💌 Aussie Startup & VC Summary | 11th January 2025

G’day, happy New Year and welcome to this week’s edition of Overnight Success - your weekly download on all the important things that have happened in the Aussie startup ecosystem 🚀 .

This week we’re catching you up on all the key stories from over the Summer holidays, since our last edition on the 21st of December.

A very special welcome to the 23 new subscribers who joined us over the break. Thanks for your patience for your first edition - it’s great to have you here!

It’s bound to be yet another exciting year to be part of the startup ecosystem, and whether you’re new to all-things Aussie startups or are a certified-stalwart, we’ll be with you every week, helping you stay across the latest and greatest news and events*.

If you want to be more involved in the Overnight Success community this year as a supporter, sponsor or partner? We’d love to hear from you! Just hit reply to this email and say hi, or reach out to us on LinkedIn 👋 .

*My co-founder and newsletter writing partner-in-crime Will Richards will be back properly next week after a well earned break carving up the ski slopes in Japan! ⛷️ 

👀 Headlines 👀 

⚖️ Culture Amp's financials reveal significant growth amid substantial losses (AFR)

• Melbourne-based HR tech startup Culture Amp, which is considered one of Australia’s best startup success stories, reported a 50% increase in revenue to $150 million for the 2024 financial year.

• Despite the revenue growth, the company experienced a net loss of $80 million, attributed to increased operational expenses and investments in product development.

⛔ FinTech Australia warns against banning payment surcharges (Startup Daily)

• After months of consulting with the peak body’s member base of over 400 companies and commissioning its own research, industry peak body FinTech Australia has released its official position on the Federal Government’s move to ban surcharges on debit card payments, cautioning that prohibiting them could hinder competition, limit consumer choice, and stifle fintech innovation.

• The organisation instead suggests enhancing transparency in the card payments sector and promoting surcharge-free payment options like the New Payments Platform (NPP) and PayID.

👋 Birchal appoints Kirstin Hunter as interim CEO as Matt Vitale steps down

• Matt Vitale, co-founder and CEO of the crowdfunding platform Birchal, has stepped down after nearly eight years at the helm, citing the need for a leadership change to support the company’s next phase whilst also allowing him to find greater work-life balance. (Startup Daily)

• Kirstin Hunter, a highly respected leader in the Aussie startup ecosystem and the current Managing Director of Techstars Tech Central Sydney, has stepped in as interim CEO. Kirstin is also a ‘Vinemaker’ at Grapevine, co-founded Future Super, and has worked with us at Overnight Success, alongside Preethi Mohan, to tackle funding inequality through the Funding the Balance project. Read Kirstin’s post about the announcement on LinkedIn.

• At the end of 2024, Birchal raised $2 million in just over 24 hours through its own crowdfunding platform, reinforcing strong investor confidence and its leadership in the sector.

👯 LaunchVic expands board and introduces Basecamp for executive hiring support (Startup Daily)

• Victorian startup agency LaunchVic has appointed four new directors: Charlie Day, Chaman Sidhu, Brigitte Smith, and Geoff Tarrant, to strengthen its leadership.

• LaunchVic has also launched Basecamp, an educational program designed to assist startup founders in making executive hires, supporting the growth of Melbourne's startup ecosystem.

💰 Employment Hero acquires Canadian HR platform Humi for $112M (AFR)

• Employment Hero has made headlines again with its acquisition of Canadian employment platform Humi for $112 million, marking its expansion into the North American market. Humi launched in 2016 as part of a Y Combinator (Silicon Valley accelerator) cohort and offers software with features similar to that of Employment Hero.

• This follows a series of high-profile media stories in late 2024, including its $43.4 million acquisition of Employment Innovations, a professional services firm owned by its CEO and co-founder Ben Thompson.

• The company has also faced scrutiny over its internal culture, with reports (led by Capital Brief) highlighting challenges in its workplace environment, keeping the spotlight firmly on its practices and growth strategy.

💸 Richard White sells over $440 million in WiseTech shares amid personal and professional upheaval (Startup Daily)

• White, founder of Australian logistics software company WiseTech Global, sold 3.56 million shares between October and December 2024, reducing his stake from 37.7% to 36.3%.

• According to Startup Daily, the sales coincided with White's resignation as CEO (on the 24th of October) amid allegations of inappropriate behaviour, which led to a temporary decline in WiseTech's share price before it rebounded, although paused for around five weeks between 17th of October 17 and 25th of November when the media storm was at its height.

🔽 Seer Medical enters voluntary administration amid product recall and cofounder legal dispute with Breakthrough Victoria (Startup Daily)

• Seer Medical, a Victorian medtech startup specialising in at-home epilepsy monitoring, has been placed into voluntary administration following significant cash flow issues and a product recall. 

• Pitcher Partners will take over operations as they prepare it for sale or restructure. 

• The company's co-founder, Dr. Dean Freestone, is currently engaged in a legal battle against government-backed investor Breakthrough Victoria (BV), alleging unfair dismissal and claiming he was forced out as part of a funding arrangement. Just catching up on this story? Here’s the original article from the AFR that announced Freestone was suing BV.

⚡️ Startup Retro ⚡️

Sitemate secures $27.5M Series A to transform industrial workflows

Founders: Hartley Pike & Sam McDonnell

Sydney-headquartered Sitemate has raised $27.5 million in a Series A funding round led by Blackbird Ventures, with additional backing from existing investors Shearwater Capital and Marbruck. The company, founded by CEO Hartley Pike and VP of Product Strategy Sam McDonnell, is pioneering software solutions for the construction, energy, and mining industries.

