Stone & Chalk tapped to lead new Tech Central Innovation Hub, with Fishburners joining as anchor partner
The partnership is a strategic bet on density, with the government moving startup services away from the city's traditional financial district to where it believes the true "centre of gravity for tech" now lies.
💌 Aussie Startup & VC Summary | 27th September, 2025
What do investors want to see in early-stage pitch decks? The R&D list has been released, and the crypto industry has received the nod from the treasury. This was a massive week for chips, robots and Seaweed. Plus, let's get a coffee in Sydney during SXSW, I'm shouting.
Blackbird VCs say your TAM slide is useless, here’s what they want in your early-stage pitch instead
Blackbird investors reveal what they really want to see in a pitch deck, and some common pitfalls that could be holding you back.
💌 Aussie Startup & VC Summary | 20th September, 2025
Startup and scale-up salary guide released, Australian startup valuations are now above COVID highs! Employment Hero & Seek head to court as investor and startup come to blows.
H3D lands $5.8M to bring its AI for custom hearing aids to the dental industry
After automating the custom hearing aid market, H3D is betting they can leverage their AI platform to disrupt the larger, slower dental industry.
💌 Aussie Startup & VC Summary | 13th September, 2025
VC gets the chop at NAB, PsiQuantum gets massive mark-up with new funding in a coup for the federal government. Scale makes its first close on a female-focused founder fund, and OS launches a VC-backed startups job board.
Andromeda lands $23M Series A for its 'emotionally intelligent' humanoid robot built to combat loneliness
Led by Forerunner Ventures, the round is Australia's largest woman-led Series A this year and will fund the US expansion of its companion robot, Abi, into the aged care sector.
Freckle raises $6.1M Seed to simplify CRM data enrichment, taking aim at Clay
Backed by Google's AI-focused seed fund, meet the RevOps platform founded by second time founder aims to make data enrichment effortless with natural language and "agentic AI."
💌 Aussie Startup & VC Summary | 6th September, 2025
SPVs on the surge as tokenised equity shakes up secondaries; Blackbird/Airtree miss women-founder targets; Rokt hits $7.2b; Birchal lifts fees and gets lean; Airwallex & Atlassian buy; Nutromics/Aether/Litmaps raise; Samsara opens first ever plant!
💌 Aussie Startup & VC Summary | 30th August, 2025
Alternative VC funds are on the rise, marking maturity in the sector. Sydney Startup Hub closes and Tech Central Innovation Hub doesn't have an operator yet, but OpenAI is arriving to Australia with a Sydney Office!
💌 Aussie Startup & VC Summary | 23rd August, 2025
A big week with the launch of the first secondaries fund for VC LPs, another valuation increase for Canva, the announcement of Startmate's winter cohort, and six new capital raises.
Meet Startmate’s Winter 2025 Accelerator cohort
From at-home healthcare to AI workmates, these startups are turning tomorrow's dreams into today's reality
Advance VC launches $15M fund to buy out stakes from Limited Partners wanting liquidity
Australia’s first dedicated VC secondary fund aims to provide liquidity to early investors who have been waiting a decade or more for returns as unicorns stay private for longer.
💌 Aussie Startup & VC Summary | 16th August, 2025
Blackbird annouce fund VI with $700M expected to close in September, Airwallex hits US$900m revenue and NSW is about to get a bunch more startup events.
Ecotone Partners launches $25M Planet Fund to plug the “Missing Middle” in climate tech financing
The new $25M Planet Fund uses a unique debt-and-equity model to back capital-intensive climate companies overlooked by traditional VCs.
AI ad-gen platform Cuttable tops up seed round to $10M to automate creative for DTC brands
The AI platform helps brands "feed the hungry algorithm" by generating hundreds of on-brand ad variations in minutes.
💌 Aussie Startup & VC Summary | 9th August, 2025
Airtree's new $650M fund has landed, Lorikeet 10x revenue since October and hits $200M valuation, Tank Stream Labs arrives in Adelaide, and Deeligence is heading to San Fran after winning the regional Startup World Cup!
Google announces second cohort of AI-first accelerator
Google is looking Down Under for the next big thing in artificial intelligence. The tech giant today pulled back the curtain on its 2025 cohort
💌 Aussie Startup & VC Summary | 2nd August, 2025
Gilmour Rocket launches! Are Canva's latest secondaries at ~$37B valuation undervalued? New Figma shareholders say so.
💌 Aussie Startup & VC Summary | 28th July, 2025
VC exits surge in H1, Employment Hero in legal battle with previous lead investor, Seek, and Queensland's investments into its startup ecosystem start to bear fruit with $417 million deployed in FY25. Plus, 10 startups announce raises.