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. 🇦🇺 🚀 Special welcome to the 45 new subscribers who joined since last weekend 👋 

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This week’s edition includes our growing toolbox of services we love down the bottom! OS Super Heroes get the premium list, and the next five OS Super Heroes will get a free ticket to Startmate Demo night. 🎟️ 👀 

👀 Headlines 👀 

🌞 Australia passes mandatory climate disclosure law, opening the door for Climate Tech boom! (ASIC Release)

• The law requires climate-related financial disclosures for large businesses and financial institutions, effective in 2025, aligning with global frameworks like the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

• Companies must report climate risks, their financial impacts, and mitigation efforts, bringing climate considerations into boardrooms and balance sheets.

• We expect that startups that have solutions in emissions tracking, data analysis, energy-efficient technologies, and carbon credits will be pretty chuffed by this new law.

🔍️ Blurred lines in investor comms suggest headline raise figures may not always be actual. (Capital Brief)

• Equity raises often combine secondary sales, debt facilities, or bridging rounds, making reporting the exact amount of fresh capital raised difficult. 

• Startups also want to convey a strong message to investors, customers, and stakeholders, and they may feel reporting combined numbers is best for morale. 

• Recently, startups like SafetyCulture and Employment Hero have reported funding rounds that differ significantly from official records. Employment Hero has a $322 million gap between official announcements and ASIC records. 

🥼 Aussie R&D investment and output is falling behind global peers as the business sector underinvests (InnovationAus)

• Australia's R&D expenditure remains 1.68% of GDP, still the lowest among major trading partners like Japan, Korea, and the USA.

  • For comparison, Israel, Kora and Germany have committed to hitting a 3% R&D expenditure target. 

• Our higher education sector contributes 35% to national R&D, which is also much higher than that of its global peers. This reflects a structural imbalance in which the business sector contributions lag.

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⚡️ Startup Retro ⚡️

Kismet adds another $20M for a $32.5M seed round for NDIS marketplace as valuation surges

Founder: Mark Woodland

Melbourne-based NDIS startup Kismet has secured $32.5 million in a seed round, with Singaporean investor MassMutual Ventures joining its cap table. Kismet, founded in 2023 by entrepreneur Mark Woodland, connects people to healthcare and support providers, focusing on the $44 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) sector. Mark previously founded Xplor, a childcare software business. Early backers, including Black Nova, Flying Fox, and Airtree Ventures who invested in its initial $4 million pre-seed raise.

In March, the seed round saw $16.5 million initially raised from Prosus Ventures and Airtree Ventures. Kismets valuation surged between the two funding points due to significant growth, with its annual recurring revenue exceeding $10 million and expected to hit $20 million by year-end. 

Kismet helps plan managers connect with NDIS providers through its marketplace. Clients can also use the Kismet platform to understand where their personal NDIS budget is being spent. The tooling can increase the efficiency of plan managers, who were often laboured by paperwork representing their clients. 

Kismet has grown rapidly, acquiring a marketplace provider and jobs board, signing up 70,000 healthcare providers, 10,000 support coordinators, and 20,000 NDIS participants, making it one of Australia's largest NDIS plan managers. 

This investment highlights Kismet's potential to consolidate a fragmented NDIS care landscape while attracting major foreign investors like MassMutual and Prosus Ventures.

Due Diligence: AFR

Primary secures $3.5M seed investment to help startups and SMEs manage idle capital better

Founder: Ben Buckingham

Sydney-based treasury management startup Primary has raised $3.5 million in a seed round led by Carthona Capital. The startup aims to revolutionise how Australian businesses manage cash flow. Other investors in the round included Macdoch Ventures, Archangel, AfterWork Ventures, No Brand, and SEA-based Fintech specialist Resolution Ventures. 

Founded by Ben Buckingham in 2022, Primary works with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and freshly funded startups, offering them better access to treasury management tools typically reserved for large corporations. The seed round brings Primary's total funding to $4.75 million.

Primary spreads client cash across high-interest accounts, term deposits, and fixed-income funds via partners such as Morgan Stanley and Macquarie, offering startups a blended interest rate above 5%. With around 40 clients, including Constantinople and Vow, Primary's services have become increasingly valuable, particularly after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in 2023, which highlighted the risks of relying on a single bank. For some startups, the extra income via interest enables them to hire an extra team member or extend runway.

Primary generates revenue through subscription fees for its cash management platform. The company plans to use the funds to expand its platform and grow its funds under administration from $150 million to $1 billion over the next two years.

Due Diligence: AFR, Capital Brief, Startup Daily

Willed lands $3M to grow end-of-life planning as a service platform

Founders: David Kaplan, Aaron Zelman and Tim Glasson

Australian online will-writing platform Willed has secured a strategic $3 million investment from Seven West Media, with an option for an additional $3 million. The deal, backed by billionaire Alex Waislitz's Thorney Investment Group and Ellerston Capital, aims to accelerate Willed's growth over the next two years. It appears the investment was made by Seven West Ventures which is the early-stage investment arm of SWM. 

