Startup · $4.8m raised · Manufacturing · AI · Robotics
AI computer vision for automated industrial robotics QA
Sydney, NSW
Programs: Startmate (Summer ’26)
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round Zabidou raised.
| Investor | Rounds | Invested |
|---|---|---|
| Antler Australia | Seed | - |
| Black Nova Venture Capital | Seed | - |
| BlackNova | Seed | - |
| Main Sequence Ventures | Seed | - |
| Startmate | Accelerator | - |
Investors whose own portfolio pages list Zabidou, even though we haven't found any coverage of the round yet.
| Investor | Listed on |
|---|---|
| Shearwater Capital | its portfolio page ↗ |
| Shearwater Capital | its portfolio page ↗ |
Companies Zabidou 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Cibby Pulikkaseril | CEO · Founder | Main Sequence, SmartCompany, Forbes Australia (Tue 4 Aug 2026), Forbes Australia (Tue 4 Aug 2026), Startmate, Startup Daily |
Stories naming Zabidou. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
Main Sequence sets out its investment thesis for physical AI, describing portfolio companies across robotics, vision, connectivity, compute and simulation, and recalling over $100 million invested since inception.
Main Sequence announces a follow-on seed investment in Zabidou, an industrial vision-systems startup it earlier backed at pre-seed, and recalls its previous backing of founder Cibby Pulikkaseril's LiDAR company Baraja.
Also Forbes Australia·Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·This Week in Australian Startups
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.
Roundup of four Australian raises: Firmus Technologies' US$2 billion round at a $15 billion valuation, Eudaemon's $3.75 million, Zabidou's $3.5 million seed round, and Rampart's $2.3 million.
Deep tech founder Cibby Pulikkaseril has banked a $3.5m seed for Zabidou, whose lasers inspect factory output, with Black Nova, Main Sequence and Antler backing; his earlier LiDAR venture Baraja folded.
Also SmartCompany
Profile of Zabidou, which builds laser-based AI vision systems for factory inspection without stopping production, led by a Baraja co-founder; invites readers to its upcoming Demo Day pitch night.
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
Nineteen early-stage companies join Startmate's Summer '26 accelerator intake, each receiving $120,000 for 7% equity — $2.28 million overall — spanning construction, healthcare, fintech, energy and manufacturing.