Venture capital fund · 12 deals
Seed fund investing in early-stage Australian startups
Melbourne, VIC
Every published round Side Stage Ventures 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.
Companies Side Stage Ventures has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atomic Tessellator | Jun 2026, Seed | 1 | 0 | |
| Fabra | 14 Nov 2025, Pre-seed | 1 | 0 | |
| Kantoko | 12 Aug 2026, Seed | 1 | 1 | |
| Leonardo.Ai | 2023, Accelerator | 2 | 1 | |
| MoreGoodDays | Mar 2023, Seed | 1 | 0 | |
| Outlier Space | 29 Jul 2026, Pre-seed | 1 | 0 | |
| Outstaffer | 25 Oct 2023 | 1 | 1 | |
| Puralink | 18 Sep 2025, Pre-seed | 1 | 0 | |
| Thanks | 11 Mar 2025, Seed | 1 | 0 | |
| Tixel | 13 Dec 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| TrueState | 21 Jun 2024 | 1 | 0 |
Companies Side Stage Ventures's own portfolio page lists that no published round yet places it in. The page is the source; the round is being looked for.
| Company | Site |
|---|---|
| Airtasker | airtasker.com ↗ |
| amaysim | - |
| Anna | hianna.ai ↗ |
| Arca | arcaclimate.com ↗ |
| Basis | wearebasis.com ↗ |
| Creators | creators.spotify.com ↗ |
| Dragonfly | dragonfly.com.au ↗ |
| Dreamsake | dreamsake.co ↗ |
| Economist | economist.com ↗ |
| Elita Genetics | elita.pet ↗ |
| Fastlane | usefastlane.ai ↗ |
| ( get in touch get in touch ) | tally.so ↗ |
| (get in touchget in touch) | tally.so ↗ |
| Go1 | - |
| Goflaus | goflaus.com ↗ |
| Harth | harth.app ↗ |
| Klaro | klaroapp.com ↗ |
| Lightning Forge Games | lightningforge.games ↗ |
| Linktr | linktr.ee ↗ |
| MagicBrief (EXITED) | magicbrief.com ↗ |
| Meandu | meandu.com ↗ |
| Mr Yum | - |
| Nzherald | nzherald.co.nz ↗ |
| Ogilvy | ogilvy.com ↗ |
| One Click Switch | oneclickswitch.com.au ↗ |
| Platoon | platoon.ai ↗ |
| QSic | - |
| Startupplaybook | startupplaybook.co ↗ |
| Superdesign | app.superdesign.dev ↗ |
| Theaustralian | theaustralian.com.au ↗ |
| Userflux (EXITED) | userflux.co ↗ |
Fund closes reported for Side Stage Ventures, as distinct from the investments it has made.
| Fund | Announced | Committed | Target | Close | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| second early-stage fund | 2 May 2026 | $40m | $50m | Interim | Startup News (WA), This Week in Australian Startups, Startup Daily |
| - | 7 Aug 2023 | $15m | $30m | Interim | Startup Daily, Australian FinTech, SmartCompany |
Investors that coverage says has money in a fund Side Stage Ventures runs. This is a stake in the fund, not in any company the fund has backed.
Companies Side Stage Ventures has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Side Stage Ventures did.
| Company | Bought by | Kind | Announced | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leonardo.Ai | Canva | Acquisition | 30 Jul 2024 | $300m+ |
| Leonardo.Ai | Canva | Acquisition | Jul 2024 | $120m+ |
Stories naming Side Stage Ventures. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Australian startups raised funds including Alloy Robotics, Farmbot and Atmo Biosciences. Firmus Technologies acquired Benmax while Tabcorp bought BetMakers. SafetyCulture rebranded to Mitti.
Eight Australian and New Zealand startups secured a combined $67.4 million in funding across various sectors including agtech, medtech, robotics, and fintech.
Also ontargetish.com
Zac Altman’s ADHD telehealth startup Kantoko has secured $3.5 million in a Side Stage Ventures-led seed round, with Andrew Forrest’s Tenmile and Go1’s founders investing; the article also recalls his earlier ventures’ sales.
Also Dealroom·Startup Daily·Business News Australia·SmartCompany·ontargetish.com
Roundup of eight Australian and New Zealand startups whose late-July funding totals $102 million across space capsules, medical devices, livestock breath analysis, sports analytics and AI crop forecasting.
A maker of satellites for in-orbit drugs and materials production has landed an outsized pre-seed round led by New Zealand's GD1, with Airtree and other venture firms taking part.
