Manufacturing Boost Fuels Outback Pies' North Queensland Growth
A Townsville bakery receives a state government manufacturing grant to automate production, with officials and its managing director praising the jobs and productivity benefits.
Government · 24 deals
Brisbane, QLD
Every published round Queensland Government 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 Queensland Government 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 Queensland Government has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AnteoTech | 27 Apr 2021, Accelerator | 1 | 1 | |
| Ark Energy | 2 Nov 2023, Grant | 1 | 0 | |
| Australian Gas Networks | 27 Feb 2020, Grant | 1 | 1 | |
| Cake Equity | 9 Jan 2023 | 1 | 0 | |
| Carbonaught Pty Ltd | 6 May 2024, Grant | 1 | 0 | |
| Cauldron Ferm | Jan 2023, Grant | 2 | 0 | |
| Ellume Health | 2 Feb 2021, Grant | 1 | 0 | |
| Fortescue | Grant | 1 | 1 | |
| Gilmour Space | 30 Jun 2021, Series C | 2 | 0 | |
| Graphene Manufacturing Group | Mar 2024, Grant | 1 | 1 | |
| Hysata | 14 Aug 2023, Grant | 1 | 0 | |
| Imaging Solutions | 12 Mar 2021, Grant | 1 | 0 | |
| Klean | 26 Jun 2024, Grant | 1 | 1 | |
| ModnPods | 8 Aug 2023 | 1 | 0 | |
| Nbryo | 15 Aug 2026, Seed | 1 | 1 | |
| PsiQuantum | 30 Apr 2024, Grant | 2 | 0 | |
| Reclaim PV | 2020, Grant | 1 | 1 | |
| Red Earth | 13 Aug 2019, Series A | 1 | 0 | |
| Redflow | Mar 2024, Grant | 1 | 1 | |
| The Laundry Lady | 18 Aug 2025, Seed | 1 | 0 | |
| WearOptimo | 21 Feb 2025, Accelerator | 1 | 0 |
Fund closes reported for Queensland Government, as distinct from the investments it has made.
| Fund | Announced | Committed | Target | Close | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sowing the Seeds of Farming Innovation Fund | 21 Aug 2026 | $30m | - | - | Startup Daily, Beef Central / Grain Central |
| Enterprise Acceleration Fund | Dec 2022 | $24m | - | Interim | Australian FinTech, Techboard, @AuManufacturing |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Queensland Venture Capital Development Fund | Queensland Investment Corporation | Startup Daily (Tue 30 Sep 2025), @AuManufacturing, Startup Daily (Wed 14 Feb 2024) |
| Business Investment Fund | Queensland Investment Corporation | dataweavers.com, @AuManufacturing |
Companies Queensland Government has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Queensland Government did.
Stories naming Queensland Government. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
A Townsville bakery receives a state government manufacturing grant to automate production, with officials and its managing director praising the jobs and productivity benefits.
Sydney quantum company Diraq has reached the last stage of a US defence quantum program, securing US$51 million with more possible, alongside mentions of PsiQuantum, IonQ and Quantinuum milestones.
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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.
Queensland's government has granted Aviation Australia $3 million from its Sovereign Industry Development Fund to build a Townsville training centre with simulation equipment for future defence aviation maintenance engineers.
Yeppoon manufacturer CQ Fibreglass Direct is granted up to A$113,000 by the Queensland Government, the first project funded under its manufacturing modernisation programme, to install automated fibre composite equipment.
Weekly roundup: Constantinople raises $62.5m; Blackbird wraps fund six above $1b; Guardhouse buys Mobohubb; SCX.ai debuts on the ASX; plus seed rounds, exits and executive changes across the ecosystem.
Roundup of seven raises across the Tasman spanning fintech, marine tech, agtech, defence and AI, plus a first close for an ACT venture fund.
A Queensland livestock-reproduction startup has grown its seed round to $20 million, drawing $2 million from a newly launched state government fund whose manager had already backed the company.
Queensland's agriculture minister toured Nbryo's Brisbane lab, with a state-backed fund committing $2 million to the cattle-genetics company; the page also recalls earlier $10 million and $8 million closes.
Queensland's government has put $2 million into Nbryo, a Brisbane cattle-breeding technology startup, the first investment from its new $30 million farm innovation fund, which QIC manages.
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Queensland's government will grant over $500,000 to Gold Coast armour maker Craig International Ballistics from its Sovereign Industry Development Fund, expanding hard armour plate output and creating 47 jobs by late 2027.
Queensland's government has committed $7.5 million from its Sovereign Industry Development Fund to Black Sky Aerospace for a defence testing and evaluation launch site near Thargomindah, expected operational by mid-2028.
Wildfire Energy receives an 18.56 million dollar Queensland government grant for its Bulwer Island Biofuels Hub, with the article recalling earlier ARENA funding and a Climate Tech Partners investment.
