Ampol

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #180, 4th October 2026

Weekly roundup reporting Australian startup funding rounds and government grants, a venture fund close, agreed acquisitions, an IPO pricing, a collapse, plus executive hires and AI policy developments.

Ampol to buy EV charging scaleup Evie Networks for $225 million

Fuel retailer Ampol has proposed acquiring EV charging network Evie Networks for $225 million, pending regulator approval, while the article recalls the charging company's seed, Series A, government grant and debt funding history.

Ampol powers up its EV strategy with $225m acquisition of Evie Networks' national charging platform

Fuel retailer Ampol is buying EV charging network Evie Networks, via holding company Fast Cities Australia, for $225 million funded from debt, with completion expected in first-half 2027 pending ACCC approval.

Also This Week in Australian Startups

From secondary cuts to global shelves

MLA profiles Chief Nutrition, a maker of beef-based snack bars and supplements built from leftover meat cuts, now sold across 12 overseas markets; co-founder and CEO Brock Hatton credits consumer trust in Australian beef.

Indigenous, female-owned food brand Cooee lands Qantas partnership

Indigenous-founded snack brand Cooee lands a deal putting its cookies on Qantas domestic flights, with Ochre Ventures having invested $1.5 million to support its growth.

Also Dealroom

Six ANZ startups that raised $63.5 million this week

Roundup of six Australian and New Zealand startup raises totalling $63.5 million, covering in-store audio, EV charging, respiratory biotech, health AI, gig-economy fintech, and inclusive social media ventures.

Also Startup Daily

Sustainable aviation fuels studies take flight

Queensland EV charger startup EVOS banks $4 million in hunt for $10m Series B

EVOS, a Brisbane EV charging startup, has secured $4 million from existing backers as the opening slice of a planned $10 million Series B; its three founders previously worked at failed charger maker Tritium.

Also SmartCompany

Boost for electric vehicle rentals and second-hand car market

ARENA awards Europcar Mobility Group $4.76 million from the Driving the Nation Program to deploy electric rental vehicles and chargers across Australia, with Ampol partnering on charging infrastructure.

GLOBAL CHARGE: Brisbane clean tech startup EVOS Energy breaks into India with export grant

Brisbane EV charging maker EVOS Energy receives Queensland government backing to take its chargers into India; the profile also recalls its $5 million Series A and traces its growth.

Also Startup Daily

Grid Connections: Who’s going where in Australia’s energy transition

A rolling roundup of Australian energy-sector job moves, listing dozens of executives, directors and ministers joining or leaving utilities, regulators, developers and industry bodies between May and December 2023.

Manufacturing news briefs – stories you might have missed

Australian manufacturing roundup: IDT Australia's shareholder raise, EV charger rollouts, a mining equipment hire, a plastics recycling plant completion, research collaborations and government funding moves.

Five startups that raised $109.8 million this week

Weekly roundup of five startup raises: Fleet Space's Series C, Checkmate's Series A, Adventus's new round, Endua's hydrogen funding and Servicely's raise, with investors named.

Also Forbes Australia

Melt Ventures launches $10 million climate tech fund, but isn’t interested in software

Melt Ventures has closed a $10 million fund for hardware-focused climate tech and named its first investments, including Endua's $11.8 million pre-seed round backed by Melt, Main Sequence, QIC, 77 Partners and Ampol.

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

Hydrogen energy company Endua raises $11.8 million

Hydrogen storage startup Endua has raised $7.5 million from QIC, Melt Ventures and 77 Partners to scale its modular hydrogen power banks for microgrid and standalone power markets.

Also @AuManufacturing·@AuManufacturing·Techboard·@AuManufacturing

Australian clean tech Endua fixes renewable energy's intermittency problem

Australian hydrogen startup Endua raised AU$11.8 million from QIC, Melt Ventures, 77 Partners, Main Sequence and Ampol to scale modular hydrogen power banks that store surplus renewable electricity for later use.

Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany·@AuManufacturing

Manufacturing news briefs — stories you might have missed

Manufacturing roundup covering Cyclopharm's tax incentive payment, Carbon Revolution's government grant payments, CEFC's wind farm debt commitment, Adbri's land sales, a Monash energy report and a Wollongong research showcase.

Also RenewEconomy

Manufacturing news briefs – stories you might have missed

Roundup reporting Singular Health's IMCRC grant for 3D-printed medical seals, Viva Energy's fuel security payment, a fine over a worker's death, and the national battery recycling scheme's launch.

Grid Cognition raises $2.25m

Energy software firm Grid Cognition has banked $2.25 million to support a British market entry, counting Ampol, Origin Energy and Ausnet among its customers, in news shared by its backer Alberts.

Also thewest.com.au

CEFC congratulates Gridcognition on close of seed round at nearly $4m

Energy software firm Gridcognition closed a $2.25 million seed round; CEFC committed $625,000 through its innovation fund alongside Alberts Impact Ventures, Afterwork Ventures and angel investors, taking total funding near $4 million.

Also Virescent Ventures·gridcog.com·Startup News (WA)·Startup News (WA)·Startup News (WA)

$12 m in Accelerating Commercialisation grants awarded

Twenty-two Australian companies plus Monash University won Accelerating Commercialisation grants worth $12.2 million combined, with recipients including EVOS, BioCarbon, Ripe Robotics and Endua, each receiving matched government funding for commercialisation projects.

Also @AuManufacturing·Startup Daily·@AuManufacturing·@AuManufacturing

Evos launches home EV charger system

Brisbane startup Evos has released its first product, a home electric vehicle charger for fleet customers, following an earlier capital raising, with initial sales through Ampol.

Future Fuels Fund revved up to provide EV charging nationally

ARENA announced $24.55 million in grants to five companies including Evie Networks, Ampol and Chargefox to build over 400 public EV fast charging stations across Australia under Round 1 of the Future Fuels Fund.

Also @AuManufacturing

The startup funding round: Tech for COVID-19 vaccines, automating oyster farms, and $25 million for cybersecurity

Weekly funding roundup: UpGuard raises $25m, Tanggram $5m, Endua launches with $5m, Cubiko $1.7m, The Village Co $1.2m, Tribu $1.25m, SmartOysters and BatNav crowdfund, Chipper Cash closes US$100m, and Main Sequence's fund closed.

Endua creates hydrogen-powered clean energy storage, using tech from Australia's national science agency

Brisbane hydrogen storage startup Endua has raised AUD 5 million from Main Sequence, CSIRO and Ampol to commercialise electrolysis technology developed at CSIRO, with Ampol as industry partner.

Also @AuManufacturing·RenewEconomy·SmartCompany·@AuManufacturing·@AuManufacturing