RAAF

Seven ANZ startups that raised $111.5 million this week

Roundup of seven raises across the Tasman spanning fintech, marine tech, agtech, defence and AI, plus a first close for an ACT venture fund.

Beaten Zone Venture Partners Backs Seitec in turning a passive, all-weather sensing modality into a new class of defence capability – detecting the threats conventional sensors cannot and reshaping the military and security landscape.

Beaten Zone Venture Partners announces Fund 1 joined Activate Capital and UNSW in a seed round for Seitec, a Canberra defence startup whose seismic sensors find unexploded ordnance and hidden drones.

Also Dealroom·Business News Australia·Defence Connect·Startup Daily

Canberra defence tech company Seitec secures $4m investment to expand overseas

Seitec, a Canberra defence technology maker, has landed a $4 million round with ACTivate Capital leading and Beaten Zone Venture Partners and UNSW participating, funding overseas expansion, product development and hiring.

Also Startup Daily

ACTivate Capital leads $4m investment in Canberra defence tech company Seitec

A $4 million round for Canberra defence sensing firm Seitec is led by ACTivate Capital with UNSW and Beaten Zone co-investing; the ACT Government-backed fund earlier closed $23 million of a possible $50 million.

Manufacturing news briefs — stories you might have missed

Roundup of manufacturing news: Archer Materials' biochip results with IMEC, Resmed's CPAP mask launch, Boeing's RAAF P-8A upgrades, Breakthrough Victoria's $75m across venture funds, an Avalon Airport freight facility, and Sleeptite's FlexiSense.

DroneShield makes high-profile appointments of defence, government strategists

DroneShield has appointed four seasoned national-security figures — van Haren, Osley, McLachlan and Lam-Evans — to strategy, advisory and government-relations roles as the counter-drone company scales.

Drone delivery startup Swoop Aero stalls, lands in administration

Drone delivery company Swoop Aero has entered voluntary administration after its cofounder blamed investor pressure; administrators now seek a buyer or recapitalisation. The piece recalls its 2021 Series B and 2018 Startmate stint.

Also Startup Daily

Manufacturing news briefs – stories you might have missed

Roundup of Australian manufacturing updates: Sparc Hydrogen's R&D tax refund, executive appointments at Lockheed Martin Australia, Wellnex Life and Raytheon, a ReNu Energy power purchase deal, and BlueScope joining a low-carbon research centre.

Domestic drone manufacturers share in $6.6m ASCA investment

Three local drone makers won defence accelerator contracts worth $2.2 million apiece to finish prototypes and build 100 uncrewed aerial systems, while the Ghost Shark underwater drone reached America for trans-Pacific testing.

Also @AuManufacturing

ADF invests $100m in new drones

Australia's federal government announced plans to buy two military drone systems — Germany's Quantum-Systems Vector and Melbourne maker SYPAQ's CorvoX — for the Army and Air Force, with deliveries expected in 2025.

Towards 3% R&D – Reach for the Moon to innovate by Xavier Orr

Opinion piece by Advanced Navigation's CEO in an @AuManufacturing series arguing for space R&D investment, citing the company's $5.2 million Australian Space Agency grant and Space Machines' satellite launch.

REDARC Defence & Space pushes towards Tier 2 defence supply model

Defence electronics maker REDARC has hired Craig Inns as sales general manager, charging him with lifting the South Australian business into a Tier 2 supplier role for the national defence industry.

Rosebank begins regional support for F-35 Program at Bayswater depot

Rosebank Engineering has started operating its Melbourne F-35 component repair depot, backed by a $2.26m federal grant, serving Indo-Pacific fleets; the business sits in ASDAM Group, which CPE Capital mostly owns.

SkyKraft attracts top investors to capital raising

Also @AuManufacturing

Former Macquarie banker Allan Moss backs satellite startup Skykraft in $3.5 million raise

Also @AuManufacturing·Startup Daily·Techboard

Manufacturing news briefs – stories you might have missed

SEA Electric orders batteries after a $54m raise; Baraja raises $40m for LIDAR, led by Blackbird; Stealth demos weed detection; Wattle Health lifts profit and sells its dairy arm; Hydac wins VR training grant.

Also Cut Through Venture·@AuManufacturing·@AuManufacturing

Carbon Revolution among winners in $28 million round of defence innovation grants

Fifteen companies received defence innovation grants totalling $28 million through the Defence Innovation Hub, including Carbon Revolution for Chinook helicopter wheels; the Geelong firm also completed a convertible note raising in June.

Also @AuManufacturing

From Commander to CEO: tech leadership lessons from Jason Waller (Spookfish)

Talk by ex-RAAF pilot Jason Waller on leading Spookfish from its 2015 backdoor listing to its sale to EagleView, with notes on nearMap's rise and its chief executive's upcoming appearances.