Investor · 4 deals
Every published round Cochlear 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.
| Company | Stage | Announced | Amount | Role | Alongside | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EpiMinder | Bridge / extension | 21 Mar 2022 | $16m | Participant | Startup Daily (Tue 2 Dec 2025), Startup Daily (Mon 21 Mar 2022), @AuManufacturing, Startup Daily (Tue 15 Mar 2022) | |
| EpiMinder | Series A | Oct 2021 | $18m | Participant | @AuManufacturing (Wed 16 Mar 2022), @AuManufacturing (Tue 6 Oct 2020) | |
| Seer | Series A | 3 Sep 2021 | $34m | Lead | SmartCompany, Startup Daily | |
| Seer Medical | Series A | 2021 | $34m | Participant | Startup Daily (Thu 17 Apr 2025), SmartCompany, Startup Daily (Tue 28 Jan 2025), Startup Daily (Tue 7 Jan 2025), Startup Daily (Mon 4 Nov 2024), Giant Leap portfolio |
Companies Cochlear has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EpiMinder | Oct 2021, Series A | 2 | 0 | |
| Seer | 3 Sep 2021, Series A | 1 | 1 | |
| Seer Medical | 2021, Series A | 1 | 0 |
Fund closes reported for Cochlear, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies Cochlear has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Cochlear did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Dr Chris Roberts | CEO (former) | SmartCompany |
| Dr Chris Roberts AO | CEO (former) | Startup Daily, @AuManufacturing |
| Dr Chris Smith | CEO (former) | Wholesale Investor |
| Alison Deans | Chair (former) | Startup Daily (Tue 19 Mar 2024), @AuManufacturing, Startup Daily (Thu 9 Nov 2023), Startup Daily (Mon 7 Jun 2021) |
| Tim Noakesmith | Design Lead (former) | Startup Daily (Wed 18 Jun 2025), Startup Daily (Tue 14 Jan 2025), Startup Daily (Thu 7 Jan 2021), Square Peg Capital portfolio, Startup Daily (Fri 16 Aug 2019) |
| Rod Lopez | Head of Manufacturing (former) | @AuManufacturing |
| Victor Windeyer | Mechanical Engineer (former) | GBS Ventures (Wed 30 May 2007), GBS Ventures (Mon 5 Dec 2005) |
| Greg Bodkin | Senior Executive Team Member | Wholesale Investor |
Stories naming Cochlear. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Bioshore Ventures has wrapped up its first fund at $27 million with all capital committed, drawing 65 individual backers including three well-known investors, and has named four health-technology companies in its portfolio.
An analysis of what Australian long-horizon research commercialisation requires, citing Gilmour Space, Cochlear and BluGlass as illustrations of patient capital and ecosystem support needs.
Ten13's post explains why it joined the robotics company's latest raise alongside Blackbird, Neotribe, Startmate and Horizons, covering its autonomous scanning device, dialysis focus, founders, and US rollout plans.
Also Dealroom·vexev.com·datapile.co·evtoday.com·ontargetish.com
Profile of ARIA Research, Robert Yearsley's audio-based AR startup for blind users, recalling a $2 million NSW Medical Device Fund grant among $11 million raised and targeting the NDIS market.
Medical device firm Epiminder has joined the ASX, its shares dipping below issue price on debut, with the $125 million IPO proceeds earmarked for an American launch of its implantable epilepsy monitoring system next year.
Also Startup Daily
Biotech PolyActiva has banked a Series C round led by the National Reconstruction Fund with Brandon Capital, funding late-stage trials of its dissolvable glaucoma implant and a consolidated Melbourne site.
Also Startup Daily
Administrators confirmed a $40 million deal in which Cadwell Industries, TrialCap and Breakthrough Victoria take equity, rescuing Seer Medical from administration; the article also recalls its funding history and 2024 product recall.
Breakthrough Victoria's chief executive reflects on the sovereign fund's first four years, its university co-funding partnerships and OECD evidence that government venture capital works best alongside private investors.
Victorian epilepsy device maker Seer Medical has entered voluntary administration, with Pitcher Partners appointed amid a product recall and a cofounder's legal dispute; backers included Breakthrough Victoria and Cochlear.
Briefs roundup: Main Sequence adds Alison Deans as venture partner; Starpharma hands the CEO role to Cheryl Maley; DroneShield lands a $2.2 million repeat order; Q-CTRL will deliver quantum training with QUIN.
Main Sequence, CSIRO's deep tech venture fund, adds Cochlear chair Alison Deans as a venture partner, extending her investment committee service since 2017; its third fund brought in $450 million in July.
