G’day, and welcome to this week’s edition of Overnight Success! Your weekly download on all the important things that happened in the Aussie startup ecosystem. 🚀 

An extra special welcome to the 52 new subscribers who’ve joined us since the last edition. 👋 

🔥 If your version of the newsletter gets cut short, never fear, you can read the full version without interruption here.

👀 Headlines 👀 

💫 Scott Farquhar has stepped down as Atlassian co-chief executive after founding the company 23 years ago. Read about his reflection on the journey here.

• Atlassian was founded in 2002. It now employs 11,000 people worldwide and generates over US$4B in revenue annually.

• Scott said his professional focus will now be on his family office, Skip Capital. Skip invests in startups, infrastructure and listed equities. On the philanthropic side, Scott will stay active with Skip Foundation and Pledge 1%.

• The move will leave Mike Cannon-Brookes as the CEO.

🎤 🌶️ The female funding debate (or lack of female funding debate) erupted over the week across social media following the announcement of a pre-rev startup, Kindling, raising a pre-seed of $500K.

• The debate kicked off on instagram where the criticism focused on a pre-revenue idea founded by two men securing decently sized pre-seed. The debate continued on LinkedIn with a callout to the Instagram post and a focus on bullying. 😬

• The full raise announcement is below. 👇️ 

⚡️Startup Retro⚡️

Veyor Digital raises $2.75M Series A to expand its logistics scheduling software into the U.S. market.

Founders: Richard Fifita & Stephen Rockett

Veyor Digital, a Sydney-based logistics scheduling software, has raised A$2.75 million in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Investible via its Early Stage Fund 2. This funding round also saw participation from various family offices, including Saniel Ventures and Gravel Road Ventures.

The investment will fuel Veyor's expansion in Australia and North America, where the company has already secured over 80 significant clients, including Turner Construction and Skanska. Veyor Digitals platform has applications across various industries, including construction, distribution centres, event management and facility management. The company recently partnered notably with John F. Kennedy International Air Terminal LLC in New York City, focusing on loading dock operations.

Veyor's platform aids construction supervisors and loading dock managers by improving communication and scheduling with suppliers and onsite teams. Specifically, the functionality includes helping with scheduling deliveries and product handling, personal scheduling, driver location tracking, loading dock management and automated access controls across security systems and boom gates. Overall, the focus is to help reduce delays and operational costs.

Veyor has established strong early traction and robust customer relationships in Australia with large local keynote customers like Vicinity Group's Chadstone Shopping Centre in Melbourne, the largest shopping centre in the southern hemisphere.

Due Diligence: Startup Daily, The Australian

Investment Notes: Investible

NextWork secures $2.3 Pre-Seed to build a learning platform to get more people into tech jobs

Founder: Amber Joseph.

NextWork, a Wellington-based EdTech company, has raised a $2.3 million Pre-seed funding round led by GD1. Blackbird, Icehouse Ventures, Phase One Ventures, and the founders of Eucalyptus also participated in the round. Amber, the founder, had a previous business called Cloud Station, which taught online courses for Salesforce, AWS, and Azure and scaled to $500k/year.

The new platform aims to bridge the tech skills gap by providing personalised learning experiences tailored to the needs of adult learners, such as those with full-time jobs or familial responsibilities. The rise coincides with an initiative to offer free AWS certification to 1,000 non-tech workers.

The platform offers an entry-level AWS certification course, promising a near-perfect pass rate for its initial student cohort. NextWork's approach is distinguished by its focus on ease of access and comprehensibility, preparing participants for a digital future without the traditional hurdles of tech education.

The key focus for NextWork is to solve the widening gap between technological advancements and the public's ability to keep pace. The thesis is current training programs are not suited for non-tech individuals, often causing newcomers to drop out early. NextWork addresses this by integrating crucial career services like interview preparation and industry networking into its course offerings, historically boosting participants' salaries by an average of $20,000.

The funding will also support the scaling of NextWork's course offerings and its global expansion. The first official cohort will commence later this year, with the self-paced course. You can join the waitlist for the free AWS certification here.

Due Diligence: Scoop N.Z.

Foremind finds a $400K follow-on investment for its mobile-friendly worker wellbeing platform.

Founder: Joel Anderson

Foremind, a Sydney-based workplace mental health platform, has secured an additional $400k follow-on investment from Skalata Ventures. This funding will support Foremind's pivot from a wellness enhancement tool to a crucial compliance solution in the face of stringent new psychosocial hazard legislation.

Foremind addresses a growing crisis in workplace mental health, which diminishes productivity and costs businesses significantly through lost working days and increased compensation claims. The platform offers a triple-tiered solution: providing mental health support to employees, helping employers meet compliance demands, and supplying counsellors with a steady client base.

