Company
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round Coles raised.
Companies Coles acquired or merged with, per published coverage. Buying a company is not investing in one: nothing here counts in the deals column.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| John Fletcher | CEO (former) | Wholesale Investor |
| Matt Swindells | Chief Operations and Sustainability Officer | SmartCompany |
| Yu Liu | Data Scientist (former) | Startup Daily (Mon 6 Oct 2025), SmartCompany, Startup Daily (Tue 4 Mar 2025), Startup Daily (Thu 26 Oct 2023), Blackbird Ventures portfolio |
Stories naming Coles. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Weekly roundup: Blackbird confirms a record fund close and Galileo reaches a first close, Genesis merges with Proudi, IREN secures massive debt, and several startups report raises, grants and program wins.
Street Talk reports Sydney adviser Miras Capital is seeking a new part-owner for pet food business Eureka Pet Co, sounding out private equity and strategic buyers at up to $40 million.
Algae producer Genesis Group has merged with pet nutrition firm Proudi, a combination the company expects will double its revenue; Proudi founder Dennis King joins the Genesis board as a director.
Online trading firm Pepperstone has hired Xero engineering leader Nigel Fernandes as its new technology chief, to oversee engineering, architecture, security and data worldwide from its Melbourne base.
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.
Global consultancy Sia has acquired Seven Consulting, an Australian business transformation firm, roughly quadrupling Sia's local headcount and adding major banking, government and retail clients.
French consulting group Sia has bought Australian business transformation firm Seven Consulting, adding roughly 130 consultants and East Coast offices. The deal follows Sia's earlier acquisitions and Blackstone's minority investment earmarked for expansion.
Also consultancy.com.au
Consulting group Sia has bought Seven Consulting, an Australian transformation consultancy, adding Sydney and Melbourne offices, a Perth presence and major clients across banking, government and retail.
Also Dealroom·Dealroom·sevenconsulting.com·briefglance.com·melbourne-insider.au·cfotech.com.au·consultancy.com.au
Profile of JET Charge co-founder Tim Washington, tracing the EV charging firm's growth and recalling its 2020 institutional round and $72 million Series C led by Mirova.
Ten13's post sets out its reasons for backing Appetise's A$7 million Series A with OIF, Icehouse, NZVC and K1W1, highlighting the grocery platform's shopper dataset and growth.
Melbourne AI medical-notes startup Heidi Health has banked a $98 million Series B led by Point72 at a $704 million valuation, adding two senior clinical and commercial hires to its leadership.
Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia
York Street Brands raised $2 million from iPartners and took a $4 million NAB trade facility to launch its third brand Bouf, having formed through the 2023 merger of tbh Skincare and Boost Lab.
Also SmartCompany
Frozen citrus maker Naked Rivals has been bought by Entyce Food Ingredients; the piece covers the founders' planned exit, fast supermarket rollout, an earlier $3m raise, and a coming insurance venture.
Heidi Health, whose AI tool drafts doctors' clinical notes, has added $26.8 million to its Series A in a round led by Headline, with Local Globe and Anthology also taking part.
Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily
Qsic, which puts audio advertising inside retail stores, has landed a Series B investment headed by Hedosophia, lifting its total backing to $50.5 million as it grows its North American speaker footprint.
Blackbird's note explains its decision to lead Clutch's $2 million pre-seed round, citing the fashion-glue brand's organic social growth, strong Priceline sales, and upcoming United States retail launch.
Roundup of three trans-Tasman raises: crime-intelligence software maker Auror's $72.6m Series C, underground mining-robot firm ADR's $2m round, and mentorship platform Matched's angel backing below $500,000.
Zitcha, an Australian retail-media advertising technology company, has secured $15 million in Series A funding, with US firm VMG Partners leading and OIF Ventures also involved, to support its American expansion.
Roundup of nine local startups that together banked a combined $38m-plus this week, spanning precision instruments, proptech, adtech, robotics, food, energy storage and AI, with several earlier raises recalled.
