Venture capital fund · 15 deals
Newcastle West, NSW
Every published round Melt Ventures 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.
Everyone Melt Ventures has named to a program in published coverage. A place in a program is not a raise: the cheque is the figure recorded with the place, which is the program's standard terms where we hold them, and a blank is one we don't.
Companies Melt Ventures has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Safe-Gauge | 21 Sep 2020 | 1 | 0 | |
| GreaseBoss | 1 Mar 2021, Accelerator | 1 | 0 | |
| MGA Thermal | 2 Aug 2021, Series A | 4 | 0 | |
| Allegro Energy | 23 May 2023 | 2 | 0 | |
| Endua | 26 May 2023, Pre-seed | 2 | 0 | |
| Refilled | 16 Nov 2023, Seed | 2 | 1 | |
| Ornata | 5 Feb 2025, Accelerator | 1 | 0 | |
| MyNu Energy | Apr 2025 | 1 | 0 | |
| Hyperion Systems | 9 Aug 2026, Accelerator | 1 | 0 |
Companies Melt Ventures's own portfolio page lists that no published round yet places it in. The page is the source; the round is being looked for.
| Company | Site |
|---|---|
| Bovotica | - |
| Dingo Technology | - |
| Earflo | - |
| Embient | - |
| Endeavour Aerospace | - |
| evoSonic | - |
| Extra Terrestrial Power | - |
| farmo | - |
| Gawawater | - |
| Lixa | - |
| National Renewable NetworK (NRN) | - |
| Newera.bio | - |
| PlasmaLeap | - |
| Submit Pitch | forms.monday.com ↗ |
| Sunfish Robotics | - |
Fund closes reported for Melt Ventures, as distinct from the investments it has made.
| Fund | Announced | Committed | Target | Close | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | 23 May 2023 | $10m | - | Interim | SmartCompany, @AuManufacturing |
Investors that coverage says has money in a fund Melt Ventures runs. This is a stake in the fund, not in any company the fund has backed.
This is a stake in the fund itself, money that the fund's manager invests, not a stake in the fund manager.
| Fund | Manager | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| - | Melt Ventures | SmartCompany, @AuManufacturing |
Companies Melt Ventures has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Melt Ventures did.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| James Douglas | Venture Partner | Startup Daily, Melt Ventures team page |
| Jason Faulkner | Venture Partner | Startup Daily, Melt Ventures team page |
| Steph Hinds | Managing Partner · Founder | SmartCompany, @AuManufacturing, Startup Daily, Melt Ventures team page |
| Trent Bagnall | Managing Partner · Founder | Forbes Australia, @AuManufacturing (Wed 9 Apr 2025), Startup Daily (Thu 16 Nov 2023), @AuManufacturing (Tue 23 May 2023), Startup Daily (Tue 13 Dec 2022), Melt Ventures team page |
| Trent Bagnall | Managing Partner | SmartCompany, @AuManufacturing, Startup Daily (Fri 8 Oct 2021), Startup Daily (Mon 21 Sep 2020), Melt Ventures team page |
Stories naming Melt Ventures. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
MGA Thermal, a Hunter Valley energy storage maker, has banked $17 million from IP Group and others to commercialise its heat-storage technology, lifting its total funding to $50 million.
Also mgathermal.com
Podcast interview in which the founders of Earthbuilt Technology and Crest Robotics discuss their Charlotte construction robot, which prints buildings from onsite materials, its lunar ambitions, and government program backing.
Manufacturing roundup: Nourish Ingredients' precision fermentation milestone, MyNu Energy's investment from Melt Ventures, a refused Veolia licence, AusBiotech committee applications, UOW community batteries, a Gold Coast rail contract, and Premcar's South African launch.
Chevron partners with NSW thermal-storage maker MGA Thermal on a FEED study toward a possible trial; the piece also recounts earlier raises from Main Sequence, ARENA, Melt Ventures, Jekara and Shell.
Western Australia's government added $15 million to its WAVC fund-of-funds, committing $45 million across seven venture firms to back local startups; Purpose Ventures' fund closed at $55 million after backing My Mirror and SpacetoCo.
Western Australia's government has grown its WAVC fund-of-funds commitment to $45 million, backing seven venture funds, four WA-based, to invest locally; Skalata's WA portfolio already includes C0-architecture and Omni Biotech.
Allegro Energy has completed a $17.5 million Series A round, with The Grantham Foundation at the helm and Origin Energy, Melt Ventures and Impact Ventures also in; Origin held a five per cent stake.
Also @AuManufacturing·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·RenewEconomy·RenewEconomy·@AuManufacturing
Weekly roundup detailing funding rounds by five Australian and New Zealand startups: a diversity analytics platform, a thermal energy storage maker, a carbon accounting service, an activated carbon producer, and legal communications software.
Thermal energy storage company MGA Thermal secured $5.7 million from Main Sequence, Melt Ventures and new backer JEKARA, taking its round near $14 million; Shell had earlier invested $560,000 through its GameChanger accelerator fund.
Also Startup Daily·mgathermal.com·RenewEconomy·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·@AuManufacturing·RenewEconomy·RenewEconomy
Roundup of the week's Australian raises: Sitemate, Kashcade, Psychae Therapeutics, MediCann Health, Refilled and Upworth together banked $21.3 million across software, lending, psychedelic medicine, cannabis and drink dispensing.
Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Forbes Australia
Sydney startup Refilled has raised a A$1.3 million seed round, with Melt Ventures leading and Envato's Ta'eed brothers among backers, to scale refill stations that cut single-use plastic; Google is already a customer.
Profile of Refilled, a Sydney climate tech startup whose refill vending machines dispense drinks into customers' own bottles; backers include angels and Melt Ventures, with machines installed at two universities.
Also Startup Daily
Weekly roundup reporting eight Australian startups together raised $85.6 million across mining tech, cybersecurity, waste, energy storage, health and micromobility, plus a Google.org grant for Global Sisters.
Techboard's May 2023 roundup of Australian startup funding: 42 private raises topped by Fleet Space's $50m round, two $40m acquisitions, multiple grants, accelerator intakes, and fund news including GiantLeap's $50m fund raise.
Weekly roundup of five startup raises: Fleet Space's Series C, Checkmate's Series A, Adventus's new round, Endua's hydrogen funding and Servicely's raise, with investors named.
Also Forbes Australia
Melt Ventures has closed a $10 million fund for hardware-focused climate tech and named its first investments, including Endua's $11.8 million pre-seed round backed by Melt, Main Sequence, QIC, 77 Partners and Ampol.
Also @AuManufacturing·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·@AuManufacturing·mgathermal.com
Hardware-focused venture fund Melt Ventures has secured $10 million for its first fund, backed by new angel investors and family offices plus earlier supporters, and has already invested in three energy storage startups.
Hydrogen storage startup Endua has raised $7.5 million from QIC, Melt Ventures and 77 Partners to scale its modular hydrogen power banks for microgrid and standalone power markets.
Also @AuManufacturing·@AuManufacturing·Techboard·@AuManufacturing
Australian hydrogen startup Endua raised AU$11.8 million from QIC, Melt Ventures, 77 Partners, Main Sequence and Ampol to scale modular hydrogen power banks that store surplus renewable electricity for later use.
Ignition Lane's year-end review of 2022 tech news: shifting VC sentiment, record Australian fund raises, grocery delivery failures and shutdowns, local M&A, crypto fallout, awards, and global stories from Twitter to ChatGPT.
Also AgFunderNews
Melt Ventures launched an advanced manufacturing venture fund expecting first close soon and targeting $20 million by March 2023; the piece also recalls earlier backing of Camplify, Gamurs, Greaseboss and other companies.
GreaseBoss, a Queensland lubrication-monitoring startup, raised a $2.5 million seed round led by Pipeline Capital with NFL great Joe Montana among investors, after completing Y Combinator; earlier backing came via The Melt and 77 Partners.
Alberts Impact Ventures announces backing thermal storage startup MGA Thermal's $8 million Series A, led by Main Sequence Ventures with CP Ventures, New Zealand's Climate Venture Capital fund and The Melt participating.
Also TechCrunch Venture·RenewEconomy·@AuManufacturing·Startup Daily·Techboard·RenewEconomy·@AuManufacturing·@AuManufacturing·@AuManufacturing·RenewEconomy·RenewEconomy
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.