Investor · 3 deals
Sydney, NSW
Every published round Macquarie Bank 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Console Group | Series B | 17 May 2021 | $7.5m | Participant | Startup Daily, SmartCompany | |
| Athena | Series D+ | 13 May 2021 | $90m | Participant | Australian FinTech (Thu 14 Oct 2021), Startup Daily (Mon 17 May 2021), SmartCompany, Australian FinTech (Thu 13 May 2021), Startup Daily (Tue 11 May 2021) | |
| Athena | Series A | May 2018 | $15m | Lead | Startup Daily (Tue 11 May 2021), Startup Daily (Mon 21 Oct 2019), SmartCompany (Fri 1 Mar 2019), SmartCompany (Mon 17 Dec 2018), SmartCompany (Fri 30 Nov 2018), Startup Daily (Tue 27 Nov 2018), Australian FinTech |
Companies Macquarie Bank has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athena | May 2018, Series A | 2 | 1 | |
| Console Group | 17 May 2021, Series B | 1 | 0 |
Fund closes reported for Macquarie Bank, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies Macquarie Bank has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Macquarie Bank did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Jon Howie | Startup Daily, Australian FinTech (Fri 12 Jan 2024), Australian FinTech (Thu 17 Aug 2023) | |
| Sam Crowther | Forbes Australia, Our Innovation Fund | |
| Alan Moss | CEO (former) | @AuManufacturing |
| Craig Swanger | Chief Investment Officer and Head of Innovation (former) | Stoic VC, Australian FinTech |
| Allan Moss | Executive (former) | Startup Daily (Mon 23 Jan 2023), ferronova.com.au, Startup Daily (Fri 3 Apr 2020) |
| Paul Cilia | Executive Director (former) | Australian FinTech |
| Stephen Allen | Global Chief Risk Officer (former) | Startup Daily |
| David Hornery | Global Head of Capital Markets (former) | Startup Daily |
| Ross Piper | Head of Corporate Risk (former) | Australian FinTech |
| Trenna Probert | Head of Strategy (former) | Australian FinTech |
| Jamie Osborn | Managing Director (former) | Startup Daily |
| Karamvir Singh | Senior Developer (former) | Square Peg Capital portfolio |
| Peter Georgiou | Senior IT Manager (former) | Square Peg Capital |
Stories naming Macquarie Bank. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
ResetData, half-owned by Centuria, has lined up data centre capacity from CDC, secured 72MW of power, and locked in $165m of Macquarie debt for GPU deployment.
Profiles four Australian fintechs worth watching in 2026: Fat Zebra, WeMoney, Swyftx and Block Earner, covering their growth, past acquisitions and previously secured funding rounds.
Also Australian FinTech·Fintech News Australia·Fintech News Australia
Three seasoned agribusiness and funds figures have launched a boutique fund to buy and turn around overlooked mid-market companies in staple industries, with capital raising under way and first acquisitions planned for early 2026.
Profile of Kasada founder Sam Crowther, a Forbes Australia 30 Under 30 listee, tracing the bot-mitigation firm from a $50,000 angel-backed launch in Newcastle to global operations and lifetime funding of $39 million.
Ex-Shippit logistics executive Dominic Culbert has taken a growth role at Dyspach, a young Sydney company using AI to automate freight sales; co-founder Amit Kumar earlier sold his Addverb stake to Reliance.
Plutora's Australian arm entered administration over an ATO grant dispute, owing about $38 million. Ex-backer Macquarie Bank sold its 45 per cent stake for $1, while Enov8 and Innovo offer affected customers free migration.
Interview with Stoic Venture Capital's Guy Hedley, Craig Swanger and Geoff Waring on backing university science startups, their Uniseed partnership, a planned 2024 All Stars Fund II, and new analyst Safaa Nasrallah.
Tidal Ventures profiles team member Kieran O’Neill, who moved from KPMG and London banking through co-founding Hometime into the firm’s seed investing team in 2022.
Aura Group has appointed Dino Pesce, a financial services sales veteran, as Head of Origination in its Property Credit team, where he will help expand lending for commercial asset purchases.
Investing platform Stake has named Jon Howie its new chief executive, with co-founder Matt Leibowitz shifting to an executive director role after seven years at the helm.
Alberts profile of Brighte founder and CEO Katherine McConnell on her shift from Macquarie Bank to solar payments, the company's expansion and cutbacks, its culture, and her awards.
Investment platform Stake has hired Jon Howie, a financial services veteran with past roles at BlackRock, iShares, Macquarie Bank and VGI Partners, as Chief Commercial Officer to drive product innovation and growth.