Investible's note explains its pre-seed backing of satellite startup Outlier Space alongside GD1 and others, arguing uncrewed return-capable platforms will make off-world manufacturing viable as the ISS retires.
Weekly roundup covering seven raises across the Tasman: Phonely's Series A, Pay.com.au's private placement, and rounds for Atomic Tessellator, Caruso, Deteqt, Clean Slate Clinic and Earthletica, worth roughly $72 million combined.
Also crane.vc
Weekly roundup: Hipages takes a majority stake in VIZ Insurance, Side Stage Ventures banks $40m for fund two, Airwallex unveils the Latitude 37 program, Anthropic appoints an ANZ general manager, Atlassian shares jump.
Side Stage Ventures has reached a $40 million initial close on its $50 million second fund, backed by founders of earlier wins, while principal Elli Hanson steps up to partner.
Founders backed by LaunchVic's Alice Anderson Fund fear the fund may not survive the Victorian government's confirmed merger of LaunchVic with Breakthrough Victoria; the piece recalls raises by Elita, MoreGoodDays and TalkiPlay.
Victorian women-led startup founders warn a government restructure merging LaunchVic with Breakthrough Victoria could end the Alice Anderson Fund's backing, recalling raises by Elita, MoreGoodDays and TalkiPlay.
Weekly roundup of eight raises totalling $572.12 million, led by Firmus's $500 million round; RAGE Biotech, SunDrive, Number 8 Bio, Fabra, Keeyu, MyGig and Drone-Hand also funded, plus two RAGE Biotech executive appointments.
Also Tech Funding News - Australia·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily
Australian startup Fabra has debuted a browser-based 3D design tool alongside pre-seed backing of $2.8 million from four funds, and intends to seek seed capital ahead of 2026 general availability.
Sydney robotics startup Puralink has raised $2.3m in seed capital, with Peak XV leading and several local funds and angels joining, to commercialise its leak-detecting robot for pipes.
Melbourne pet-health startup Elita Genetics stores animals' stem cells collected at desexing; the piece covers its new budget subscription tier and notes a seven-figure pre-seed raise backed by Startmate and others.
Weekly roundup of eight Australian startup raises, led by Sonder's $40 million round, plus AMP's $20 million raise and acquisition of the Shopify app Back in Stock.
Also Startup Daily·Defence Connect·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Defence Connect·Forbes Australia
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
Roundup of eight local raises totalling roughly $81.5 million: generative AI, sustainable packaging, VR medical training, optical radar, drinks, preventive health and wholesale retail software.
Also Ten13 portfolio·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia
Sydney AI platform Leonardo.Ai has completed a Series A on top of its seed round, taking total backing past $47 million from Blackbird, Side Stage Ventures, Samsung Next, Smash Capital and TIRTA Ventures.
Leonardo.Ai, a Sydney-based AI art platform, has raised $31 million US from Blackbird, Samsung Next and other backers, money it will put toward its enterprise push and hiring.
Also mediaweek.com.au·inaitoday.com·Forbes Australia·ARN (ARNnet)·Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Forbes Australia
Roundup of ten Australian startup raises totalling $38.8 million, topped by Heidi Health's Series A, also recording an Outstaffer executive appointment and the earlier sale of CarAdvice to Nine.
Outstaffer, a Victorian HR tech platform, has secured $1.5 million from outside investors in a round co-led by its chief operating officer, funding product development and a planned US expansion.
Also SmartCompany
Outstaffer announced a $1.5 million strategic round to grow its global hiring platform, with Utiliti Ventures, 1in100 Ventures and Side Stage Ventures leading and several other Australian investors taking part.
Three Australian companies — Fleet Space Technologies, MoreGoodDays and Syneta — feature on Forbes Asia's 100 to Watch list; the piece profiles each business, its backers and recent raises.
Founder-backed syndicate Side Stage Ventures has become a $15 million seed fund, with LocalGlobe and several founders as limited partners, three startups already backed, and portfolio company Joyn acquiring event firm Arinex.
SmartCompany reports Side Stage Ventures has completed a $15 million first close of its debut fund, backed by founders of Airtasker, Linktree and Go1 plus LocalGlobe, targeting $30 million and already backing early startups.
Techboard's monthly roundup cataloguing April 2022 Australian startup funding: megadeals, seed rounds, grants and crowdfunding, nine acquisitions, several ASX listings, and venture firms' fund news.
Linktree's co-founders have launched Side Stage Ventures, a collective investing in very young creative-tech companies; it has already backed several startups, and associate Ben Grabiner's music platform Platoon was bought by Apple.
Also Australian FinTech