Startup · $76.5m raised
Sydney, NSW
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round UNSW Sydney raised.
| Investor | Rounds | Invested |
|---|---|---|
| the federal government | Grant | - |
| Australian Space Agency | Grant | - |
| Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) | Grant · Grant · Grant · Grant · Grant · Grant · Grant · Grant · Grant · Grant · Grant · Grant · Grant · Grant | $71,500,000 |
| Australian Government | Grant | - |
| Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator | Grant · Grant | - |
Every published round UNSW 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 UNSW 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.
| Member | Program | Announced | Cheque | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number 8 Bio | SynBio 10X Accelerator | 2022 | - | Startup Daily |
Companies UNSW 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23Strands | 28 Oct 2020, Accelerator | 1 | 1 | |
| Cauldron Ferm | 28 Mar 2023, Seed | 1 | 0 | |
| Diraq | 12 Feb 2024, Series A | 2 | 0 | |
| HEO | 21 Sep 2026, Series B | 1 | 0 | |
| LLEAF | 16 Sep 2022, Bridge / extension | 1 | 0 | |
| Number 8 Bio | 2022, Accelerator | 1 | 1 | |
| Seitec | 17 Aug 2026, Seed | 1 | 0 | |
| Silicon Quantum Computing | May 2017, Seed | 3 | 1 |
This is a stake in the fund itself, money that the fund's manager invests, not a stake in the fund manager.
| Fund | Manager | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Uniseed | Uniseed | GBS Ventures, clinicalleader.com |
Companies UNSW Sydney has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal UNSW Sydney did.
| Company | Bought by | Kind | Announced | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No portfolio company of UNSW Sydney is recorded as having been acquired. | ||||
Companies UNSW Sydney acquired or merged with, per published coverage. Buying a company is not investing in one: nothing here counts in the deals column.
Stories naming UNSW Sydney. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Sydney quantum startup Diraq has received an initial US$51 million from DARPA after reaching the final stage of its quantum benchmarking program, with more funding possible; the National Reconstruction Fund earlier invested $20m.
Also Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia·This Week in Australian Startups
Six Australian quantum startups, including Silicon Quantum Computing and QuantX Labs, have received federal grants totalling $12.3 million under the Critical Technologies Challenge Program for projects in energy, health, biosecurity and logistics.
Weekly roundup recording a dozen raises and acquisitions, Firmus's scheduled float, a new $50m venture fund, a founder share sale, grant winners, an accelerator intake, and an AI agent's government breach.
Also DealStreetAsia·Dealroom·This Week in Australian Startups·AFR Technology·AFR Technology·Startup Daily·AFR Technology·AFR Technology·ABC News Technology·iTnews
Defence Trailblazer funds emissions-reduction projects with Electric Motor Power, Ocius Technology and Praxis, and profiles renewable-technology ventures from its Entrepreneurial Foundations for Defence program.
Investible announces the promotion of Nicholas Ooi to Investment Manager, describing his deal approach, portfolio work since 2023, and his path from law and consulting into venture capital.
ARENA will spend up to $105.6 million on 20 solar research projects, including grants for Sunspence, Proa Energy and a University of Sydney tandem-cell team working with panel maker Unison Solar.
Also Mirage News
ARENA has announced $105.6 million in grants for twenty solar research projects, mostly at Australian universities, plus two companies, targeting cheaper cells, modules and solar farm operations.
Also Fintech News Australia·RenewEconomy·RenewEconomy·Dealroom
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.
Roundup of seven raises across the Tasman spanning fintech, marine tech, agtech, defence and AI, plus a first close for an ACT venture fund.
Defence Trailblazer showcases its researchers, ventures and projects at an Adelaide defence summit, citing over $140 million in industry support, as it prepares to hand over to AUSDII.
Beaten Zone Venture Partners announces Fund 1 joined Activate Capital and UNSW in a seed round for Seitec, a Canberra defence startup whose seismic sensors find unexploded ordnance and hidden drones.
Also Dealroom·Business News Australia·Defence Connect·Startup Daily
A $4 million round for Canberra defence sensing firm Seitec is led by ACTivate Capital with UNSW and Beaten Zone co-investing; the ACT Government-backed fund earlier closed $23 million of a possible $50 million.
Australian direct indexing fintech Briefcase has hired Michael Hasten, a veteran ANZ investment banker, as Head of Growth to broaden its tax-aware portfolio and ETF model services for advisers and wealth platforms.
Veterinary biotech Gamgee has raised a four million dollar seed round led by Founders Fund, launching from Y Combinator to develop personalised mRNA cancer vaccines for dogs.
