Startup · $10.3m raised
Sydney, NSW
Every published round VentureCrowd 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.
| Company | Stage | Announced | Amount | Role | Alongside | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our Cow | Unnamed stage | Apr 2022 | $2.4m | Participant | Startup Daily (Wed 22 Feb 2023), Startup Daily (Mon 16 Jan 2023) | |
| EIC Fund | Unnamed stage | Nov 2021 | $5m | Participant | Techboard, SmartCompany, Startup Daily | |
| Nexba | Series A | 2021 | $6m | Participant | SmartCompany (Wed 15 Feb 2023), Startup Daily, SmartCompany (Tue 5 Mar 2019) | |
| Cleer | Pre-seed | 1Q 2021 | $650k | Participant | Startup Daily (Fri 23 Apr 2021), SmartCompany, Cut Through Venture, Startup Daily (Mon 2 Nov 2020) |
Companies VentureCrowd has backed in a published round, and companies whose existing shares it bought off another holder.
Fund closes reported for VentureCrowd, as distinct from the investments it has made.
Companies VentureCrowd has backed that another company then bought. An exit for the holding, not a deal VentureCrowd did.
| Company | Bought by | Kind | Announced | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No portfolio company of VentureCrowd is recorded as having been acquired. | ||||
Companies VentureCrowd acquired or merged with, per published coverage. Buying a company is not investing in one: nothing here counts in the deals column.
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round VentureCrowd raised.
| Investor | Rounds | Invested |
|---|---|---|
| John Bacon | Series A | - |
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Barry Wight | Administrator | Startup Daily, SmartCompany |
| Stephen Earel | Administrator | Startup Daily, SmartCompany |
| Steve Maarbani | CEO · Founder | Startup Daily (Sun 3 May 2026), SmartCompany (Tue 28 Apr 2026), Business News Australia, Australian FinTech, SmartCompany (Wed 15 Feb 2023), Startup Daily (Fri 11 Feb 2022), Startup Daily (Fri 3 Dec 2021), Startup Daily (Tue 14 May 2019) |
| Steven Maarbani | Executive Director | RenewEconomy, SmartCompany |
| W. Roland Robson | Administrator (former) | Startup Daily, SmartCompany |
Stories naming VentureCrowd. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Birchal launched a new CSF raise at a reduced $5 million pre-money valuation, with about $800,000 already committed, amid sector downturn; rival Equitise collapsed and Earthletica raised $1.1 million.
VentureCrowd's parent firm is in administration with creditors claiming $7.3 million owed. The first administrator was replaced by Cor Cordis, while the platform's trading subsidiaries and managed funds continue unaffected.
Also Startup Daily
Sydney Angels' third sidecar fund raised $3.5 million on VentureCrowd in a week to back early-stage startups, while the article recalls past fund wins including Clarity Pharmaceuticals, Instaclustr and Aurtra.
Equity raise of $2.3m by Advanced, a Sunshine Coast R&D finance startup building a $25m lending fund; backers include Wayne Gerard and Phil Cummins, who joins the board.
Australia's securities regulator has halted Hirehood's equity crowdfunding campaign on VentureCrowd — its first stop order of this kind — citing nominee share concerns, and recalls CSF backers' heavy losses when GoPro acquired Forcite.
VentureCrowd and Pitch VC are launching a white-label platform that lets newcomers run their own startup funds; Pitch VC's two founders join VentureCrowd's leadership to build it.
Three ex-Investec executives launch Stride Equity, a crowdfunding platform where vetted startups get crowd raises plus co-investment from the Stride Lead fund; the founders previously backed firms including Vocus and Airtasker.
NSW meat seller Our Cow attracted almost $1.5 million from 750-plus backers in a day on Birchal, chasing $2.62 million, having raised $2.38 million in April 2022; it also bought failed grocer Voly's brand.
Also AgFunderNews
Our Cow, a NSW meat subscription business, bought the brand, app and customer database of collapsed grocery delivery startup Voly; the article also recalls Voly's seed raise and Our Cow's crowdfunding round.
Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily
Weekly roundup covering 14 startup raises totalling over $260 million, headlined by Synchron's $110 million round, plus Roller's shareholder liquidity payout, Partly's record New Zealand Series A, and several government grants.
Also GrainCorp Ventures·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·@AuManufacturing·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Techboard·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·@AuManufacturing·Startup News (WA)·Startup News (WA)
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.
A roundup of 19 Australian startup funding announcements totalling over $851 million in early February 2022, covering raises by Cyara, Karbon, Slyp, Reejig and others, alongside record 2021 venture investment figures.
Also webbikeworld.com·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily
Crowdfunding platform VentureCrowd completed a Series A, combining existing backer money with funds gathered through its own marketplace, and plans platform development, retail expansion and a Singapore office.
Roundup of nine startup raises totalling $70 million, including Q-CTRL's Series B, Foundry Lab's round led by Blackbird, and EnGeneIC's crowdfunded COVID-19 vaccine raise, plus a new Elenium Automation board member.
EnGeneIC raised $5 million via VentureCrowd's pre-IPO round, exceeding its initial target, funding Covid vaccine and cancer work, then licensed its nanocell technology to ImmunityBio.
Also SmartCompany·Techboard
A weekly roundup of Australian startup funding: Neara, Archistar, Urban Ethos, ESN Cleer and Book An Artist raise, alongside Mr Yum and Octopus Deploy raises.
Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany
Cut Through Venture's debut quarterly newsletter rounds up Q1 2021 raises across Australian and New Zealand startups, highlighting crowdfunding, fintech dominance, active investors, and two newly launched startups currently seeking backers.
Energy software company Evergen, spun out of CSIRO, closed a six million dollar Series A round raised through crowdfunding, with commitments from two investment firms, to grow its battery optimisation platform.
Evergen opens its AMP Capital and Artesian-led Series A to crowd investors via VentureCrowd, seeking funds for global expansion after New Zealand trials and a South African distribution deal.
Also RenewEconomy
Tiny-cabin startup Unyoked formed a creative partnership with actor Matthew McConaughey, who helped design a new cabin; the article also recalls its June crowdfunding raise of $1.17 million via VentureCrowd.
Drinks brand Nexba closed a $6 million Series A, sourcing $1.5 million through VentureCrowd crowdfunding and the balance from private backers including River Capital and Gaingels, alongside other crowdfunding campaigns by Mungalli Creek Dairy and Supp.
A roundup of Australia's largest equity crowdfunding campaigns since the 2017 laws, led by Xinja's record raise, also covering ingogo, Jayride, DC Power Co, West Winds Gin and PT Blink, with platform executives commenting on the sector's growth.
Also Startup Daily
Beverage startup Nexba is nearing the close of a $6 million round, with LGBTQ-focused investor Gaingels making its first Australian investment. Proceeds will fund new product lines and UK expansion, partly raised via crowdfunding.