Accelerator · 14 deals
Sydney, NSW
Every published round Techstars Sydney 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, and a place in one of its own programs is under Cohorts.
Everyone Techstars Sydney 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 Techstars Sydney has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
| Company | What it does | First invested | Rounds | Led |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outread | 2023, Accelerator | 2 | 1 | |
| Gecko | 24 Jul 2023, Pre-seed | 1 | 1 | |
| Esper Satellite Imagery | 11 Sep 2023, Accelerator | 1 | 1 | |
| Mantaray | 3 Oct 2023, Accelerator | 1 | 1 | |
| Jaimee | 2024, Accelerator | 1 | 1 | |
| Nevam | 2024, Accelerator | 2 | 1 | |
| Understanding Zoe | 2024, Accelerator | 1 | 1 | |
| Kyri | Mar 2024, Seed | 1 | 1 | |
| Femtek | 28 Mar 2024 | 1 | 1 | |
| SeenCulture | 20 Jul 2024, Pre-seed | 1 | 0 | |
| Dispute Buddy | 10 Sep 2024, Accelerator | 2 | 0 | |
| Juxtabyte | 2025, Accelerator | 2 | 2 | |
| Our Leg Up | 2025, Accelerator | 2 | 2 | |
| VetNotes | 2025, Accelerator | 2 | 2 | |
| Briefcase | 9 Sep 2025, Accelerator | 2 | 1 | |
| CorFin.AI | 9 Sep 2025, Accelerator | 1 | 1 | |
| Crystal aOS | 9 Sep 2025, Accelerator | 2 | 2 | |
| MuseAI | 9 Sep 2025, Accelerator | 1 | 1 | |
| OncoRevive | 9 Sep 2025, Accelerator | 2 | 2 | |
| Onsite | 9 Sep 2025, Accelerator | 2 | 1 | |
| Slice | 9 Sep 2025, Accelerator | 2 | 2 | |
| SurfLab | 9 Sep 2025, Accelerator | 2 | 2 | |
| Zipline AI | 6 Nov 2025, Accelerator | 1 | 1 | |
| Manifest | Apr 2026, Pre-seed | 1 | 0 |
Fund closes reported for Techstars Sydney, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies Techstars Sydney has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal Techstars Sydney did.
Stories naming Techstars Sydney. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Interview with athlete-turned-investor Christie Jenkins on her path from elite sport to venture capital and her new accelerator venture, ahead of the Growth Summit.
Adtech startup Manifest has launched with a $2 million pre-seed round, led by Brand Fund with Antler, Icehouse Ventures, Techstars, family offices and industry angels taking part, aiming to replace agency timesheets.
A fintech venture fund co-founded by Up Bank's Dom Pym has locked in a $10m first close with Commonwealth Bank's x15ventures as cornerstone backer, aiming for $50m ahead of a 2028 final close.
Eastend Ventures says Brad Feld, who co-founded Foundry and Techstars, will chair the LPAC of its Fund 1, alongside current committee members Sonya Brocklehurst and Dr Roger Voyle; first meeting May 2026.
Techstars' Sydney accelerator will close after three years and 36 startups backed, its NSW government funding having ended; the program's chief and team are departing, while a state diversity pre-accelerator awaits a delivery partner.
The NSW government has ended funding for Techstars Sydney, which closes after three cohorts; its managing director, Christie Jenkins, and her team are departing, and the $4 million diversity pre-accelerator has no operator yet.
Startup Daily profiles Briefcase, founded by former Canva legal head Kirk Simmons, which digitises dispute handling for courts and tribunals; it is one of twelve companies in Techstars Sydney's 2025 cohort.
Startup Daily profiles Our Leg Up, a Melbourne fintech from the Techstars Sydney 2025 cohort, whose product lets homeowners pledge equity so buyers can obtain low-deposit loans, with Techstars explaining why it invested.
Startup Daily profiles SurfLab, an AI-powered surf coaching platform founded by Ant Arena and one of twelve startups in Techstars Sydney's 2025 cohort, ahead of its December Demo the Future showcase.
Startup Daily profiles Sedso AI, a platform letting brands manage how AI tools portray them, ahead of the Techstars Sydney 2025 cohort demo evening; co-founders David Sta.Maria and Silven Epistola are interviewed.
Startup Daily profiles Juxtabyte, a data governance startup founded by former CBA data governance lead Hugh Le, ahead of the Techstars Sydney 2025 cohort's Demo the Future event.
Startup Daily profiles Crystal aOS, Joni Pirovich's crypto compliance platform, among Techstars Sydney's 2025 cohort ahead of its Demo the Future event, covering the product and why the accelerator invested.
A weekly roundup of funding deals by Australian and New Zealand startups, spanning baked goods, retail, health AI, beverages, edtech, solar, legal tech, and Western Australian medical research grants.
Also Startup Daily
Profile of OncoRevive, a startup whose blood test spots multiple cancer biomarkers in hours rather than weeks, written ahead of its Demo Day appearance with Techstars Sydney's 2025 cohort.