Digital lender Alex.Bank hires Oyishi Haque as business development manager for NSW/ACT, citing strong quarterly growth in settlement values and the recent full launch of its secured personal loan product.
Aura Group has hired Elizabeth Dinh, previously CEO of Acceler8 Capital, to lead its Australian real estate credit strategy serving corporate borrowers.
Klarna's Climate Transformation Fund invested over $500,000 in Western Australian carbon-capture startup InterEarth, which stores tree biomass underground; insurer Zurich has also invested, founder Howard Carr told SmartCompany.
Sydney small-business lender Shift, once known as GetCapital, has secured a Series C worth $27 million, with Sequoia Capital Southeast Asia heading the round and earlier backers also taking part.
Also Australian FinTech·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Australian FinTech
Adelaide cancer-focused biotech Ferronova has secured fresh backing: an investor round led by Irish strategic partner Renew Pharmaceuticals plus a federal research grant, to speed clinical trials in stomach and brain cancers.
Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Business News Australia·Startup Daily
Adelaide biotech Ferronova announced an A$11 million package: an A$8 million round led by Ireland's Renew Pharmaceuticals plus an A$3 million government CRC-P grant, with existing shareholders Uniseed and Artesian also participating.
Capitaliz has named Nic Foster as chief executive and Paul Cilia as a non-executive director, strengthening the succession planning platform built by advisory firm Succession Plus.
BizPay is cutting about 30% of its staff amid market uncertainty while a $20 million Series C raise, pursued via convertible note since March, remains underway.
Square Peg explains its rationale for leading Athena's Series B, joined by Hostplus and Airtree, with analysis of the Australian mortgage market, the challenger lender's model, and its founding and senior team.
Also Startup Daily·Australian FinTech·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Crunchbase News
BizPay has opened a new funding round, aiming to secure over $20 million via convertible notes; it has raised over $45 million to date, with revenue up more than tenfold.
Bot-security firm Kasada, founded by Sam Crowther, raised $23m in a Series C led by StepStone, with OIF and Turnbull & Partners among existing backers; StepStone had recently acquired Greenspring Associates.
AfterWork Ventures explains why it reinvested in OwnHome's $31 million Series A led by Square Peg with Commonwealth Bank, having backed the rent-to-buy startup's pre-seed round in July 2021.
Also Square Peg Capital portfolio·Square Peg Capital portfolio·Startup Daily·Australian FinTech·Startup Daily·Techboard·Australian FinTech·Australian FinTech·businesstories.com
A weekly roundup reporting raises by Athena, Comestri, Mass Dynamics and CircleSource, plus Malcolm Turnbull investing through Turnbull & Partners in UK cloud forensics startup Cado Security.
Mortgage lender Athena has raised a $90 million Series D led by Square Peg Capital with earlier backers returning. The piece recalls its earlier Series A, B and C raises and lists other investors.
Also Australian FinTech·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Australian FinTech
RegTech firm Arctic Intelligence has promoted its COO Darren Cade to CEO, replacing founder Anthony Quinn, who moves to the board and will focus on partnerships and investor relations.
Spanish utility Iberdrola's increased bid for ASX-listed Infigen Energy values the takeover at about $893 million, after the Children's Fund sold a 13.1 per cent stake, outpacing a rival Philippine bid.
Atomo Diagnostics' oversubscribed $30 million IPO closed early ahead of its ASX listing, and the Sydney diagnostics firm signed a supply deal with NG Biotech for millions of COVID-19 rapid tests.
Also Startup Daily·Techboard
Profile of Morsl, whose self-service office food markets serve major Australian corporates; founder Karla Borland is mid-raise with $250,000 already committed.
Seventeen cybersecurity projects share the final round of the federal government's AustCyber Projects Fund, with details released for thirteen recipients and their matched industry funding.
Also ARN (ARNnet)
Weekly roundup reporting seven startup raises, led by Fluent Commerce's Series B backed by Arrowroot Capital, plus funding for SpeeDx, eftsure, handdii, Pharmamark Nutrition, DC Power Co and Lumary.
Melbourne challenger bank Judo raised a record A$400 million Series A, drawing new offshore backers Bain Capital Credit and Tikehau Capital, and aims to lend $1 billion to small businesses by Christmas.
Profile of RegTech firm Arctic Intelligence and founder Anthony Quinn, covering its compliance platforms, Stone & Chalk membership, client growth, and an August 2018 raise of $2.8 million for expansion.
VR property startup Inspace XR raised $750,000 led by Investible, with Artesian, Taronga Group and Sydney Angels participating; founders Justin Liang and Eric Fear credit Liang's venture capital background.