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Investor · 2 deals

University of Queensland

St Lucia, QLD

Coverage

Stories naming University of Queensland. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.

Accelerator $1.5m

Vaccine Platform Secures Funds Against Mosquito Threats

UQ spinout Proboxis Biotechnology has received $1.5 million via the first round of the Biointelect Venturer incubator to advance a vaccine platform against mosquito-borne diseases toward human clinical development.

Funding announcement

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #175, 23rd August 2026

Weekly roundup: Constantinople raises $62.5m; Blackbird wraps fund six above $1b; Guardhouse buys Mobohubb; SCX.ai debuts on the ASX; plus seed rounds, exits and executive changes across the ecosystem.

Exit / M&A

Diageo Acquires Mr Black Coffee Liqueur: A Strategic Move in the Premium Ready-to-Drink and Espresso Martini Era

Spirits giant Diageo has bought the Sydney-founded coffee liqueur maker Mr Black; the piece examines the price, the cocktail trend behind it, rival acquisitions, and what comes next for the brand.

Unnamed stage $32m

Dentroid raises $32 million for needle-free dental technology

Canberra medtech Dentroid has banked $32 million at a $265 million valuation, with Septodont both investing and signing a worldwide licensing deal for its light-based device that eases dental pain without needles.

Also Dealroom

Accelerator

The Brisbane start-up tackling the “tech tax” on food

FaBA profiles Pollinate, a Brisbane startup founded by Adeep Mitra and Corey Berther that uses AI to automate food supply chain workflows, tracing its path from a university food challenge to Y Combinator backing.

Also Business News Australia

Funding announcement

Improving laboratory management and patient outcomes – Q-Sera announces first product launch of its RAPClotTM rapid serum blood collection tube technology in Japan

Q-Sera's rapid-clotting blood tube technology has gone to market in Japan via Terumo's VenoJect II launch; the Melbourne startup's backers include MRCF, Uniseed and the UniQuest Extension Fund.

2 deals

IP Group ANZ startup receives $5m boost for critical energy mineral processing

IP Group-backed copper-tech spin-out Banksia Minerals has won a federal renewable energy grant worth as much as $5 million, a year after banking $1.05 million in seed capital.

Also ARENA·Startup Daily·SmartCompany

8 deals

Federal government slips $12.7 million to 8 quantum projects tackling energy, minerals and health

Eight university- and company-led Australian quantum projects share $12.7 million in stage-two Critical Technologies Challenge Program grants, funding prototypes for data-centre cooling, medical imaging and rare-earth detection.

News

Yield by Artesian: Aligning Capital, Capability and Innovation for Australia’s Agrifood Future

Artesian's write-up of its first Yield summit in Melbourne, where agrifood leaders discussed AI, biologicals, robotics, agri-energy and biosecurity, and how RDCs, investors and corporates can together speed Australian agricultural innovation.

Funding announcement

Wise Repro launches state-of-the-art semen processing lab

A Queensland cattle genetics business has opened a laboratory to process bull semen at Glen Aplin with government grant support, and a partner will sort sexed semen there from early 2026.

5 deals

Uniseed boss Peter Devine calls time on 20 years leading Australia's OG VC

Uniseed chief executive Peter Devine departs after two decades; Monash's Alistair Hick takes over in 2026. The piece recounts Uniseed's fund history and recent stakes in ENA Respiratory and Morse Micro rounds.

Grant $2.1m

Manufacturing news briefs — stories you might have missed

Roundup of Australian manufacturing items: gold-nanoparticle cancer diagnostics research, a medical research endowment's ten-year mark, a footballer's ambassador role, EU research program accession talks, a pectin producer's government grant, and battle-tank trainers.

7 deals

Five Aussie startups that raised $95.45 million this week

Weekly roundup detailing five Australian raises: Vaxxas' Series D plus debt facility amid executive changes, Skutopia's growth round, Send Payments' backing and CEO change, Apate.ai's seed, and Coursebox's seed.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Australian FinTech·Dealroom·Startup Daily

2 deals

Vaccination biotech Vaxxas raises $49 million Series D, cuts C-suite amid broader layoffs

Australian biotech Vaxxas secured a Series D plus a debt facility while overhauling leadership: a new chair, founding CEO shifting to an advisory role, and CFO made redundant amid job cuts.

Also Business News Australia·SmartCompany·Cut Through Venture·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily

Series D+ ~$90m

Vaxxas secures ~A$90 million in funding to commercialise needle-free vaccination delivery technology

Vaxxas announced a roughly A$90m financing — Series D equity led by SPRIM Global Investments plus debt — to advance its needle-free vaccine patch, alongside leadership changes including a new chair.

Fund close $439m

Peter Beattie AC appointed Brandon BioCatalyst Chair

Brandon BioCatalyst has named Peter Beattie its chair as Bill Ferris retires, with Andrew Nash joining the board and Ross King becoming deputy; manager Brandon Capital's newly raised $439 million fund was noted.

Grant $492.5k

Best of the week — the five most popular stories among readers, July 7 – July 11, 2025

Weekly roundup of readers' five favourite stories: a hydrogen grant for 1414 Degrees, LS Precast's rail tunnel contract, AML3D's US Navy pact, quantum clock breakthrough, and Suntory Oceania's launch.

6 deals

Uniseed adds another $25m from UniSuper to commercialise academic research

UniSuper adds a further $25 million to its backing of Uniseed, reaching $100 million in total support for the university research commercialisation fund; past cheques to quantum and biotech startups are recapped.

Grant $720k+

Researchers to take healthy oats beyond breakfast

FaBA and UQ launch their largest research project, a $5.6m effort with oat company My PlantCo to develop new oat-based foods, with GRDC committing over $720,000 to the company's project.

Grant $65m

Best of the week — the five most popular stories among readers, April 21 – April 25, 2025

Roundup of the publication's five most-read stories of the week: a $65 million grant for the SMART regenerative-therapies CRC, QUT's flexible semiconductor research, a Lima Declaration fact-check, and Greensteel Australia's $1.6 billion mill order.

2 deals

Manufacturing news briefs — stories you might have missed

Roundup of brief items: Memphasys hails fertility device trial results; a concrete recycler is fined; Wurrba, Hazer and University of Queensland land government grants; Aus J gains a North American distribution partner.

Unnamed stage $1m

UQ biotech innovation partnership forges a second startup

UniQuest and Molecule to Medicine have formed Curlew Bio to develop anti-inflammatory drugs, backed by $1 million from UniQuest's Extension Fund; the article also recalls Novartis's 2015 purchase of Spinifex Pharmaceuticals.

9 deals

Seven ANZ startups that raised $42.8 million this week

Weekly roundup of seven Australian and New Zealand raises totalling $42.8 million, spanning property-investment AI, workforce credentialing, allied-health practice software, conversation analytics, maths learning games, copper processing and holiday-park bookings.

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