Startup · $20.2m raised
Brisbane, QLD
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round Instant raised.
| Investor | Rounds | Invested |
|---|---|---|
| Accel | Pre-seed | - |
| Accel Ventures scout fund | Series A · Pre-seed | - |
| Blackbird Ventures | Series A · Pre-seed | - |
| Hummingbird | Series A | - |
| Justin Mateen | Series A · Pre-seed | - |
| Larry Diamond | Series A · Pre-seed | - |
| Reinventure Group | Series A · Pre-seed | - |
| Ten13 | Series A · Pre-seed | - |
Companies Instant 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 |
|---|---|---|
| William Gao | Chief Technology Officer · Founder | Startup Daily, SmartCompany, Blackbird Ventures portfolio |
| Liam Millward | CEO · Founder | SmartCompany (Fri 7 Mar 2025), Startup Daily (Mon 3 Mar 2025), SmartCompany (Mon 3 Mar 2025), Startup Daily (Wed 2 Feb 2022), SmartCompany (Wed 2 Feb 2022), Blackbird Ventures portfolio, Australian FinTech |
Stories naming Instant. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Paperbark, a Sydney startup helping ecommerce retailers recover lost revenue, was founded by Bryce Antoine and Eli Simic, took $120,000 from Josh Parsons, and has signed Onnit and Olly, two Unilever-owned brands.
Ten13's monthly newsletter reports its first institutional mandate via Queensland's QVCDF, new seed investments in OneMRI and Source, follow-ons in Arintra and Everlab, and portfolio progress including Go1, Qsic, Pearler and After.com.
Weekly roundup detailing six Australian startup raises announced this week, covering Heidi Health, Instant, Esper, Trusst AI, Flowing Bee and GonGlobal, with investors, founders, valuations and earlier rounds.
Also Startup Daily
Sydney cart-recovery marketing platform Instant has landed an $18m Series A headed by Belgium's Hummingbird Ventures, lifting its valuation to $100m, with existing backers Blackbird, Ten13 and Reinventure also taking part.
TEN13's investor letter celebrates passing $100 million deployed, plus fresh backing for iion and Switchboard, team promotions, AutoGrab's overseas growth and NZ-arm sale, and the Mr Yum–Me&U merger.
Ten13's year-end post recaps nine new portfolio additions, follow-on support for existing holdings, the Mr Yum and Me&U merger, Go1's Blinkist acquisition, Smileyscope's FDA clearance, and community events.
Also OIF Ventures portfolio·Ten13 portfolio·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia·TechCrunch Venture
Blackbird's investment note explains why it co-led Checkmate's US$5 million seed round, describing the shopping tool's product, its e-commerce thesis, and the Perth-raised founding team behind the startup.
A roundup of 19 Australian startup funding announcements totalling over $851 million in early February 2022, covering raises by Cyara, Karbon, Slyp, Reejig and others, alongside record 2021 venture investment figures.
Also webbikeworld.com·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily
Flood forecasting startup FloodMapp has raised a record Australian seed round, with US venture capital backing, to scale its real-time flood intelligence products and expand into new markets.
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.
Blackbird announces a pre-seed investment in Instant, a checkout startup founded by teenage co-founders Liam Millward and William Gao, aiming to simplify online checkouts and reduce cart abandonment for merchants.
Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Australian FinTech·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany