COO · Founder, Athena · angel in 2 deals
Every published round Michael Starkey 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Send Payments | Series A | 9 Jan 2022 | $5m | Participant | Startup Daily (Mon 25 Aug 2025), Startup Daily (Mon 7 Feb 2022), Australian FinTech, Business News Australia | |
| Muso | Seed | 19 Oct 2021 | $2m | Participant | Startup Daily (Mon 25 Oct 2021), SmartCompany, Startup Daily (Mon 18 Oct 2021) |
Companies Michael Starkey has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Muso | 19 Oct 2021, Seed | 1 | 0 | |
| Send Payments | 9 Jan 2022, Series A | 1 | 0 |
Fund closes reported for Michael Starkey, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies Michael Starkey has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Michael Starkey did.
Stories naming Michael Starkey. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Square Peg podcast episode with Athena Home Loans' founders Nathan and Michael on lessons from building the mortgage challenger, their earlier ventures iSelect and NABTrade, and its record raise from local backers.
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.
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Square Peg's post explains why it led mortgage platform Athena's $70 million Series C, with Hostplus and Airtree reinvesting and Australian Super, NAB Ventures and Salesforce Ventures joining as new backers.
Gig booking platform Muso has raised a $2 million seed round led by Rampersand to expand into New Zealand and the UK, after a $1.5 million raise in 2019, and has made several senior hires.
Afterpay, Airwallex and Up Bank took major prizes at the 2019 Finnie awards in Melbourne; Airwallex's $141 million raise won biggest raise and Liberty's purchase of MoneyPlace took deal of the year.
Athena, a digital home-loan platform yet to fully launch, has banked a $25 million Series B led by Square Peg, with Hostplus and Airtree in, half a year after its $15 million Series A.
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Brisbane software firm RedEye closed a Series B led by US investor Energy Innovation Capital with Queensland government backing; separately, Athena completed a Square Peg-led Series B with Airtree and Hostplus.
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