Weekly roundup covering six startup raises: ImmVirX, Nutromics, Nuheara, Autism 360, Cogo and Gather, plus Nutromics' 30X30 selection, a board appointment and Viralytics' earlier sale to Merck.
Wearable diagnostics developer Nutromics has raised $11 million from two unnamed family offices, after a prior $20 million round backed by Dexcom's venture arm, and appointed Dr Chris Roberts as non-executive chairperson.
Also SmartCompany·Techboard
Cardiac pacing company EBR Systems says its SOLVE-CRT trial hit its safety and efficacy goals early, keeping a 2024 US approval bid on course; the article also recalls its 2021 ASX listing.
Seer Medical founding member Dr Pip Karoly won a 2022 Prime Minister's Prize for New Innovators for seizure forecasting research; the medtech has raised over $80 million to date.
Epi-Minder has completed a $16 million bridge round with its existing shareholders to fund expanded clinical trials, product development and manufacturing of its long-term epilepsy monitoring device.
US-based leadless pacemaker maker EBR Systems has listed on the ASX, spurning US SPAC offers thanks to its local investor base; Blackbird's earlier investment in Vexev is also noted.
Also Brandon Capital portfolio·Brandon Capital portfolio·Brandon BioCatalyst portfolio
Weekly roundup reporting Australian raises including Zero Co, MOBI and CipherStash, Cashrewards' takeover agreement, Shebah's collapse, WeWork's NYSE listing, crypto regulation recommendations and SiteMinder board appointments.
Also Australian FinTech·Cut Through Venture·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany
Roundup of Australian manufacturing news: Hemideina's $10 million raise, ARENA funding an electric bus fleet trial, Pure Hydrogen taking a stake in H2X, plus updates on Carbon Revolution, Li-S Energy and Lynas.
Weekly roundup: Seer and Open raise Series A and B rounds, Refundid, Komodo and Earth AI secure funding, Giant Leap closes $15 million for its second fund, Task is acquired for $120 million, and Birchal celebrates its 100th campaign.
Epilepsy diagnostics company Seer has raised a $34 million Series A led by Cochlear, with EWM Group, SG Hiscock and Giant Leap participating, to expand into sleep and cardiac testing and enter overseas markets.
Also SmartCompany
Weekly roundup covering ANZ trade sales including A Cloud Guru's multibillion-dollar sale, several Australian raises, Tenacious Ventures' agritech fund close, Xero and Cochlear appointments, and global deals such as Etsy buying Depop.
Also SmartCompany
Defibrillator maker Rapid Response Revival appointed Cochlear executive Greg Bodkin as a non-executive director and signed a mandate with an unnamed US investment bank ahead of a planned October IPO.
Coronavirus disruption forces BlueScope, Boral and Cochlear to revise outlooks, while Carbon Revolution raises $25 million, Titomic $19 million, and sanitiser and infant formula exporters report surging demand.
Also @AuManufacturing
AI healthcare startup Harrison.ai, founded by brothers Aengus and Dimitry Tran, raised $29 million in its first outside round, led by Blackbird Ventures with Horizons Ventures, Skip Capital and Ramsay Health Care taking part.
Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia
NSW government grants $25,000 to Western Sydney cellular agriculture startup VOW, which grows meat from animal cells including kangaroo, co-founded by Tim Noakesmith and George Peppou.
Sydney driverless-vehicle sensor maker Baraja has closed a Series A backed by three venture firms, adding to earlier seed money, to scale production of its LiDAR navigation systems and recruit skilled staff.
Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Crunchbase News·TechCrunch Venture·TechCrunch Venture
Healthcare software firm Pacific Knowledge Systems has begun an IPO roadshow seeking $22 million, with Bombora Investment Management as lead investor, ahead of expected January 2019 trading under ticker PKS.
Comment piece reports bionic eye developers restored vision in four patients, with Bionic Vision Technologies having raised $23.6 million from two offshore investors, and discusses commercialisation prospects.
Also @AuManufacturing
Sunshine Heart's Sydney subsidiary has named Victor Windeyer general manager while he remains chief operating officer of the American-listed parent, overseeing Australian operations ahead of a planned United States clinical trial filing.
Sunshine Heart appoints Victor Windeyer as chief operating officer to lead its Australian operations and C-Pulse clinical trials from Sydney; the company also cites a secured grant and ethics approvals at two Melbourne hospitals.
Also GBS Ventures
Medtech company Sunshine Heart has brought in Ruth Flynn as its first clinical affairs manager, to drive C-Pulse heart assist device trials across Australia and New Zealand from its Sydney head office.