From little things, big things grow
Profile of Skalata Ventures' Rohan Workman and Maxine Lee recounting the firm's founding, pandemic-era restructuring, $7 million raise, second fund deployment, and backing of Flux, Explorate and Preezie.
Startup · $9m raised
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round Toll raised.
| Investor | Rounds | Invested |
|---|---|---|
| ARENA | Grant | - |
| Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) | Grant | $9,000,000 |
Companies Toll acquired or merged with, per published coverage. Buying a company is not investing in one: nothing here counts in the deals column.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Paul Little | Former Boss (former) · Founder | Skalata Ventures (Tue 1 Sep 2026), Skalata Ventures (Tue 1 Sep 2026), Startup Daily (Fri 20 Feb 2026), SmartCompany, Startup Daily (Tue 25 Jun 2024), Startup Daily (Mon 24 Jun 2019) |
| Alan Beacham | Managing Director | ARENA |
Stories naming Toll. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Profile of Skalata Ventures' Rohan Workman and Maxine Lee recounting the firm's founding, pandemic-era restructuring, $7 million raise, second fund deployment, and backing of Flux, Explorate and Preezie.
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
The renewable energy agency has committed $28.6 million in grants so Linfox and Toll can electrify their freight fleets with dozens of electric trucks, alongside fresh program priorities opening for applications.
Also @AuManufacturing
Melbourne document-analysis company Affinda has pulled in $10 million from its previous backers at double its earlier valuation, and Christine Christian has joined its board.
Also Forbes Australia
Weekly roundup of seven trans-Tasman raises totalling $27.4 million, headlined by Xefco's $10.5 million round, plus Hometime board appointments and Matrak's China expansion.
Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily
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.
Reports that a fund backed by government and major banks has taken a minority stake in a parcel pick-up network, profiling its patient investment model and recalling an earlier cheque to a clean-energy maker.
Also Startup Daily
ARENA announced a $22.8 million grant to Viva Energy for a hydrogen refuelling station and EV charging in Geelong, with fleet partners Toll, ComfortDelGro, Cleanaway and Barwon Water committing to hydrogen vehicles.
Also ARENA·@AuManufacturing
Ignition Lane's weekly roundup reports Tyro buying Medipass, several startup raises, ASX listings, Hey Tiger shutting down, Airwallex culture complaints, CSIRO's technology spending plan, and Musk's bitcoin antics.
Also Startup Daily
SoftBank-backed US online retailer Brandless shuts down. Also: IBM's big Slack deployment, an FBI supply-chain hacking alert, a journalist's Kindle data discovery, and NBN's half-year results.