Accelerator · 5 deals
Singapore
Every published round Amazon Web Services (AWS) took part in, and every parcel of existing shares it bought off another holder. Deals we hold but haven't published yet are not counted, and a place in one of its own programs is under Cohorts.
| Company | Stage | Announced | Amount | Role | Alongside | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marqo | Accelerator | 16 Feb 2024 | $12.5m | Lead | SmartCompany, Forbes Australia | |
| Ajust | Accelerator | Aug 2023 | - | Participant | SmartCompany, ARN (ARNnet) | |
| Sahha | Accelerator | 25 Jul 2023 | - | Lead | ARN (ARNnet), Startup Daily | |
| Nullify | Accelerator | Feb 2023 | - | Participant | ARN (ARNnet), Startup Daily | |
| Outread | Accelerator | 2023 | - | Participant | Startup Daily (Sat 27 Apr 2024), Startup Daily (Tue 3 Oct 2023), ARN (ARNnet) |
Everyone Amazon Web Services (AWS) has named to a program in published coverage. A place in a program is not a raise: the cheque is the figure recorded with the place, which is the program's standard terms where we hold them, and a blank is one we don't.
| Member | Program | Announced | Cheque | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RelevanceAI | Generative AI Accelerator | 2024 | - | SmartCompany (Wed 11 Jun 2025), SmartCompany (Fri 9 May 2025) |
| Stori | Generative AI Accelerator | 17 Nov 2023 | - | Startup Daily, ARN (ARNnet) |
Companies Amazon Web Services (AWS) has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ajust | Consumer complaint resolution service using AI agents | Aug 2023, Accelerator | 1 | 0 |
| Marqo | 16 Feb 2024, Accelerator | 1 | 1 | |
| Nullify | Feb 2023, Accelerator | 1 | 0 | |
| Outread | 2023, Accelerator | 1 | 0 | |
| RelevanceAI | 23 Oct 2023, Accelerator | 1 | 0 | |
| Sahha | 25 Jul 2023, Accelerator | 1 | 1 | |
| Stori | 17 Nov 2023, Accelerator | 1 | 1 |
Fund closes reported for Amazon Web Services (AWS), as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies Amazon Web Services (AWS) has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Amazon Web Services (AWS) did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Jon Jones | Vice President and Global Head of Startups | SmartCompany |
| Ed Lenta | Vice President (former) | ARN (ARNnet) (Thu 25 Jun 2020), ARN (ARNnet) (Wed 25 Mar 2020) |
| Adam Beavis | Managing Director of ISV and Digital Native Business for Asia Pacific and Japan (former) | ARN (ARNnet) |
| Rianne Van Veldhuizen | Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand | ARN (ARNnet) |
| Paul Migliorini | Managing Director (former) | ARN (ARNnet) |
| Tiffany Bloomquist | Head of Startups for the Asia-Pacific | SmartCompany |
| Davinia Simon | Head of Channel and Alliances (former) | ARN (ARNnet) (Thu 3 Feb 2022), ARN (ARNnet) (Tue 21 Sep 2021) |
| Howard Gefen | General Manager of Energy and Utilities | @AuManufacturing |
| Dr Daniel Kearney | smc.co, firmus.co |
Stories naming Amazon Web Services (AWS). Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Zendesk has announced a deal to buy Local Measure, an Australian-founded contact-centre technology firm, to speed its AI voice plans; completion still needs shareholder, regulatory and court sign-off, tipped for May 2025.
Zendesk has agreed to acquire Sydney contact-centre software firm Local Measure, founded by Jonathan Barouch, in a deal reportedly valuing it at $100 million; earlier raises from 2017 and 2023 are recalled.
Firmus Technologies introduces Daniel Kearney as its new chief technology officer; the question-and-answer piece covers his cloud and thermal research background and his views on immersion cooling for sustainable AI infrastructure.
Firmus introduces Daniel Kearney as its new chief technology officer and interviews him about his cloud and thermal research background, his PhD work on liquid cooling, and his views on sustainable AI infrastructure.
Profiles Stori, an AI game-worldbuilding startup by founder Nilushanan Kulasingham: pre-seed investment by Antler and investor Jason Calacanis, plus a place in AWS's GenAI Accelerator.
