Ben Carroll

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #173, 9th August 2026

Weekly roundup: Firmus completes its $2.85b round; Procore acquires DroneDeploy; Atlassian rebounds while Canva cuts guidance; plus fresh raises for Zabidou, BioScout, Vexev, Enrola, Spacetalk and others.

Also Dealroom·RenewEconomy·RenewEconomy

Victoria is offering medtech startups $500k grants for their research projects

Victoria's medical research grant fund has opened another round; past recipient Avipep says its 2021 grant sped development of an antibody therapy now shown to kill tumour cells in preclinical testing.

$412,000 awarded through Low Carbon Manufacturing Grants Program

Ten Victorian manufacturers collect grants worth up to $50,000 apiece — $412,000 in all — from the state government's Low Carbon Manufacturing Grants Program to help them enter low-emission and renewable supply chains.

Grants awarded to Victorian businesses to support defence manufacturing

Four Victorian manufacturers received state grants under a defence supply chain program, positioning them to join Hanwha's howitzer supply chain; Hanwha separately won the LAND 400 Phase 3 contract.

Navi Medical Technologies

Breakthrough Victoria is putting $700,000 into Navi Medical Technologies' round alongside Medtech Actuator and Artesian VC, helping the Melbourne medtech develop its newborn catheter guidance device toward regulatory approval.

Also Breakthrough Victoria·Startup Daily

NAVI CLOSES $2.4 MILLION ROUND FOR ITS BREAKTHROUGH MEDICAL DEVICE

Medical device startup Navi announced a completed $2.4 million funding round, led by Breakthrough Victoria with $700,000, plus federal grants, to finish developing its Neonav catheter device.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·bushletter.com

Flying Fox, Jump Start receive $600,000 in VIC government funding to boost women-led startups

Manufacturing news briefs — stories you might have missed

Australian manufacturing roundup: Zip Water appoints a marketing director, EMVision triggers a milestone payment, Kleos Space faces bankruptcy, AnteoTech secures placement commitments, and LaunchVic funds two women-founder pre-accelerators.

$10 million in grants announced for prospective LAND 8116 suppliers in Victoria

Victoria's government is offering ten million dollars in grants, up to one hundred thousand each, helping small manufacturers qualify as suppliers for Hanwha's howitzer contract. No recipients named yet.