Malcolm Turnbull

Advanced Navigation raises $158 million Series C round with NRFC backing

Navigation technology firm Advanced Navigation has banked a $158 million Series C, with Airtree leading and Quadrant plus the NRFC taking part, funding global expansion and Australian manufacturing scale-up.

Also Dealroom·Tech Funding News - Australia·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia·TechCrunch Venture

Michelle Toscan appointed APAC head at Advanced Navigation

Advanced Navigation has hired Michelle Toscan to lead its Asia-Pacific operations, tasking her with defence and government engagement as the navigation systems maker supplies primes including Rheinmetall and Boeing.

Six ANZ startups that raised $568.1 million this week

Funding roundup led by Airwallex's US$330 million Series G at a $12 billion valuation, with raises from Kasada, Hnry, All G, Bless Payments and Emanda, plus earlier rounds recalled.

Also Startup Daily

Data-scraping bot blocker backed by Malcolm Turnbull pockets $30 million

Bot defence firm Kasada has secured $30 million from EQT plus earlier backers Turnbull & Partners, Reinventure, Main Sequence, OIF, StepStone and Ten Eleven, with founder Sam Crowther back in Sydney.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

Cheque-in: 8 startups gobbled up $572.12 million in funding this week

Weekly roundup of eight raises totalling $572.12 million, led by Firmus's $500 million round; RAGE Biotech, SunDrive, Number 8 Bio, Fabra, Keeyu, MyGig and Drone-Hand also funded, plus two RAGE Biotech executive appointments.

Also Tech Funding News - Australia·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily

Morse Micro raises $88 million for long-range Wi-Fi chips

Sydney chipmaker Morse Micro has banked an $88 million Series C led by Japan's MegaChips, with the national reconstruction fund and several existing backers also participating; funds will drive growth and future chip development.

Also Startup Daily·builtinsydney.au·semiiphub.com·Forbes Australia·morsemicro.com·Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia·smallbizai.au

“Shell companies for rent seekers:” Coalition attacks solar innovators, including Turnbull-backed SunDrive

A federal opposition senator attacks Labor's solar manufacturing program and SunDrive, which has cut staff and changed CEO while pursuing partnerships with AGL and Trina Solar to localise panel production.

Grid Connections: Who’s going where in Australia’s energy transition

A rolling roundup of Australian energy-sector job moves, listing dozens of executives, directors and ministers joining or leaving utilities, regulators, developers and industry bodies between May and December 2023.

Nine Aussie startups that raised $40.5 million this week

Weekly roundup covering nine Australian startups' new capital totalling $40.5 million, across solar, quantum computing, marketing tech and crowdfunding, plus a look back at Aconex's $1.6 billion Oracle sale.

Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Wholesale Investor

Fivecast secures $30 million for its AI web monitoring aimed at national security

Adelaide AI firm Fivecast has raised a $30 million Series A led by Ten Eleven, with Main Sequence and the South Australian Venture Capital Fund joining, to expand into overseas markets and grow headcount.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Forbes Australia

Workplace coaching platform Fingerprint for Success raises $6.5 million

Fingerprint for Success, an AI coaching platform, has closed a $6.5 million second seed round led by Investible, with Canva's founders investing again; its lifetime funding now totals $9.2 million.

Virtual personal and professional coach creator takes funding to $9 million

Fingerprint for Success, maker of AI coach Marlee, raised $5 million in an Investible-led seed round, lifting total funding to $9 million, with participation from Five V Capital, Salesforce Ventures and several high-profile angels.

Also SmartCompany

Breakthrough solar panel startup SunDrive teams up with Sydney University on $2.78 million research project

ARENA has awarded $2.78 million to a University of Sydney professor partnering with SunDrive on perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells. The piece also recalls SunDrive's $21 million Series B and names its backers.

Morse Micro tops up Series B with another $30 million from super funds

Wi-Fi HaLow chip maker Morse Micro raised a further $30 million for its Series B from Australian superannuation funds, lifting the round to $170 million; its earlier seed and Series A raises are also recapped.

Also SmartCompany·Techboard·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily

KKR backs Aussie robotics company in blockbuster $108m raise

US giant KKR joined navigation-technology maker Advanced Navigation's $108 million Series B, alongside returning local backers; the company also bought ANU spin-out Vai Photonics, and two KKR staff will join its board.

Also OIF Ventures portfolio·@AuManufacturing·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Techboard·SmartCompany·Forbes Australia

Six Aussie startups that collectively raised $196 million this week

Roundup of six Australian startups that together secured about $196 million this week, covering raises by Airwallex, SunDrive, T-Shirt Ventures, Iluminr, Foodini and Banksia Academy.

MYOB acquires the rest of HR fintech Flare

MYOB has taken full ownership of Sydney HR and payroll fintech Flare, converting its existing stake into a takeover, giving exits to venture backers who had invested over $50 million across several prior rounds.

Clinical trials startup HealthMatch lands $10 million Series C

Sydney clinical trials platform HealthMatch raised a $10 million Series C led by Folklore Ventures with Square Peg participating, after laying off half its staff in June; funds will support rehiring and US expansion.

