💌 Everything in Aussie Start-ups & Venture Capital! 14th of October

G'day and welcome to Overnight Success, the newsletter that quenches your Australian start-up thirst.

I'm looking to interview early-stage investors for a piece on the Australian market. If you're an angel, fund or have recently been a part of a 'friends and family round, please reach out' by sending an email!

Headlines:

• Airwallex closes round E (two) with a monster USD$100M in the bank. Airwallex maintained its previous US$5.5B valuation.

  • Total funding into the company has now hit $900M

  • Investors now include Square Peg, Salesforce Ventures, Sequoia Capital China, Lone Pine Capital, Hermitage Capital, 1835i Ventures, Tencent and HostPlus.

• Shippit acquires Singapore based start-up Luwjistik (AFR)

  • The deal is worth circa $18M and follows a $65M round in May which Shippit raised from Tiger Global and Tidal.

• Startmate hosted their Winter 2022 demo day featuring 12 companies. Check out the Twitter section for a quick summation of the cohort.

1. Start-up Retro: Australia's start-up raises with a smidge of context.

2. Notice Board: Signposting key events and opportunities in the ecosystem.

3. Accredited Tweeters: Snippets from Twitter!

4. (KaaS) Knowledge as a Service: Articles to make you smarter. Or share with co-workers to make them think you’re smart.

Start-up Retro 

Human Resources

🗞️ Reejig secures $17M in a Series B

Reejig secures $17M after locking away $15M in February 2022. Reejig provides entire visibility over a business's talent pool so human resources teams can understand their staff better. This allows organisations to utilise their internal staff first before looking externally. A few cool features include automatically updating staff profiles, a career skills graph for each employee and a nudge engine. The nudge engine gives your internal staff a digital heads-up about opportunities they should consider applying for. Salesforce Ventures led this round in what is a strategic investment, a Salesforce distribution of the Reejig platform will do wonders for growth. Previous investors in Reejig include Skip Capital and Airtree. A typical client for Reejig would be massive enterprises like Woolworths, Transport NSW and Coca-Cola.

Due Diligence: (Press release)

Crisis Management

🎮 Iluminr locks away $4.2M Series A following Optus Melt

Iluminr, the start-up that helps firms prepare for and respond to crisis has closed its Series A led by QBE Ventures. The platform looks to leverage gamification principles to help train organisations that are structured quite differently following Covid-19. The definition of a crisis is quite broad here, anything from floods, political unrest, and supply chain shortages to cyber attacks. The gamification principles are 15-minute online simulations that give feedback to team members - similar to a fire escape drill, but virtual. Iluminr already counts 50 customers including Ramsay HealthCare and The University of Sydey. The cash comes from a firm with a vested interest in making sure damages are minimal and will be used to expand the platform international with targets set in the USA.

Due Diligence: (Insurance News)

PropTech

🏠 PropHero brings forward Series A and raises $8M

PropHero is building an integrated online property investment service that includes strategy, acquisition coaching and dashboarding. The platform makes it easier for new investors to enter the market by removing barriers to entry. The company raised $1.6M 8 months ago but due to growth felt they needed to secure more funding. The cash will enable PropHero to build out its platform and add a slew of value-creating services. New services like mortgage broking, accounting, financial advisory and partnerships will enable PropHero to solidify its offering and capture more revenue. The round was led by Fifth Wall (a real estate-focused VC) with help from Samaipata, Jelix Ventures and AfterWork Ventures.

Due Diligence: (Start-up Daily)

Travel Tech

✈️ Travello jets off with a $10M Series B

Led by the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) with backup from Paspalis Innovation Investment Fund, Travello closed their $10M Series B. Travello is a social network for travellers that's experienced a 1000% increase in bookings since Covid. The company is similar to the wall of pamphlets you find at a hotel or backpackers in a digital and accessible format. The company is ready to pounce on the damaged travel industry. Last year, the company acquired Backpacker Deals and combined their offering into Travello. Travello focuses on the ‘travel experience’ market which includes multi-day tours, single-day tours and activities like kayaking or skydiving. The fresh capital will be used to continue acquiring cheap travel businesses and improve their bookings platform.

Due Diligence: (The SaaS News)

FoodTech

🥜 Foodini raises a $700k pre-seed round to help find restaurants that cater to dietary needs

The pre-seed round was led by Antler VC with several other angel investors pitching in. The Foodini app allows users to upload their dietary needs, from gluten-free to veganism. The start-up was founded in 2021 and spent lockdowns building relationships with local restaurants. The hard work paid off with over 2000 currently listed on the app in Sydney alone. The founder, Dylan McDonnell, has coeliac and always struggled to find places where he can eat. Restaurants find using the Foodini app a simpler method. Previously, they may have relied on phones or out-of-date menus. Foodini is setting itself up to capture the growing TAM of people with specific diary requirements and preferences.

Due Diligence: (Start-up Daily)

Other notable raises!

• SunDrive raises $21M in a series B round. The cash comes from various angels including Mike Cannon-Brooks, Cameron Adams (Canva) and Malcolm Turnbull. Funds included Main Sequence Ventures. (Smart Company)

  • SunDrive continues to create cheaper, efficient and sustainable solar panels.

• DIY Blinds locks away $15M at a $100M valuation from the Australian Business Growth Fund. (AFR)

  • The company removes the pain from manual ordering and sales people with an online only approach. Within the 121 staff, DIY Blinds has 50 designers to help you style your home.

  • DIY Blinds is building out an Augmented Reality display that allows customers to mock up their space.

• T-Shirt Ventures raises a series A with $11M of new cash.

  • T-Shirt Ventures is a healthtech start-up that helps people living with disabilities get more choice and control.

  • Their main products are called Provider Choice and HeyHubbl

• Jet Charge has partnered with the Victorian Government to expand operations across the state. The partnership comes with a $3.3M in public and private investment to also aid growth and R&D. (Press release)

  • Jet Charge builds and maintains EV charging stations across Australia that can be fitted to homes, commercial buildings and public spaces.

If you're a founder or investor who has just closed a round, please reach out!

Notice Board

• 🎪 Spark Festival is Australia’s event for startups, innovators and entrepreneurs happening both online and in person. 12-27 Oct. Check it out!

• Spark Festival also has a very good summary of Accelerators currently recruiting. Check it out. There are 14!!

• My Start-Up Gig: Over 3,000 Australian Start-up jobs are currently listed here.

Accredited Tweeters

(KaaS) Knowledge as a Service

• Michael Batko's ongoing series on 'How do you CEO'. On #6, Batko interviews Katherine McConnell the CEO of Brighte and runs through strategy, communication and accountability. Check it out here.

Have I missed something? Just want to say hi? I love emails so send one over!

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