Ledger.

Angel investor · Founder, Neara

Scott Farquhar

Coverage

Stories naming Scott Farquhar. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.

Unnamed stage

PEP buys 30% of Grok Ventures-backed Energy Bay

Pacific Equity Partners has agreed to take a 30 percent stake in Australian on-site renewables firm Energy Bay, mainly via new shares; existing backers include Skip Capital, Grok Ventures and Soletto. Value undisclosed.

Also This Week in Australian Startups

3 deals

Buildkite quietly raised $21 million earlier this year after posting massive losses

ASIC filings show Buildkite raised $21m via convertible debt in January 2026 after heavy losses and a CEO change; its earlier backers include OneVentures, AirTree, General Catalyst and Dom Pym.

Also Capital Brief

Funding announcement

From 0 to 4.5 billion: how the Startmate pay-it-forward mentorship model built a startup powerhouse

Startmate reflects on a decade of backing founders, profiling breakout alumni across its cohorts and describing how its mentors reinvest in newer startups, alongside its fund model and returns.

Unnamed stage $2.3m

Queensland R&D finance fintech raises $2.3 million

Equity raise of $2.3m by Advanced, a Sunshine Coast R&D finance startup building a $25m lending fund; backers include Wayne Gerard and Phil Cummins, who joins the board.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily

undisclosed $45m

PE giant buys in as Aussie AI infrastructure start-up raises $45m

Neara, an Australian AI infrastructure startup, raised $45 million led by EQT, Partners Group and Square Peg Capital, with Skip Capital and Prosus Ventures returning; funds target North American and European expansion.

Fund close $200k

Startmate’s top 20 most valuable investments

A profile of Startmate ranking the twenty most valuable companies it has backed, noting their valuations, past raises and founders, plus Bugcrowd's newly announced purchase of Informer and its climate focus.

News

Students are getting into VC with NextGen Ventures to back uni-founded startups

Student-run fund NextGen Ventures launches to back university-founded startups, training student investors with partner VC firms and seeking its own capital; its report counts over $1.2 billion raised by student-founded startups since 2012.

Seed $10.2m

The ten richest women in Australia, according to the AFR

Profiles Australia's ten wealthiest women from the AFR's new list, alongside Canva's in-progress share sale, a large gift to a global gender-fund vehicle, and one backer's earlier healthtech round.

Also quadrantpe.com.au·Forbes Australia

Exit / M&A

Atlassian bets $1.5 billion on the future of hybrid work with Loom acquisition

Atlassian is buying US video-messaging firm Loom for $1.5 billion in a mostly-cash deal, folding its async video tool into Jira, Confluence and Trello while it stays standalone; regulatory sign-off still pending.

Also Startup Daily·ARN (ARNnet)·Forbes Australia·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily

5 deals

Subscription e-bike startup Zoomo cuts jobs again after raising $24 million

E-bike subscription startup Zoomo cut 27 roles in its second restructuring in six months, weeks after client Milkrun's collapse, and disclosed a previously unreported $24 million raise led by Grok Ventures and the CEFC.

Also Techboard

Series A $75m

Milkrun collapse: Instant delivery startup lays off remaining staff and plans to close doors this week

Instant grocery delivery startup Milkrun is winding up, with co-founder Dany Milham telling staff trading ends this week. The article recalls its $75 million Series A backed by AirTree, Grok Ventures and Skip Capital.

Also Forbes Australia·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·AgFunderNews·Forbes Australia

4 deals

HR analytics startup grabs $15 million from Salesforce

Workforce intelligence firm Reejig has raised $17 million with Salesforce Ventures investing, eight months after completing its Series A. The 2019-founded company's earlier backing came from Skip Capital, Airtree and Right Click Capital.

Also Startup Daily

Seed $10.2m

Human books $10.15 million for new approach to chronic illness care, secures largest-ever funding round for Australian female founding team

Health tech startup Human closed a seed round led by Airtree Ventures with Skip Capital participating, which the founders say is the largest raise by an all-Australian female founding team.

Also Startup Daily·Women's Agenda·Cut Through Venture·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia·Women's Agenda·Forbes Australia

Funding announcement

Atlassian billionaire leads takeover bid for solar and storage developer Genex

Skip Capital, owned by Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar and Kim Jackson, leads a conditional, non-binding bid with Stonepeak valuing Genex Power near $320 million; earlier stake-building and Stonepeak's renewables fund close are recalled.

Unnamed stage $89m

Mr Yum completes first major acquisition, obtaining MyGuestlist to help restaurants build personalised marketing to diners

Hospitality tech firm Mr Yum has bought customer data platform MyGuestlist in a cash-and-stock deal worth tens of millions, its first acquisition, following an $89 million raise led by Tiger Global.

