Perennial Private Investments

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #180, 4th October 2026

Weekly roundup reporting Australian startup funding rounds and government grants, a venture fund close, agreed acquisitions, an IPO pricing, a collapse, plus executive hires and AI policy developments.

Expert360's $16 million sale leaves founder, early investors with no share payout

Workforce platform Expert360 is being bought by AI hiring firm Swipejobs at a reported $16 million value, while its founder and earliest backers are set to receive nothing for their stakes.

Also Startup Daily

Two ANZ startups that raised $21 million this week

Two raises reported: Superhero has banked $20m of a hoped $30m round led by Salter Brothers at a $176m valuation, while New Zealand crime-intelligence startup Azonic took NZ$1m in a Blackbird-led pre-seed.

Archangel Ventures 2021 - A year in review

Archangel Ventures reviews 2021: the Australian early-stage firm closed its first annual fund, made 24 investments, and recalls portfolio raises by Atelier, Bardee, Heaps Normal and Relevance AI.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Women's Agenda

Pedestrian cofounder Chris Wirasinha nails $23 million Series B for adtech startup Linkby

Sydney adtech firm Linkby secured US$15 million in a Volition Capital-led Series B to expand in the US; CEO Chris Wirasinha earlier founded Pedestrian.tv, later sold to Nine.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

Six Aussie startups that raised $87.7 million this week

Roundup of six Australian funding rounds this week: InDebted, Evolt, Restoke.ai, Mary Technology, Matilda and Demtech.ai, with investors, amounts, InDebted's valuation and a secondary component for early backers and staff.

Also Australian FinTech·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Australian FinTech·Fintech News Australia·Business News Australia

Nine Aussie startups that raised $38.3 million this week

Roundup of nine local startups that together banked a combined $38m-plus this week, spanning precision instruments, proptech, adtech, robotics, food, energy storage and AI, with several earlier raises recalled.

Also Australian FinTech·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·AgFunderNews

This Ex-Young Rich Lister built a top media company, now he's trying tech

AFR profile of Linkby co-founder Chris Wirasinha covers the adtech firm's new $4 million raise, with Perennial Private Investments leading and OIF following on, and recalls his earlier sale of Pedestrian TV to Nine.

Also OIF Ventures portfolio·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily

The 10 biggest capital raises by Australian startups in 2023

A year-end SmartCompany roundup counting down 2023's ten largest Australian startup raises, headed by Employment Hero's $263m Series F, with investor details and commentary on fewer mega-rounds and continued under-representation of women co-founders.

Legal disputes startup Immediation placed in voluntary administration after raising $19 million in six years

Dispute resolution tech company Immediation entered voluntary administration, with FTI Consulting appointed and seeking recapitalisation or asset sale bids; the article recounts its funding history and leadership turmoil.

Small business lending fintech Lumi raises $15 million

Business lender Lumi has banked a $15 million injection, with Israel's Harel Insurance and Finance Group joining as a fresh backer alongside existing supporters; the firm's prior raise was $20 million in 2020.

Also SmartCompany·Australian FinTech·Australian FinTech

Marketing tech startup Livewire bags $4.7 million Series A

Sydney gaming marketing company Livewire has raised a $4.7 million Series A led by Matt Berriman's new fund RealVC, with several individual and strategic backers, to scale headcount and expand globally.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia

Last year’s Smart50 winner InstantScripts sees 10% increase in valuation following $5 million invesment

Bailador bought $5 million of secondary shares in telehealth firm InstantScripts, lifting its valuation 10%. The article also recalls Perennial's role in a $10.9 million raise in June 2021 and Bailador's earlier $16.6 million.

Healthtech startup InstantScripts sees valuation jump 10% as Bailador chips in another $5 million

Telehealth platform InstantScripts has taken a $5 million follow-on investment from ASX-listed Bailador, lifting its valuation 10%. The article also recalls a $10.9 million 2021 raise led by Perennial.

Also Startup Daily

CTV Funding News - July 2022

Cut Through Venture's August update rounds up July 2022 Australian startup funding, listing raises from Mx51 to WeMoney, Startmate's newest cohort of twelve, and the beta launch of its investor search tool.