Also Australian FinTech·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·AgFunderNews
KPMG insolvency practitioners now run plant-based meat firm Proform Foods, which trades on during a sale process; the piece recalls Harvest Road's 2021 minority stake, reportedly near $5 million.
Karta, an Australian gift-card platform, has struck a US deal with Visa, having earlier raised a pre-seed round above $21 million, most of it from Commonwealth Bank.
Profile of Packamama, maker of flat recycled-PET wine bottles that trim freight emissions; the London-headquartered startup, with a Melbourne office, just finished SparkLabs Cultiv8's Orange accelerator and counts big Australian wine retailers as partners.
Profile of the WA hot-sauce maker behind the Bunsters brand, whose milder-named sauce landed in Woolworths, with a US Walmart listing and a TV appearance ahead.
Heidi Health, whose AI tool trims paperwork for family doctors, has banked a $10 million Series A round led by returning backer Blackbird, with co-investors including Hostplus and Hesta.
Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia
Manufacturing briefs roundup: WA government commits $5m to space facility Fugro SpAARC; Starpharma and Micro-X receive R&D tax refunds; Bulla licenses Violet Crumble for ice cream; SCEE wins $50m in contracts.
Roundup of eight Australian startup raises totalling $433m, topped by Employment Hero's $263m Series F and Skykraft's $120m round; Darwinium, Konvoy Kegs, The Martec and three Birchal crowdfunds complete the week.
Also AgFunderNews
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
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.
Roundup of four Australian raises in early October 2023: Eden Brew's $24.4m Series A, Renewable Metals' $8m seed round, Techni Ice's $979,774 crowd-funded campaign close, and Apollo Secure's $600,000 pre-seed.
Also Startup Daily
Voluntary administrators now control Nourish Foods, the business behind Whole Kids, after a funding attempt fell short, and interested backers or buyers must come forward by mid-September.
Non-alcoholic cocktail maker Naked Life closed a $3 million equity crowdfunding campaign on Birchal and plans to expand into more Australian liquor chains and overseas markets.
Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·AgFunderNews
A roundup of Australian manufacturing news: a summit keynote, a product launch, a CEO appointment, an acquisition, a quantum HQ, training and supply deals, and a refrigeration deployment.
Roundup of eight Australian startups that together raised $75.6 million across two weeks, spanning health, batteries, EV fleets, edtech and equity crowdfunding campaigns.
Also The Mandarin·SmartCompany·Techboard·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia
Melbourne sales-training video startup frntlne has raised a $4.6 million seed round led by RealVC, with Investible, Hoperidge Capital and Rod Jones taking part; brand clients include Coles and L'Oreal.
Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany
Weekly roundup detailing seven Australian startup raises totalling $16.4 million, covering Thinxtra, Canopus Networks, Mash, Beamible, Earthodic, Citadel.run and Cleverbean, with investors, amounts and founder backgrounds.
Sydney dairy tech startup Made By Cow has entered voluntary administration and ceased production, with KordaMentha appointed and its patented milk technology and equipment flagged as possible buyer prospects.
Also AgFunderNews
Non-alcoholic spirits maker Naked Life hopes to raise about $3 million via Birchal crowdfunding to fund global expansion and its low-sugar pantry range, after revenue grew from $400,000 to nearly $13 million in three years.
Sydney startup Cassava Bags Australia won Bupa's 2023 eco-Disruptive award for water-soluble cassava bags, having earlier received over $350,000 via Bupa's 2022 program, while a Birchal crowdfunding round remains only an intention.
Also Startup Daily
Ignition Lane's weekly wrap: Tiger Global's losses and past Australian bets, MilkRun and TradeSquare closures, Cyara's Spearline acquisition, a Co Ventures pre-seed fund, Square Peg's partner promotion and LaunchVic's 30×30 picks.