Startup Daily profiles Onsite, a Techstars Sydney 2025 cohort startup founded by Nathan Croxton that modernises strata and building management; managing director Christie Jenkins explains the accelerator's investment.
Startup Daily profiles Slice, a proptech automating property transaction paperwork, and its founder Amy Stevens, among the 12 startups in Techstars Sydney's 2025 cohort ahead of its December demo event.
Startup Daily profiles Zipline AI, a startup in Techstars Sydney's 2025 cohort whose tool helps brands build products alongside their audiences; repeat Techstars founder Michelle Reeves counts Forty-Love and Lemon Perfect as clients.
Startup Daily profiles VetNotes, Mitch Sigley's AI note-taking tool for vets, a Techstars Sydney 2025 cohort company; Techstars says it was first to back it.
Auckland venture firm NZVC plans a second fund backing 50-60 Australia-NZ founders and has already invested in an Australian robotics startup and two New Zealand companies.
Nevam, a Sydney martech startup, has secured $1.2 million from Techstars Sydney, the Huljich Family Office and other backers to grow its journey-mapping platform after its 2024 accelerator cohort.
Weekly roundup covering 19 Australian and New Zealand raises, headlined by Andromeda Robotics' $23m Series A, plus Freckle, Marloo, X-Hemp, Harvest B, Wable, Starboard and Techstars Sydney's 12-startup cohort.
Also SmartCompany
Techstars Sydney's 2025 accelerator class holds 12 startups, with US$120,000 invested in each; seven are first-time funded. Supported by Investment NSW, the three-month Sydney program ends with a December Demo Day.
Birchal lifts its charges and shrinks its team under a new chief executive; the piece also recalls past raises on the platform and the collapses of Zero Co and Equitise.
Also SmartCompany
Forbes Australia profiles billionaire Ed Craven's funding of MainCode, a Melbourne venture where chief executive Dave Lemphers leads a team building Australia's own large language model on home soil.
Profile of Melbourne femtech ring maker Kyri Cycles, formerly Femtek, chasing Gen Alpha customers; the piece recalls its accelerator pre-seed and later seed raises and mentions a fresh raise still underway.
Christie Jenkins, an elite athlete and Blackbird investor, is the new managing director of Techstars Sydney, which has opened applications for its 13-week accelerator program running September to December.
Birchal appoints Future Super founder and former Techstars Sydney managing director Kirstin Hunter as CEO after co-founder Matt Vitale stepped down in January; the crowdfunding platform recently banked $2m from retail investors.
Esper, a Melbourne maker of mineral-scanning satellites, has banked a $5 million seed round co-led by Paspalis Capital and Hejaz; its 2023 pre-seed drew US investors.
Tennis Australia's venture arm AO Ventures has reached a first close on its new sports, media and health tech fund with about $49 million committed by local and international backers.
Profile of Understanding Zoe, an AI chatbot helping parents of neurodivergent children manage care. Founders Andrac and Erchoff built it after their daughter's autism diagnosis; the startup sits in Techstars Sydney's current accelerator cohort.
Jelix's note explains why its fund led satellite thruster startup VXB Aerospace's $1.2 million seed round, citing the team's expertise, customer letters of intent, market growth, and acceptance into Techstars Space.
Roundup of six Australian funding rounds this week: InDebted, Evolt, Restoke.ai, Mary Technology, Matilda and Demtech.ai, with investors, amounts, InDebted's valuation and a secondary component for early backers and staff.
Also Australian FinTech·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Australian FinTech·Fintech News Australia·Business News Australia
SmartCompany's AI column interviews Jaimee's two co-founders about their women-focused AI companion, still in beta, covering gender bias in AI training data, privacy plans, guardrails and the Techstars Sydney program.
Menstrual-health startup Femtek has rebranded as Kyri, citing a trademark block; the piece also looks back at its seven-figure raise with Arcanys Ventures and Techstars leading earlier in the year.
Also Forbes Australia
Ten of the twelve startups joining the NSW-backed Techstars Sydney accelerator for 2024 have a female founder; past participant SeenCulture earlier banked $1m in capital.
Weekly roundup of three Australian raises: adtech firm Cuttable's seed round, Fundabl's equity round and SeenCulture's funding, naming investors, plus new Cuttable co-CEOs and a board appointment.
SeenCulture, a workplace platform, has secured $1 million in a pre-seed round from Alice Anderson Fund, M8 Ventures, InterValley Ventures and Torus, having earlier joined Techstars' first Sydney cohort with Cut Through Angels backing.
Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany
Roundup of the week's funding news: nine companies across Australia and New Zealand secured investment spanning clean energy, construction logistics, legal tech, coaching, research tools, creator media, medtech and marketing software.
Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·LaunchVic
A women's health startup in Australia has collected $1 million from Arcanys Ventures and Techstars to build its sleep-worn cycle tracker, with more funding sought and an application lodged for LaunchVic's Alice Anderson Fund.