Orica has reached a final investment decision for its Hunter Valley green hydrogen and ammonia project, confirming government grant support, while other planned Australian hydrogen projects advance slowly or have been abandoned.
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Norship has received a $5.37 million grant from Queensland's Sovereign Industry Development Fund to enlarge its defence-certified Cairns shipyard, a project already under construction and due to finish in early 2028.
PsiQuantum has relocated its $940m government-backed quantum computing project to Moreton Bay after dropping the Brisbane Airport site, with groundbreaking set for June following timeline slippage flagged in Senate Estimates.
Edify Energy has shelved its Townsville green hydrogen plant for want of buyers, pivoting to solar and storage builds; governments are separately seeking repayment of hydrogen subsidies, including from Fortescue's closed Gladstone plant.
Screen Queensland allocates $3.7 million across 20 digital game projects, with the Queensland government predicting the funding will support 330 jobs and deliver a sixfold economic return.
A Queensland cattle genetics business has opened a laboratory to process bull semen at Glen Aplin with government grant support, and a partner will sort sexed semen there from early 2026.
Cattle genetics startup Nbryo has landed $10 million co-led by Tenacious Ventures and AgriZeroNZ, plus an $18 million research grant, to commercialise its embryo technology.
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Queensland cattle-breeding biotech Nbryo has secured $10m in seed backing co-led by Tenacious Ventures and AgriZeroNZ, alongside an $18m research grant from the Gates Foundation and Meat and Livestock Australia.
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Precision fermentation company Cauldron Ferm wins the regional startup category at Startup Daily's tech awards for the second straight year; the profile recalls its Series A, government grants and Mackay biomanufacturing plant.
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Ten13 announces its appointment as a manager under Queensland's $130m VCDF, run by QIC, and its first investment through it: co-leading a $2.5m seed round for OneMRI, a Brisbane healthtech company, alongside OIF Ventures.
Radium Capital article contrasts two aviation founders: Stralis Aircraft raised venture capital through Y Combinator, grants and R&D lending, while V-TOL Aerospace bootstrapped for two decades before sharing a federal grant.
Equity Clear, an initiative of Scale Investors, Giant Leap and Alberts, wins Investment NSW sponsorship and UNSW academic partnership to build a national investor-diversity reporting standard, led by Noga Edelstein.
The Laundry Lady, a Sunshine Coast laundry services startup, has raised $1m from Karl Jacoby, angel groups and Queensland government programs, ending 13 years without outside capital as it eyes Canada and the UK.
Karl Jacoby led a $1m seed round for mobile laundry startup The Laundry Lady, joined by angel groups and government programs, to bankroll its push into Canadian and British markets and further TimeBoss development.
Graphinex has started up a Townsville plant making graphite battery anodes, backed by $3 million from a federal program and $2 million from Queensland, plus overseas backers Idemitsu and Baramulti.
Five Faces, a Queensland health software company, has brought in its first outside capital: a Series A round with Utiliti Group leading and grant support from the Female Founders Co-Investment Fund.
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.
Nine-month-old Sydney quantum startup Iceberg Quantum raised $2 million pre-seed, led by Blackbird with LocalGlobe participating, to build cheaper fault-tolerant designs for PsiQuantum's photonic platform.
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Quantum Brilliance, a Canberra-based maker of diamond-based quantum chips, has drawn fresh equity from the National Reconstruction Fund and more from Breakthrough Victoria to build a diamond foundry, with prior grants and backers recapped.
Industry minister Ed Husic told a Tech Council summit the National Reconstruction Fund is close to its first investments after asking for a $300m drawdown; the piece recaps federal tech funding moves including PsiQuantum's.
Roundup of manufacturing briefs: Rio Tinto's quarterly output, Respiri's fresh placement, Archer's CEO exit, Amaero's US revenue, a retired UNSW satellite, Little Green Pharma's record quarter, OKA's investor group and MicroTau job ads.
Weekly agrifoodtech roundup covering startup funding rounds, two venture fund closes, executive appointments, and new products such as a disease-resistant banana and 3D-printed protein.
Government energy agency ARENA announced $9 million in funding for Jet Zero Australia's Townsville sustainable aviation fuel project, with Queensland adding $5 million toward the FEED study; Qantas, Airbus and Idemitsu Kosan are consortium partners.
Roundup: BrainChip's completed placement plus an LDA Capital stake sale, Arafura's committed raise, a $76m Queensland regional fund, ARENA and ACCC appointments, a Tryp advisory hire, and Steel Cement's licence approval.
PsiQuantum will build a second quantum computer in Chicago with US$500m in tax incentives, after Australian and Queensland government equity in April. Forbes Australia's 30 Under 30 nominations are open.
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