Sitemate’s no-code platform offers a highly adaptable way for companies in the "built world" to digitise their processes. By simplifying project delivery documentation and automating data workflows, the company aims to replace inefficient, one-size-fits-all systems with tools that users can customise to their specific operational needs.

The fresh capital will support Sitemate’s product development and engineering initiatives while fuelling international expansion. Over the last year, the company has doubled its team to 140 employees and established new offices in London, Vancouver, and Toronto. A U.S. hub in Austin, Texas, is set to launch in 2025, focusing on the central U.S. market.

Sitemate’s focus on flexible and user-friendly software has resonated strongly with industrial companies, many of which have struggled with rigid, off-the-shelf solutions that fail to meet their specific needs. By offering customisable tools that are easy to adopt, Sitemate has gained significant traction across its target industries.

This funding positions Sitemate to further accelerate its vision of redefining industrial project management with user-friendly, customisable solutions designed for real-world challenges.

Due Diligence: Startup Daily, SMH

WearOptimo raises $8M advance hydration monitoring technology

Founder: Mark Kendall

Brisbane-based health-tech startup WearOptimo has secured $8 million in a funding round led by healthcare provider Aspen Medical, with participation from former Formula 1 driver Mark Webber and ex-Newcastle Knights player Adam 'Mad Dog' MacDougall. This latest funding round follows a previous $5 million Series A raise in November 2022 (according to Tracxn).

Founded by biomedical engineer Professor Mark Kendall, WearOptimo is developing Microwearable™ sensors designed to monitor hydration levels in real-time. These minimally invasive devices aim to provide accurate, on-the-spot health data, potentially replacing the need for frequent blood tests.

WearOptimo's hydration monitoring technology has broad applications across sectors such as mining, aged care, construction, and sports, where maintaining optimal hydration is critical. The company is also developing sensors for early detection of cardiovascular events, focusing on areas where timely intervention can significantly improve health outcomes.

The company has also secured $10 million in grant funding and recently inaugurated the first phase of its Advanced Manufacturing Facility (AMF) in Brisbane. This facility is pioneering the use of Nanoimprint Lithography (NIL) in health-tech, enabling the scalable production of up to 30 million sensors annually. 

With this new investment, WearOptimo is poised to accelerate the development and commercialisation of its Microwearable™ sensor technology, aiming to make advanced health monitoring accessible and affordable on a global scale.

Due Diligence: Startup Daily, Tracxn

🤑 New Fund, Who’s This? 🤑 

Dominic Pym unveils “Oceania’s first fintech-focused investment fund” (LinkedIn Post)

• Dom Pym, co-founder of Up Bank and founder of family office Euphemia, kicked off the new year with a splash announcing the launch of Tripple Bubble, a fit-for-purpose fintech fund designed to support fintech startups across Oceania.

• Tripple Bubble aims to amplify fintech founders' strengths by providing tailored investment support, spanning pre-product startups to ‘Series X’ funding, secondary markets, and even public markets.

🎉 Wins 🎉 

HEX partners with Toyota to deliver free STEM training (HEX)

• Victorian edtech startup, HEX has partnered with the Toyota Community Trust to launch the Highway to STEM program, aiming to provide free STEM career training to 1,000 female and non-binary students from regional schools across Australia.

• The Highway to STEM initiative seeks to demystify STEM career pathways and empower underrepresented groups by offering accessible education and mentorship, thereby addressing the lower representation of regional Australians in STEM fields.

Grok Academy acquired by KIK Innovation, ensuring continuity of student tech education platform (Startup Daily)

• Grok Academy, a digital skills e-learning platform for schools, has been acquired by Adelaide-based KIK Innovation following the resignation of founder and former CEO Dr. James Curran amid allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

• KIK Innovation, known for initiatives like 42 Adelaide—a tuition-free coding school—aims to rebuild and continue Grok Academy's mission to provide coding education to students, ensuring the platform's survival and future growth.

📆 Notice Board 📆 

The startup events calendar is just beginning to ramp up again for 2025…!

The best place to find upcoming events to attend, and promote any events you’re hosting in the ANZ Startup Events Calendar.

Would you like to promote an event or an opportunity? Enquire about a Notice Board promotion here.

🧠 KaaS (Knowledge as a Service)

Gem’s Pick 💁‍♀️ AUKUS Investigated - Global Roaming podcast (ABC Listen)

• While there’s been no shortage of headlines about AUKUS over the last few years, I’ve personally still struggled to get a deep, balanced view of the pros and cons of the deal for Australia, and its potential implications. This 6-part podcast series is a deep dive into the AUKUS deal, including perspectives from several impressive expert guests.

• As someone who grew up in Adelaide and plans to move back soon (👀), I’m keeping a close eye on how AUKUS and the broader defence industry in SA is evolving - particularly as it relates to the tech industry, as the state positions itself more and more as the nation’s leading location for defence, cyber security and space startups. It’s a fairly under-reported and under-appreciated growth area that’s set to deliver huge financial returns for investors, governments and Australians more broadly - one to watch in 2025!

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‘Til next time,

👋 Will & Gem

🔨 Tool Box 🔧 

We’re often asked for recommendations for tools, agencies, and evening up-skilling opportunities. We’ve contacted a few of our favourite tools and people and secured some discounts for you! Our community.