Founded in 2020 by David Kaplan, Aaron Zelman, and Tim Glasson, Willed provides an online platform for will-writing, estate planning, and end-of-life services. With over 100,000 Australians using the platform and more than $500 million bequeathed to charities, the company is now the leading player in the Australian end-of-life services market.

Willed plans to use the relationship with Seven Media to increase market penetration, mainly when the cost of living pressures make affordable end-of-life planning critical. The platform has expanded beyond wills to include powers of attorney, prepaid funeral plans, and probate services.

Seven West Media plans a national TV campaign to boost brand awareness. Willed's rapid rise reflects the growing demand for accessible estate planning, especially as Australia undergoes its largest generational wealth transfer in history.

Due Diligence: Willed Blog, The Australian 

East Forged raises $1.5M to expand FMGC brand into South East Asia

Founders:  Kym Cooper and Tania Stacey

Australian cold-brew tea company East Forged has raised $1.5 million in a funding round led by Global Mind Agriculture Australia, the venture arm of Vietnam's TTC AgriS. East Forged, known for its craft cold-brew teas made without added sugars or artificial flavours, will use the funds to expand its presence in the Asian market, including South Korea and Japan.

Founded in 2020 by tea experts Kym Cooper and Tania Stacey, East Forged has gained a loyal following with its naturally brewed iced teas infused with nitrogen for a creamy, velvety texture. Tania Stacey is a World Tea Brewing Champion, while Kym Cooper was previously a tea consultant. 

With distribution already established in Australian retailers like IGA and Harris Farm, the funding will help East Forged boost production, improve distribution networks, and enter premium retail and boutique cafes in Asia. The company is committed to sustainability, sourcing tea from local ethical growers and ensuring an eco-friendly production process. The nitrogen infusion, inspired by the smooth pour of Guinness, sets the brand apart in the growing health-focused beverage market.

Due Diligence: The Australian, Smart Company, Food & Drink Business, Inside FMGC

Yesterday lands pre-seed from Antler for an AI screening tool for hiring teams

Founders:  Millie Marconi and Katharine Suy

HR tech startup Yesterday, co-founded by Millie Marconi and Katharine Suy in August 2023, aims to revolutionise recruitment with its AI-powered platform. Backed by Antler Australia in a pre-seed round, Yesterday uses real-time market intelligence to help companies make data-driven hiring decisions, reducing time-to-hire by up to 50%.

Yesterday is solving the outdated traditional recruitment processes that lead to inefficiency and high costs. Recruitment expenses will skyrocket to $20,000 per hire in 2024. Yesterday addresses this challenge by offering tailored screening tools and insights into talent supply, demand, and market competition, helping companies optimise hiring while promoting fairness and diversity.

The platform is powered by AI and delivers insights about your company's open roles. These include role supply and demand, how your company's job offerings stack up against competitors, and customized strategies to slash time-to-hire by up to 50%. The platform is already demonstrating success, with a projected six-figure revenue by Q4.

Due Diligence: Startup Daily

🤝 Wins 🤝

🖥️ Quantum Brilliance Lands Major German Contract, Boosting Global Expansion and putting Aussie Quantum on the world stage (Capital Brief)

• Canberra-based Quantum Brilliance reports generating "tens of millions" in revenue, winning a $15 million contract with Germany’s top cybersecurity agency to develop a mobile quantum computer by 2027.

• Unlike competitors, Quantum Brilliance’s devices are compact, room-temperature, and diamond-based, making them more portable. Quantum Brilliance are building computers with 50 qubits which are less powerful than PsiQuantum’s million-qubit mainframes.

🚀 Notice Board 🚀 

☕️ For our Sydney siders, grab a free breakfast and coffee from Primary, which is hosting a session on how Australia’s best startups, like Eucalyptus, Kismet, and Lyka, are managing their parked capital.

• Kicking off at 9:00 AM in Sydney on Tuesday, October 15, in the CBD: Grab your free spot here.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑫𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒓 𝑩𝒓𝒖𝒏𝒄𝒉™️ returns to Sydney this Tuesday with a pretty epic panel including Rick Baker (Blackbird Ventures), Carol Schwartz (Female Led Ventures) Kristy Chong (ModiBodi) and Alex Schuman (Carla Zampatti). 

• International Convention & Exhibition Centre Sydney from 12:00-2 PM. Register here!

👀 Vibe Check 👀 

🧠 KaaS (Knowledge as a Service)

Will’s Pick 💁‍♂️ Limited Supply - How to Hit 100K revenue, a podcast on DTC brand building (mostly on e-commerce). Spotify Link.

• The whole episode is quite insightful, but specifically, the 17-minute landing page section segment can be used for any business or product. The big take away? Any landing page or conversation page should answer the following questions.

1. What are you selling?

2. Why should I care?

3. How fast can I get it?

4. How will it make my life better?

5. How does this compare to other products on the market?

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

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‘Til next time,

👋 Will & Gem

🔨 Tool Box 🔧 

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