Also Techboard

Funeral disruptor defies deadly market conditions to bank $10m

Republished AFR report on funeral startup Bare banking a ten-million-dollar round from Perennial and Ord Minnett, plus rival Willed's June raise from Thorney, Ellerston and a Bell Potter investor.

Also OIF Ventures portfolio·Archangel Ventures portfolio·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Techboard·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany

Spriggy raises an additional $10 million, following $35 million series B raise

Pocket money app Spriggy has raised $10 million in follow-up funding from unnamed investors, after a $35 million Series B in July 2021, and plans to grow its team to around 100.

Also Startup Daily

Perennial to tap ‘sweet spot’ with new private growth fund

Perennial's new Private Ventures fund, its third private markets vehicle, will back Australian growth companies nearing listing; the manager flags a $200m target it considers conservative.

Private Ventures Fund

Perennial's page for its Private Ventures Fund No. 1, a wholesale vehicle intending to back later-stage private companies, mostly in Australia and NZ, over seven years.

Perennial raising $200m for first growth fund

Boutique manager Perennial is gathering $200m toward a debut growth-stage fund, with cornerstone backing secured; its earlier private bets include Emesent, Lumi, Koala, Animoca Brands, Xpansiv and Songtradr.

Ignition Lane's Weekly Wrap: Startup hatches, matches & dispatches, fresh crop of VCs, Microsoft 30.0

Weekly roundup reporting many startup funding rounds, Investible's fund close, Skalata's committed capital, hipages buying Builderscrack, Stack Sports acquiring Team App, and Level Equity's stake purchase in Eftsure.

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

Australian fintech Emmi secures $3.5m to fund first of its kind global carbon efficiency rating

Australian carbon risk fintech Emmi has raised $3.5 million from Illuminate Financial, Artesian VC and wealthy Australian investors to expand its Global Carbon Efficiency Rating internationally.

Also Techboard·SmartCompany

Ignition Lane’s Weekly Wrap: Kiwi ‘funtech’, buying Maccas with BTC, Aussie exits, Twitter’s Facebook move

Weekly venture roundup covering Scalapay's giant series A, numerous Australian raises, acquisitions of Clipchamp, Paidy and CipherTrace, Houseparty's closure, crypto regulation developments, and Atlassian appointing a Cloudflare founder as director.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

Ignition Lane's Weekly Wrap: Unicorns galore, online marketplaces put on notice, VC pyramid schemes

Weekly roundup reporting Invoice2go's sale to Bill.com, raises by Go1, Employment Hero, InDebted and others, Rokt's secondary sale, Wildcard Ventures' launch, plus global deals including Zoom-Five9 and Salesforce-Slack.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany

Diagnostics company Lumos to debut on ASX today

Melbourne point-of-care diagnostics maker Lumos Diagnostics debuts on the ASX after a $63 million IPO, backed by institutional funds and existing investors Australian Unity, Perennial, Soul Pattinson and Ellerston.

The startup funding round: Electric motorbikes, quizzes before TikTok and Aussie wins in Silicon Valley

Private to Public Opportunities Fund No.3

Describes Perennial's third trust, open to wholesale investors, backing companies ahead of and at their stockmarket listing, with money invested mostly in Australia.

Private to Public Opportunities Fund No.2

Perennial's page for its second Private to Public Opportunities Fund, a trust for wholesale investors backing unlisted, pre-IPO and listed companies, mostly in Australia; no amounts or closes stated.

Wisetech billionaire Richard White doubles down on $66 million series D for music licensing startup Songtradr

US music licensing marketplace Songtradr closed a US$50 million Series D backed by Australian institutions and Richard White, valuing it at US$300 million, after acquiring MassiveMusic, Tunefind, Pretzel, Song Zu and Cuesongs.

Also SmartCompany

Israeli marketing tech company Gefen lodges $127m IPO

Israeli insurance-marketing software firm Gefen Technologies has lodged an ASX IPO seeking A$25 million at a $127 million market capitalisation, having earlier raised $6.5 million in seed funding from several Australian fund managers.

Perennial hits $125m cap for second pre-IPO fund

Perennial's second pre-IPO fund has reached its full $125 million target and will soon deploy into healthcare, e-commerce and technology investments; its first trust backed Aroa Biosurgery, 4DMedical and Atomo Diagnostics, each now listed.

Also Perennial Partners portfolio