Foremind's mobile platform allows employees discreet and immediate access to mental health resources and counselling services. For employers, it offers critical data insights into workforce wellbeing, aiding in compliance with new regulations that can penalise neglect of employee mental health. The platform's affordability and ease of integration make it a lifesaving tool within reach for many businesses.

Since its inception, the company has seen a 1000% growth, a doubling of client numbers, and significant team size and service scope expansion. Foremind's evolution from a basic MVP to a comprehensive compliance and wellbeing platform has set the stage for further expansion into New Zealand and potentially the U.S. market in 2024.

Due Diligence: O.S. Exclusive

RayGen shines with $51M Series D to scale photovoltaic solar module system

Founder: Dr John Lasich, CEO: Richard Payne

RayGen Resources, a Victorian solar power and thermal storage company has secured $51 million in a Series D funding round. The round includes $20 million from Breakthrough Victoria and a $31 million follow-on investment from NYSE-listed SLB. This capital injection supports RayGen's expansion into international markets and enhances its manufacturing capabilities.

RayGen has developed proprietary photovoltaic solar modules that concentrate sunlight to generate nearly 2,000 times more power than traditional systems. RayGen combines this technology with a thermal water-based storage system. This innovative approach enables high-efficiency, low-cost energy storage, providing on-demand electricity even when other renewable sources are unavailable. In layperson's terms, a field of mirrors focuses sunlight onto a single element that heats up water.

RayGen has been operating since 2015 with a test facility in Newbridge, Victoria. It's since established a flagship project in Carwarp, which features 4MW of solar power and 3MW/50MWh of storage, capable of delivering 17 hours of continuous power.

The new funding will also facilitate the commissioning of a 170 MW per annum manufacturing facility in Hawthorn East. The team has reached 85 employees, and RayGen is gearing up for rapid project delivery through increased automation and supply chain security.

Due Diligence: RayGen Announcement

Kindling raises $500K pre-seed to empower niche content creators to monetise

Founders: Sachin Shah and Adam Miller

Kindling, a Sydney-based media company, has emerged from stealth with a mission to empower niche content creators, including podcasters, TikTokers, and YouTubers. Co-founded by Sachin Shah and Adam Miller, the company has secured a $500,000 pre-seed investment from notable angles and AirTree. Angels include Daniel Petre (AirTree Co-founder), David Shein, Ben Thompson (Employment Hero Founder), Adam Milgrom (Giant Leap Partner)

At the core of the offering so far is the Adam and Sachin podcast, which has 160 episodes in the bank with the likes of Malcolm Turnbull, tech founders and international fund managers.

The startup aims to develop and offer AI-driven tools to enhance content creation and streamline the connection between creators and advertisers. Initially, Kindling will experiment with its own podcasts and newsletters to better understand the needs of content creators. This approach will help them refine the tools that creators genuinely need to boost their productivity and reach.

Kindling targets creators with an audience ranging from 1,000 to 100,000, providing them with free A.I. tools and access to a marketplace for potential advertising deals. Despite the challenging media landscape in Australia, marked by cost-cutting and a downturn in advertising, Kindling hopes to replicate the success seen in high-revenue U.S. tech podcasts that leverage niche, influential audiences.

Due Diligence: AFR

CoraMetix secures $500K at $2.25M valuation to create durable 3D printed heart valve

Founders: Dr Elena Juan Pardo and Dr Abdul Ihdayhid

West Australian-based CoraMetix, specialising in 3D-printed heart valves, has secured $500,000 in a seed funding round led by FundWA. The company aims to combat aortic stenosis—a severe condition where the aortic valve narrows, hindering blood flow and potentially leading to heart failure.

CoraMetix's innovation, the CoraMetix valve, is designed to offer a durable solution compared to traditional biological valves made from animal tissue, which often deteriorate within five years. The valve is created using specialised biopolymers manufactured by 3D printers, which reduces their price.

Co-led by Dr. Elena Juan Pardo and Dr. Abdul Ihdayhid, CoraMetix is developing a valve intended to last a patient's lifetime, hopefully eliminating the need for risky repeat surgeries. The funding is expected to propel the development of this life-extending technology, with the startup targeting its first human implant within the next two to three years. The investment brings CoraMetix's valuation to $2.25 million.

Due Diligence: The Australian

Outread raises $750K to revolutionise academic research using A.I.

Founders: Janhvi and Dhruv Sirohi and Anshika Singh

Outread, the AI-powered research and insights platform, has raised an oversubscribed $750,000 pre-seed round, with notable backing from Techstars and executives from Google and AWS, including Jeff Dean (Google Deepmind) and Fiona Bones.

Founded in 2023 by Janhvi and Dhruv Sirohi and Anshika Singh, Outread aims to revolutionise the way academic research is accessed and digested by professionals across various fields. The company was apart of the 2023 Techstars Australia cohort.