Also Ten13 portfolio·TechCrunch Venture·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Tech Funding News - Australia·Australian FinTech·AgFunderNews·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Women's Agenda·Beef Central / Grain Central·Forbes Australia

10 deals

E-bikes, SME lending and rethinking ‘tickets’: Seven $1 million-plus raises you might have missed

Weekly roundup of seven startup raises: OCR Labs' Series B, Zoomo's Series B extension, plus new funding for Lumi, Upflowy, Linkby, Fortiro and Licorice, alongside Scalapay's unicorn round and Arkon Energy's pre-seed.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Techboard·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia·Australian FinTech

2 deals

e-bike startup Zoomo tops up Series B with another $28 million

Delivery e-bike firm Zoomo has added US$20 million to its Series B, led by Collaborative Fund, three months after an $80 million round backed by the Atlassian founders' vehicles, lifting total funding beyond $100 million.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily

3 deals

Koala founder Dany Milham banks $75 million for new grocery startup Milkrun

Koala co-founder Dany Milham's rapid grocery delivery venture Milkrun has launched with a $75 million Tiger Global-led Series A, following an earlier $11 million seed round; Tiger also backed wholesale marketplace TradeSquare.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily

2 deals

Tiger Global backs Koala founder's new grocery delivery startup in $75 million series A

Milkrun, Dany Milham's four-month-old rapid grocery delivery startup, has raised a $75 million Series A led by Tiger Global, with Airtree, Skip and Grok also investing; it had earlier raised A$11 million in mid-2021.

Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily

7 deals

Quiet achievers and COVID successes: SmartCompany's 10 startups to watch in 2022

SmartCompany's year-end list profiles ten Australian startups poised for a big 2022, recalling their 2021 raises, crowdfunding campaigns, government grants and accelerator origins, from mtime and Quantum Brilliance to Zoomo and Superhero.

Also SmartCompany

2 deals

CEFC congratulates Zoomo on $80m raise

Electric delivery vehicle maker Zoomo has closed an oversubscribed Series B of US$60 million (A$80 million), led by new investor Grok Ventures with Skip Capital and ArcTern, plus follow-on from existing backers and a new debt facility.

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

12 deals

Ignition Lane's Weekly Wrap: the rise of the technouveau riche

Weekly roundup covering Canva's huge raise and rich-list climb, a run of Australian startup funding rounds including SiteMinder and Mable, Domain's purchase of IDS, and Mailchimp's sale to Intuit.

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

Funding announcement

Antler Australia reveals how it’s letting angel investors in on deals with its startup cohorts

Antler Australia's guest post explains its Antler Angel Experience, a program giving angels close-up access to its Pre-Launch cohort and investment process, with a second intake of 35 angels already making investments.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Fintech News Australia·Business News Australia·Crunchbase News

2 deals

HR tech startup Pyn raises $10.4 million as Silicon Valley's Andreessen Horowitz comes to Sydney

Australian HR tech company Pyn has raised $10.4 million led by Andreessen Horowitz, with Atlassian's Scott Farquhar and BambooHR's Ryan Sanders participating, following a $3.1 million seed round last year.

Also Startup Daily

News

“You get your time in the sun”: AirTree founder Daniel Petre to step back from day-to-day operations at the firm

Veteran venture capitalist Daniel Petre will withdraw from daily duties at the firm he co-founded in 2014, moving toward a chair role, while discussing ecosystem maturity, a future fund and philanthropy among Australia's newly wealthy.

2 deals

Melanie Perkins' tech startup Canva hits valuation of $19.7 billion after latest round of funding

Canva's valuation reached US$15 billion after a new funding round led by T. Rowe Price, Dragoneer, Blackbird Ventures and Skip Capital. The article also recalls Canva's earlier US$60 million raise and Blackbird's first investment.

Also SmartCompany·Startup News (WA)·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup News (WA)

Unnamed stage $100m

Brighte bags $100 million to “go deeper” on energytech, but founder Katherine McConnell is keeping a startup mindset

Energy and fintech firm Brighte has raised $100 million from existing backers, led by Grok Ventures, and is moving into retail energy with a new model combining generation and retail.

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

3 deals

A reusable packaging startup raised $2m in seeding fund with Kim Jackson’s Skip Capital backing it

Reusable household packaging startup Zero Co raised a $2 million seed round led by Kim Jackson's Skip Capital, with returning backer Rob Chapman and Koala's co-founders joining, after earlier pre-seed funding and a Kickstarter campaign.

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

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