Also newshub.medianet.com.au·Dealroom·thesaasnews.com·kucoin.com
Weekly roundup: Firmus completes its $2.85b round; Procore acquires DroneDeploy; Atlassian rebounds while Canva cuts guidance; plus fresh raises for Zabidou, BioScout, Vexev, Enrola, Spacetalk and others.
Ten13's post explains why it joined the robotics company's latest raise alongside Blackbird, Neotribe, Startmate and Horizons, covering its autonomous scanning device, dialysis focus, founders, and US rollout plans.
Also Dealroom·vexev.com·datapile.co·evtoday.com·ontargetish.com
EnergyLab unveils ten hardware-focused climate tech startups joining its 2026 Climate Solutions Accelerator, supported by $1.64 million from ARENA; alumni Infravision, Renewable Metals, Orkestra and Amber later received ARENA funding.
South Australian startups Lunio Energy and OptiGrid launch a 5 MW Strathalbyn battery into market trading; the piece recalls OptiGrid's seed round backed by CEFC, IP Group, Hostplus, universities and EnergyLab.
A 5 MW South Australian battery has started trading, the first project for developer Lunio Energy and the first four-hour site run on OptiGrid's optimisation platform, whose seed backers are recapped.
The National Reconstruction Fund has put another $40m into Sydney quantum chip maker Silicon Quantum Computing, following its $20m investment three months earlier, part of a larger round still underway.
UNSW Founders marks a decade of its 10x Accelerator and opens 2026 applications across health, climate and all-industries streams; selected startups get $100,000 SAFE investments, and three alumni are profiled.
UNSW Founders will run the NSW Government's new $4 million Diversity Pre-Accelerator Program for female and culturally diverse health founders, with the University of Newcastle also delivering support; applications open in July.
HEO and UNSW Canberra Space have performed Australia's first propelled satellite rendezvous manoeuvre with the Continuum-1 spacecraft, a Defence Trailblazer-funded effort advancing sovereign space domain awareness skills.
UNSW Sydney unveiled a plan to commercialise research through new spinouts, featuring a pre-seed vehicle for nascent companies and a planned injection into venture firm High Street Ventures.
Investible's climate fund has invested in CounterCurrent with UNSW and unnamed angels; the note argues new shipping carbon rules make its AI navigation technology valuable.
University–government partnership Defence Trailblazer showcases the clean, low-emission defence projects it is funding with industry, plus ventures developed through its entrepreneurship readiness program.
Also Startup Daily
Defence Trailblazer is advancing emissions-cutting defence technology projects pairing companies with university researchers, and names seven ventures in its Entrepreneurial Foundations for Defence program.
Defence Trailblazer is running clean-energy projects with university and industry partners for Australian defence; its EFD program backs seven ventures developing batteries, drone power, hull-cleaning robots and solar tech.
Sunman Group wins $171 million in federal and NSW funding for a Hunter Valley solar panel factory; earlier grants to Tindo Solar, Stellar PV, Solquartz and SunDrive are also recalled.
ARENA announces a conditional grant of as much as $151m for Sunman Group to build a large solar module factory in NSW, under the federal government's Solar Sunshot program.
Also RenewEconomy·RenewEconomy
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
Sydney synthetic-biology venture Number 8 Bio has banked an $11m Series A with Icehouse Ventures leading, to advance cattle trials of its methane-cutting supplement; its 2024 seed and accelerator stint are recalled.
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.
Propeller Aero's chief executive Rory San Miguel has won the Pearcey Foundation's 2025 NSW entrepreneur award; the profile traces his path from UNSW clubs and Flirtey to the drone surveying company.
ARENA is putting as much as $3.96m into Lab 360 Solar, a UNSW spin-out whose drones photograph solar panels in daylight to catch cell-level faults; a fresh $60m solar R&D round is open.
Adelaide solar module maker Tindo Solar will work with UNSW researchers on two projects to move TOPCon cell technology from lab to manufacturing, with research backed by the TRaCE program.
Sydney biotech Smart MCs and UNSW won Australian Research Council funding of $900,000 for microcarrier development; the company earlier joined Big Idea Ventures' accelerator, raised pre-seed, and received a 2023 government grant.
Proto Axiom has put $4 million into Sydney IVF biotech JumpStart Fertility, a UNSW spin-out, to pay for human trials of a treatment aimed at age-related fertility decline.
Contactile, a Sydney robotics firm, has received a federal Industry Growth Program commercialisation grant to launch its tactile-enabled gripper internationally; the grant size was not disclosed.
Also contactile.com·Startup Daily·@AuManufacturing·contactile.com