Investor · 1 deal
Every published round eBay 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopfront | Grant | 11 Feb 2025 | $50k+ | Participant | Startup Daily, SmartCompany |
Companies eBay has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shopfront | 11 Feb 2025, Grant | 1 | 0 |
Fund closes reported for eBay, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies eBay has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal eBay did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Brooke Eichhorn | Head of Fashion | SmartCompany, Forbes Australia |
| Apurva Chiranewala | Executive (former) | SmartCompany, Australian FinTech |
Stories naming eBay. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Insurtech Cover Genius, previously ranked first on the Smart50 list, has secured $143 million from Vista Credit Partners at a valuation above $2 billion, with funds earmarked for AI development and acquisitions.
Australian insurtech Cover Genius raised $143 million led by Vista Credit Partners, pushing its valuation above $2 billion, with funds earmarked for platform development, AI claims capabilities and international expansion.
Vista Credit Partners is backing Cover Genius's USD 100 million raise, which puts the insurance platform's value at USD 1.9 billion; Morgan Stanley acted as placement agent.
Also SmartCompany·inspirepreneurmagazine.com·Cut Through Venture·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia
Brief market note recording that eBay has finished a billion-dollar debt issuance, aimed at shoring up liquidity and bankrolling platform work while managing margin strain; no investors, dates or terms are disclosed.
The founders of ad platform Thanks announce its launch in Britain, with eBay UK as the inaugural publishing partner, extending an existing eBay relationship from the US and Australia and adding local UK staff.
A monthly video briefing teasing stories on human-first leadership, AI and creativity, and an unnamed Melbourne startup winning eBay's Circular Fashion Fund prize.
Weekly roundup of eight Australian startup raises, led by Sonder's $40 million round, plus AMP's $20 million raise and acquisition of the Shopify app Back in Stock.
Also Startup Daily·Defence Connect·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Defence Connect·Forbes Australia
Shopfront, a re-commerce platform for selling second-hand goods across multiple marketplaces, raised a pre-seed round backed by Antler, Co Ventures, 5H Values Capital, Jampad and angel syndicates, plus eBay grant funding.
Melbourne startup Shopfront has secured $800,000 in a pre-seed round led by Antler, Co-Ventures, 5H Values Capital and Jam Pad Investments, with angel syndicates joining; its founders met through an Antler program.
Also Startup Daily·retailtechinnovationhub.com·startupwired.com
Retrospective timeline of Catch's journey from its 2006 launch through Tiger Global's investment, the Menulog and Luxury Escapes deals and Wesfarmers' $230 million acquisition, to Wesfarmers' announced wind-down.
Wesfarmers is closing Catch, the online retailer it bought for $230 million in 2019, citing local ecommerce competition; the story also recalls Catch's venture backers and Little Birdie's $30m stake, pause and rescue.
Also Startup Daily
Year-end roundup ranking 2024's twelve largest startup raises, headed by PsiQuantum's $940 million government-backed quantum computing round, plus Guzman y Gomez's ASX listing and Betashares' Temasek investment.
Agentio announces a $12m Series A with Benchmark leading and earlier backers Craft and AlleyCorp returning, taking the creator-advertising platform's total funding to $16.25m.
Roundup of six Australian funding rounds this week: InDebted, Evolt, Restoke.ai, Mary Technology, Matilda and Demtech.ai, with investors, amounts, InDebted's valuation and a secondary component for early backers and staff.
Also Australian FinTech·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Australian FinTech·Fintech News Australia·Business News Australia
Cover Genius has landed a Series E round of 80 million dollars, with Spark Capital leading and prior backers Dawn, King River and G Squared joining; lifetime funding now sits near 245 million.
Sydney app Upstreet, which gave shoppers fractional shares for their spending, is closing; the founders gave no reason, 18 months after a Wattle Hill-led seed round and a lifetime raise near $5 million.
Also Startup Daily
Fashion rental marketplace The Volte has secured $4 million in a Series A round headed by eBay's venture arm, coinciding with a commercial tie-up with eBay and royalty payments for designers.