Also SmartCompany·Techboard

Turnbull invests in revived solar steam tech with gigawatt scale project in Saudi Arabia

Ex-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has taken an undisclosed equity stake in US solar steam firm GlassPoint and joined its advisory board, as the Blackrock-rescued company pursues a giant solar heat project in Saudi Arabia.

Solar tech 5B raises $30m, but slashes staff to ride out global supply crunch

Australian solar firm 5B completed a Series B round and is cutting staff while refocusing on its Maverick deployment technology amid supply chain pressures.

Also @AuManufacturing

Malcolm Turnbull helps Newcastle hacker bank $23m to fight NFT bots

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.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily

Forrest punctures Taylor's "gas-led recovery" grant with quick switch to green hydrogen

The federal government announced a $30 million grant for Andrew Forrest-backed Squadron Energy's Port Kembla power station, which its backer says will switch fully to green hydrogen by 2030.

Adelaide nano-satellite startup Myriota lands $5.5 million government defence contract

Satellite IoT firm Myriota won a $5.48 million Australian government Defence contract via the Defence Innovation Hub, weeks after a Spire Global partnership and an insurance-sector investment from IAG's venture arm.

Also @AuManufacturing·The Mandarin·@AuManufacturing

Selling space: How Myriota brings its high-tech back to Earth

Profile of satellite IoT company Myriota, a University of South Australia spin-out, recalling its seed backing from exactEarth and support from investors such as In-Q-Tel, Host Plus and Main Sequence Ventures.

Manuri Gunawardena is changing the future of medicine with HealthMatch

Profile of HealthMatch founder and chief executive Manuri Gunawardena, covering the patient-trial matching platform's investor backing and her win at Veuve Clicquot's Bold Future Award.

Founders tip in cash for upsized OIF

OIF has upsized its second fund's target to $100m from $75m, with $50m committed at an August 2020 first close and $30m more banked by February 2021; $20m deployed across twelve startups so far.

Former PM Turnbull backs 5B's modular solar expansion

Solar technology company 5B has closed an oversubscribed funding round, drawing fresh backing from Malcolm Turnbull and Simon Holmes a Court alongside existing investors, to speed product development and enter overseas markets.

Also RenewEconomy·@AuManufacturing·RenewEconomy

The startup funding round: Athena’s record-breaking raise, $1.5 million for biotech, and Turnbull backs forensics startup

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.

Your 90-second guide to the day in tech

Daily roundup noting Babel Finance's US$40 million Series A and Malcolm Turnbull backing Cado Security's US$10 million Series A, alongside Peloton earnings, Afterpay's share slide and Gravity Industries' marine jet suit trials.

Also SmartCompany

Dragos expands into A/NZ with Melbourne office

Industrial cybersecurity vendor Dragos is opening a Melbourne regional headquarters for Australia and New Zealand, backed by a December US$110 million Series C including Malcolm Turnbull's investment firm; Jemena is already a customer.

Also ARN (ARNnet)

Paul Bassat's VC fund has doubled down on a medtech startup's $18 million raise with Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull also backing it

Square Peg led HealthMatch's $18 million round, with the Turnbilns, the Carps and January Capital joining; Tempus Partners returned. Square Peg earlier led HealthMatch's $6 million series A, and UHG was acquired by Medhealth.

MYOB and Malcolm Turnbull back $22 million series C in a workplace software startup

Accounting software company MYOB led a Series C investment in HR platform Flare, joined by existing backers and a former prime minister, who also takes an advisory role alongside a new commercial partnership.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

A new accelerator, The Melt, is cranking up Australian manufacturing after investing in 5 startups

New hardware accelerator The Melt has backed five industrial startups and raised the first year of a rolling angel fund set to reach $10 million, while also delivering R&D services for large corporates.

Turnbull and Xenophon spar over Huawei

Former senator Nick Xenophon lobbies for Huawei while ex-PM Malcolm Turnbull joins cybersecurity firm Kasada's board, with each accusing the other of advancing foreign powers' interests in Australia.

SafetyCulture uses $60 million raise to let employees cash in on equity, and takes unicorn crown for itself

SafetyCulture raised $60.5 million led by TDM Growth Partners, reaching a $1.3 billion valuation, with roughly half the money letting long-serving employees sell vested equity.

Also TechCrunch Venture·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany

Australian startup SafetyCulture nabs $800M valuation on $35.5M round

Also Crunchbase News

Myriota closes Series B, brings total funding raised over $50 million

Adelaide nanosatellite company Myriota announced a $28 million Series B led by Hostplus and Main Sequence Ventures, recalled its 2018 Series A, and had recently acquired Canadian satellite firm exactEarth.

Also TechCrunch Venture·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Business News Australia

Biomedical Translation Fund backs three Australian projects

The industry minister announced Biomedical Translation Fund backing: Brandon Capital invested $20 million in Respirion, OneVentures $4 million in Madorra, and $17.2 million went to an unnamed anti-fibrosis drug company.

The Funding Round: Online grocer, world-changing startup and wallet-replacing watch bank $6.3 million

A funding roundup reporting raises by training marketplace GO1, online grocer YourGrocer and wearable payments startup Inamo, alongside government grant funding and accelerator programs backing Australian startups.