Startupbootcamp Australia unveils the ten startups chosen for its 2023 FoodTech Tasmania program, spanning seven countries, and acknowledges its government, corporate and long-term partners.
AWS has selected ten Australian and New Zealand startups for its first generative AI accelerator, a six-week program offering technical training, mentorship, AWS credits and a demo day pitch to investors.
Nullify, which uses AI to detect code vulnerabilities, has secured $1.1 million in pre-seed funding from OIF Ventures, Blacknova Ventures, Cyrise and two former XM Cyber founders now at Skylight Cyber.
ARN reports Michelle Bendschneider becomes CEO of Connetico, new parent of cloud firms Arinco, Cevo and D6, with Lara Wright as CFO, after Quadrant fund backing; Kloud's earlier sale to Telstra is recalled.
Briefs roundup: Starpharma names a new CFO, Weld Australia urges trades diversity, the Economic Accelerator bill passes, H2X Global enters AWS's clean energy accelerator, and A.H. Beard partners with the Sleep Health Foundation.
Cloud consultancy Versent has hired Gavin Wilkie, formerly of Quantium and Woolworths, as chief financial officer to support its expansion across Singapore and Asia following strong revenue growth.
Brazilian digital firm CI&T is buying Melbourne consultancy Transpire for $23.4 million, adding about 100 specialists, with completion expected in the third quarter of 2022 subject to closing conditions.
Also SmartCompany
CyberCX has invested an undisclosed sum in Adelaide-founded whitelisting vendor Airlock Digital to support its push into the US and Europe. The piece also recalls CyberCX's earlier acquisitions of Tracer Cloud, Consegna Cloud and Xello Australia.
Unleash live, working with Optus and AWS, flew its first drone test for Endeavour Energy, streaming 5G footage; the project earlier received a $648,000 federal government 5G Innovation Initiative grant.
Cloud management firm Stax has appointed ex-AWS executive Adam Beavis as managing director, with co-founder Thor Essman moving to executive chair, months after hiring Davinia Simon from AWS.
Perth network-software firm ActivePort has joined the ASX under ticker ATV after a $12 million float at 20 cents a share, led by Bridge Street Capital, to fund international expansion.
US cloud security firm Lacework has entered the Australian and New Zealand market, hiring 23 local staff including a new A/NZ general manager, having earlier raised US$525 million from Sutter Hill Ventures in January.
Cloud platform Stax becomes standalone from Versent, hires ex-AWS executive Davinia Simon to lead sales amid NZ and Southeast Asia expansion, and recalls A$23.6 million raised in private funding over the past year.
EY Australia has bought Melbourne managed security firm SecureWorx, whose CEO Philip Mulley moves across as sovereign cyber security leader, extending EY's cyber capabilities after earlier purchases of Aleron and Open Windows.
Ignition Lane's weekly roundup reports Tyro buying Medipass, several startup raises, ASX listings, Hey Tiger shutting down, Airwallex culture complaints, CSIRO's technology spending plan, and Musk's bitcoin antics.
Also Startup Daily
Accenture has bought Perth-based operational technology specialist Electro 80, reportedly for $30 million, with three of its leaders moving into managing director roles at the acquirer.
Also ARN (ARNnet)
Data analytics vendor Databricks has bought open source data query platform Redash for an undisclosed sum, integrating it into its platform alongside the launch of its new Delta Engine.
Data analytics vendor Databricks appoints ex-AWS executive Ed Lenta to lead its APJ region alongside other recent hires, with the piece recalling the company's US$400 million Series F backed by Andreessen Horowitz.
Also ARN (ARNnet)
Tokyo-listed Trend Micro has acquired cloud security startup Cloud Conformity, founded in Sydney, for US$70 million. The article also recalls the startup's 2018 Series A raise led by Paladin Capital Group.
Pencil is the only Australian company among ten startups chosen for Startupbootcamp's fintech accelerator, picked from nearly 900 applications; the program runs June to August with corporate backing.
Startupbootcamp Australia is opening a Melbourne fintech accelerator on financial health, supported by NAB, Bupa, Deloitte and technology partners, with applications open until April alongside its existing smart energy program.