Also SmartCompany·Techboard
Ignition Lane's weekly wrap reports falling Australian venture funding, lists several startup raises and fund raises, covers Chargefox's acquisition, Volt's closure, the Zip-Sezzle merger termination, and global tech news.
Also Women's Agenda·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Techboard·SmartCompany
Upstreet, which gives shoppers fractional share rewards, has raised a $3 million seed-plus round led by Wattle Hill Capital, with funds earmarked for retail partnerships and platform upgrades.
Block Earner appoints Apurva Chiranewala as general manager, with other senior hires named, as the blockchain fintech prepares to launch its decentralised finance platform for Australian consumers.
Ignition Lane's weekly tech roundup: AirTree raises $700m across three new funds, dozens of Australian startups announce rounds, a wave of acquisitions including Block completing its Afterpay buy, plus Web3 commentary and US market moves.
CX assurance software firm Cyara, co-founded in Melbourne, has shelved ASX listing plans and instead raised US$350 million from K1 Investment Management, with existing backers PeakSpan and Greenspring selling down stakes.
Sydney insurtech Cover Genius raised a $100 million Series C led by Sompo Holdings to reach unicorn valuation, with G Squared participating, capping a strong month for Australian startup funding rounds.
Weekly roundup reporting Invoice2go's sale to Bill.com, raises by Go1, Employment Hero, InDebted and others, Rokt's secondary sale, Wildcard Ventures' launch, plus global deals including Zoom-Five9 and Salesforce-Slack.
Wholesale Investor profiles Vpply, a video job board, citing rapid growth in listings and jobseekers, an experienced team, and a pre-seed raise underway, with 15% equity on offer to investors.
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
Weekly technology roundup covering Australia's digital economy budget, multiple startup raises including SafetyCulture's unicorn round, Data Republic's administration, TikTok's new permanent CEO, and Bill.com's purchase of Divvy.
Also Startup Daily
Roundup: Airwallex wins approval to acquire Hong Kong fintech UniCard; Vestiaire Collective raises €178 million to become a unicorn; Hopin announces a US$400 million Series C at a $5.65 billion valuation; Google ends user tracking.
Profile of Remote Social, a platform offering games and activities for remote teams, covering its Antler-backed founding, upcoming launch, beta customers and waitlist, plus applications opening for Antler's next cohort.
Ignition Lane's weekly roundup reports MyDeal and Adore Beauty listing on the ASX, Rokt's US$80 million Series D, several trans-Tasman raises, Quibi shutting down, Westpac trimming its Zip stake, and local executive appointments.
Also Crunchbase News·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·ARN (ARNnet)
Blackbird's investment note explains why it led the Series Seed round in Partly, a Christchurch company building fitment-data software and a marketplace for the auto parts industry.
Also Blackbird Ventures portfolio·Blackbird Ventures portfolio
Young Australian B2B wholesale marketplace TradeSquare has raised $2.5 million through a convertible note from unnamed angel investors ahead of its launch, and has partnered with Zip to offer buyers interest-free financing.
Also SmartCompany
Weekly roundup column covering Zoom's record quarter, Redbubble reaching unicorn valuation, founder share sell-downs, a new secondary fund launch, and funding rounds for mental health and e-commerce startups.
Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Women's Agenda
Profile of Instarent, whose founder AJ Chand built a landlord self-management platform after a poor property manager experience; it received NSW Government seed funding and is midway through a Birchal equity crowdfunding campaign.
Roundup covering AUSTRAC warnings to fintechs, News Corp's attack on Google, WeWork's executive exodus, Australia's slide in the IMD digital rankings, and BugHerd's revival under founder Alan Downie after he bought out investors.
Wesfarmers has agreed to acquire e-commerce company Catch Group for $230 million, pending regulator approval, to strengthen Kmart and Target's online and fulfilment capabilities.
Video production platform 90 Seconds has closed a US$20 million Series B backed by AirTree, Sequoia India, Qualgro and Right Click Capital, with funds earmarked for growing its creator network and platform automation.
Also cph-ink.dk