Outread is not just a simple ChatGPT for academia; it's designed to provide summaries of extensive academic papers, helping users stay abreast of developments without relying on secondary sources. This solution addresses the challenge posed by the annual publication of over 5 million research papers, making it tough for individuals to find and afford the information they need.

The platform integrates into existing company workflows, enhancing research and advisory efforts, assisting in proposal generation, and enriching case studies with substantiated data. It supports teams by establishing a common knowledge base drawn from the latest academic insights. Outread offers a subscription model at $20 per month, which is significantly more affordable compared to the high costs of individual journal articles.

Despite its focus on research papers, Outread currently does not serve academic institutions. Instead, it caters to rapid adopters like Big4 and tech companies, though strategies to engage academic institutions are being explored.

Due Diligence: SmartCompany

Deeligence lands $1M pre-seed to help legal firms streamline work with A.I.

Founders: Elena Tsalanidis and Justin Hansky

Melbourne-based Deeligence, a legal tech startup, has secured $1 million in pre-seed funding to enhance its AI-powered due diligence platform for lawyers. Co-founded by Elena Tsalanidis and Justin Hansky, the startup received backing from LaunchVic's Alice Anderson Fund.

Deeligence's platform streamlines the due diligence process by summarising and extracting critical information from legal documents, making advanced legal tools accessible to small law firms.

Deeligence's offers a secure, collaborative workspace that transforms manual and error-prone due diligence into a more efficient and standardised process. The platform includes features for real-time visibility of deal progress, efficient collaboration among team members, and enhanced fee transparency.

It also emphasises data security and reduced risk through automated tasks and full audit trails, empowering legal teams to focus on high-impact work. Deeligence is Currently used by firms like Lander & Rodgers and LexisNexis.

Due Diligence: AFR

Want to learn more about why we’re reporting these figures? Read about the ‘Funding the Balance’ initiative here.

🤑 Aussie Raisins 🤑

♻️ Cérge, a health tech platform aiming to enhance the daily experiences of the 4.4 million Australians living with a disability, is on the hunt for growth capital.

• Cérge's software allows venues to showcase accessible features and lets customers with disabilities, as well as their carers, discreetly inform service staff of their needs in advance, enhancing independence and participation.

• The platform is operational across Australia and New Zealand and targets the sports, hospitality, and retail sectors. Notable clients include IGA supermarkets and Belgravia Leisure.

• If you’re interested, let us know, and we will introduce you to the founders.

📌 Notice Board 📌 

🎤 Pitch Opps | 🚀 Accelerator/ Program |💰 Competition/Grant | 📅 Event

📆 iReel, Australian Sports Technologies Network and Overnight Success are partnering to host a networking event on the future of sports tech. 📍 Melbourne

• Engage with founders, industry leaders, and VCs and a couple professional athletes. The focus is on Gen AI in sports. VIPs in the discussion include Cody Weightman (Western Bulldogs) and Josh Kavanagh (Ciaron Maher racing). Limited spots, so register here!

📆 WYNnovation 2024 – The Festival Powering Human Connection – 14th to 17th May Melbourne

• Wyndham City is running a week-long festival featuring a Masterclass, The Summit, Summit Networking by Night, Grand Finale Pitch Competition and Wrap Party! For more information, head here

• OS has secured a special discount via this link here

📆 💰️ Tropical Innovation Festival - 17th - 21st June 📍Cairns

• Want to WIN A FREE TICKET to this amazing, one-of-a-kind startup festival? Well, you’re in luck! We’ve partnered with the lovely team at TIF to offer 2 tickets (which are almost sold out!) exclusively to our community. You can enter for your chance to win here!

• Don’t want to leave anything to chance? Check out the program & ticket options here.

🧠 KaaS (Knowledge as a Service)

Will’s Pick 💁‍♂️The ultimate guide to PR (for startups) with Emilie Gerber on Lenny’s podcast.

• The above is the high-level blog post and takeaways, but the podcast was well worth a listen for actionable insights and plenty of do’s and don’ts. Emilie explained a few faux pas that founders make when they’re trying to get a news placements. It was a little US-focused but still relevant to Australian founders.

Will’s Second Pick 💁‍♂️ Puddle Pod by Michael Batko (CEO Startmate) is gearing up for the next cohort for both the classic productivity course and the new AI course.

We’ve snagged a community discount of 10% for OS readers using code OVERNIGHT when you sign up.

• The Productivity course is a five-week course focused on simplification and optimization. It aims to be as practical as possible.

• The AI course gives you real practical exposure to using AI in your daily life.

• The best thing about it is meeting other cool people from the startup world. Learn more on both here!

Have we missed something? Got some feedback? We love emails, so send one over!

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‘Til next time,

👋 Will & Gemm