress to machine components for the Orion spacecraft, NASA's Moon mission, with each already holding contracts under Lockheed's Australian industry program.

EMVision's promising results from stroke imaging

EMVision reports encouraging early results for its 'blood or not' algorithm that spots brain bleeds, developed with Australian Stroke Alliance grant support; Stage 2 testing of the full system comes next.

Inskin Cosmedics becomes first women-led venture backed by the Australian Business Growth Fund

Skincare company Inskin Cosmedics has received an undisclosed investment from the Australian Business Growth Fund, becoming the fund's first women-founded portfolio company; earlier ABGF investments in Hubbed and Derwent Industries are recalled.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

ZeroTag, Creating Trust in Fresh Food without Packaging Waste

Profile of ZeroTag, whose rewritable smart stickers let reusable containers carry changing digital labels, and how its two founders refined the venture in the EnergyNext 2023 accelerator program.

KPMG and Stone & Chalk launch third Future Technology Program for workforce-tech startups

KPMG Australia and Stone & Chalk announced the third cohort of their Future Technology Program, offering residency and mentorship to early-stage Australian startups focusing on workforce technology.

Western Australian VC Purpose Ventures adds $8 million to its fund, now worth $45m

WA venture firm Purpose Ventures has grown its debut fund to $45 million with an $8 million top-up from local backers and made its third investment, leading edtech startup IDEAcademy's $1.3 million raise.

Reaching milestones with less runway: How this AI startup used venture debt to fuel customer acquisition

Partner content profiles an AI ecommerce startup that used OneVentures venture debt instead of equity to drive growth, also recalling its $10 million Series A from 2021.

Tesserent hires ex-Telstra talent to supercharge growth

Tesserent appoints ex-Telstra sales executive James Ormesher as chief growth officer, shortly after Thales completed its $176 million takeover of the cybersecurity firm.

ALIAVIA Ventures fights gender funding inequalities in the US and Australia

ALIAVIA Ventures has closed its debut fund at A$13.5 million. The US-based firm backs female founders bridging Australian and US markets; backers include Carol Schwartz, Tattarang, the Denholms, Euphemia, Dom Pym and Cynthia Scott.

Also SmartCompany·Women's Agenda·Forbes Australia·TechCrunch

Aussie agtech startups shaping the future of carbon capture

Sponsored feature surveying three Australian soil-carbon startups — AgriProve, Agrimix and FarmLab — their measurement technology and research partners, plus openings listed on AgriFutures growAG., noting AgriProve's 2022 government grant.

Also Beef Central / Grain Central

BioCina aims for vaccines against biowarfare threats

Vaccine maker BioCina is partnering with defence and university researchers on a project to create immunisations against biological warfare agents including Q Fever, tularaemia and melioidosis.

Greenham unveils new state of the art Tongala beef plant + PICTURES

Victorian beef processor HW Greenham & Sons has opened a rebuilt Tongala plant, backed by a $10 million federal grant, lifting daily cattle throughput and adding roughly 230 jobs at full capacity.