REA Group

🇦🇺 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.

REA Group finds its first chief AI officer

REA Group has created its first chief AI officer role and appointed Thyago Liberalli, a long-serving Seek AI leader, to it; he reports to CTO Steve Maidment.

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #173, 9th August 2026

Weekly roundup: Firmus completes its $2.85b round; Procore acquires DroneDeploy; Atlassian rebounds while Canva cuts guidance; plus fresh raises for Zabidou, BioScout, Vexev, Enrola, Spacetalk and others.

Also Dealroom·RenewEconomy·RenewEconomy

24 Aussie startups that raised $91 million this week

Roundup of the week's Australian startup funding: fresh raises for five companies, Startmate's Summer '26 accelerator intake of 19 startups, and Affinda's acquisition of Pathfindr.

Also Startup Daily

Data-scraping bot blocker backed by Malcolm Turnbull pockets $30 million

Bot defence firm Kasada has secured $30 million from EQT plus earlier backers Turnbull & Partners, Reinventure, Main Sequence, OIF, StepStone and Ten Eleven, with founder Sam Crowther back in Sydney.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

Women-founded lifestyle data platform Neighbourlytics finds a home with REA

REA Group has acquired Melbourne lifestyle-data platform Neighbourlytics, delivering exits to investors including Aliavia Ventures and LaunchVic's Alice Anderson Fund. Terms were undisclosed; the company had raised $1.3 million in 2022.

Also SmartCompany

Australia’s Top 5 Most Well-Funded Fintech Startups in 2025

Ranking of Australia’s five best-funded fintechs — Airwallex, Athena, Zeller, InDebted and Brighte — profiling each one’s total raised, most recent raise, backers, valuation and growth moves.

REA Group doubles down on 3D proptech, upping stake in IMMERSIV

REA Group has invested again in IMMERSIV, a Brisbane startup whose 3D tools let buyers explore off-the-plan developments, after its initial 2024 stake; the amount was not disclosed.

Finder and ASX-listed NobleOak contra with marketing VC Scaleup Mediafund

Scaleup Mediafund swapped ad space for equity in Finder and ASX-listed insurer NobleOak, the latter worth $1.5m, among six investments from its third fund backed by major media companies.

Affinda named fastest growing AI company in Australia, closes further $10m raise

Melbourne document-AI firm Affinda, founded by Tim and Ben Toner, closed a $10m round from family offices and wealthy individuals after an earlier $13m raise; Deloitte ranked it the nation's fastest-growing AI company.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily

Melbourne AI startup set for global expansion after $12.5 million raise

AI search startup Marqo has landed a $12.5 million Series A and is relocating its headquarters to San Francisco, while LaunchVic statistics show Victoria's ecosystem grew in value despite a funding drop.

Why these founder prefer a ‘thriving middle’ to chasing VC funding for fast growth

Profile of Mentorloop, a profitable Melbourne mentoring-platform startup whose cofounders urge founders to seek sustainable growth instead of repeated fundraising; the piece recalls its 2017 seed round backed by Blackbird, Rampersand and Folklore.

Blast OIF | 23 things from 2023

OIF Ventures' year in review: full Eftsure exit, Opportunity Fund close, Visory, DataMasque and Nullify backed, follow-ons at Inspace and Dataweavers, new team members and portfolio milestones.

Caregiver software start-up Circle In bucks dire investment trend for female-led start-ups, raises $2m in funding

Melbourne family-care benefits platform Circle In has closed a $2m round, adding Alberts Impact Ventures to existing private backers and LaunchVic's Alice Anderson Fund, while research highlights shrinking venture money for women-only founding teams.

Also Alberts Impact Ventures portfolio·Alberts Impact Ventures portfolio·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Women's Agenda

REA backs proptech app Managed in $5.3 million raise

Property management payments startup Managed App has raised $5.3 million in a round led by REA Group and Momentum Markets, with funds earmarked for sales, marketing and development growth.

Also Australian FinTech

Ignition Lane Weekly Wrap: M&A mania, Tesla trademarks, African fintech, another SoftBank implosion & NFTs explained

Weekly roundup covering ANZ trade sales including A Cloud Guru's multibillion-dollar sale, several Australian raises, Tenacious Ventures' agritech fund close, Xero and Cochlear appointments, and global deals such as Etsy buying Depop.

Also SmartCompany

Fractional property investment platform Bricklet raises $3 million in series A backed by News and REA Group

Bricklet, a fractional property investment platform, has raised a $3 million Series A from News Corp, REA Group and earlier backers at a $28 million valuation, to fund marketing.

Also Australian FinTech·Cut Through Venture·Startup Daily·Australian FinTech

Hyprfire raises $2.25M from local investors

Cyber security firm Hyprfire has secured $2.25 million from prominent Western Australian backers and launched its Firebug monitoring tool, while former Navitas and iiNet chief David Buckingham joins as chairman.

Also Cut Through Venture·Startup News (WA)

Media & Marketing

AFR's Media & Marketing section roundup: Joe Aston's Rampart has raised $2.3m from five backers and TEG has locked in roughly $100m of fresh bank debt, alongside media policy, court and personality stories.

Also Startup Daily·AFR Technology·Dealroom·SmartCompany·Mumbrella·This Week in Australian Startups·The Age Business·SMH Business·Mumbrella