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. 🇦🇺 🚀 

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👀 Headlines 👀 

🚗 Uber’s Carshare division in Australia shut down by Uber, after the acquisition of Aussie startup Car Next Door (AFR)

• Uber acquired Car Next Door for $105 million in 2022 as a first step into the car-sharing market globally.

• Car Next Door, co-founded by Will Davies and Dave Trumbull, who led the division post-acquisition, enabled users to rent out their cars in a model very similar to Airbnb. Car Next Door raised a total of $25 million from its investors before being acquired.

• The exit of the tech giant from the category opens the door for local competition, including Turo and Drive Mate, which offer similar products, while car subscription models are offered by Carly, Carbar, and GoGet.

• Before Uber's acquisition, Car Next Door featured investments from Hyundai, Suncorp, Ampol, venture capitalists, and angels like Wayne Baskin from Superhero, Roger Allen, and Steve Baxter.

🏦 Airwallex gets its ducks in a row for IPO

• Airwallex has hit $500M ARR, and is reportedly intending to be IPO-ready by 2026. (CNBC)

  • Airwallex was most recently valued at $5.6B and is seeing its Americas regional revenue grow by more than 300%.

⛏️ WA State Government looks to support local startup investment by attracting Venture Capital firms, in a move similar to Queensland and Victoria (Innovation Aus)

• The WA state government will co-invest in private VC funds to accelerate and develop the VC industry and will have an LP relationship with local funds. 

• The ‘Venture Capital Initiative’ has a focus on 8 core pillars, including energy, tourism, education, defence, mining, space, healthcare and primary industry.

🎸 A first of its kind, The Centre for Arts, Sports & Technology - CAST - officially launches

• The new organisation, led by Gav Parry and Ella Petite, aims to foster collaboration between the technology sector and entertainment businesses, alongside a vision to drive a resilient and prosperous entertainment industry.

• CAST’s emergence couldn’t be more timely as the Australian entertainment industry faces immense pressure to innovate in order to survive in a post-COVID world and difficult economic climate (which Gav has written about extensively for our monthly newsletter, Pulse Check!).

• Startups and scale-ups building in the entertainment and fantech space are invited to create a free profile via the CAST website for a first chance access to showcase opportunities, visibility to the sector, and a growing community of passionate founders.

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⚡️ Startup Retro ⚡️

Metakosmos takes off with $2M pre-Seed for space suit technology

Founders: Kiriti Rambhatla and Renuka Rambhatla

Sydney-based startup Metakosmos has secured $2 million in a pre-Seed round led by Saudi tech group Alzadhar Al-Sanai. The funds will propel the development of the Kosmosuit, an advanced spacesuit designed for both extraterrestrial and extreme terrestrial environments. The Kosmosuit, featuring a modular design with base layers, exosuits, and proprietary telemetry software, aims to revolutionise space technology and extend into new markets and applications.

Metakosmos, founded by Kiriti and Renuka Rambhatla, brings together a team of engineers, doctors, and scientists to address the challenges of human spaceflight. The vision is to democratising spacesuit access and astronaut training. Since winning the space category at the SXSW Sydney pitch competition, Metakosmos has gone on to secure a $250,000 grant from NASA’s Artemis program, an NSW government MVP grant

The funding follows the growth of space missions in the last decade, led by organisations like SpaceX and NASA. Furthermore, sovereign nations including Australia, the USA, India, and emerging economies like Saudi Arabia have a growing interest in space. The funding will support scaling the Kosmosuit and advancing its hardware, software, and services.

Due Diligence: Startup Daily

LoveHeart.AI lands a $2.3M Seed round for automation toolset in the childcare and early education sector

Founder: Himal Randenmiya

Early childhood edtech startup LoveHeart AI has raised $2.3 million in a Seed round led by OIF Ventures and Skalata. Founded in 2022 by Himal Randeniya, LoveHeart AI aims to ease the administrative burden on educators using AI technology. The platform transforms time-consuming assessment tasks into quick reports, saving educators an average of 4.2 hours per week. Additionally, its AI-based “Coach Sue” offers activity suggestions and reflections on learning outcomes.

The early childhood sector is experiencing critical staffing issues where high staff turnover—exacerbated by workload intensity—plagues the sector. Nearly two-thirds of educators believe AI tools can improve retention, and 83% of LoveHeart users report enhancements in their educational programs. The announcement coincides with new research released this week by Victoria University highlighting that one in four Aussie kids have severely limited access to child care and about 700,000 people have virtually no access at all.

Randeniya, who reinvested proceeds from his first venture, Project Academy, into LoveHeart AI, emphasises that the technology is developed by and for educators, not tech outsiders. Randeniya also experienced the challenges and burnout faced by educators in his own childcare centres. 

LoveHeart AI has experienced rapid adoption since its launch with over 40,000 educators using the platform, mostly discovering the platform through word of mouth.

Due Diligence: Smart Company, Startup Daily

Bike Matrix spins up with NZ$2M in funding for bicycle parts compatibility system

Founders: Adam Barnes, Adam Townsend and Lyndal Bailey 

Rotorua-based Bike Matrix, a Kiwi startup transforming global bicycle parts sales, has secured NZ$2 million in Seed funding. The B2B platform offers a unique compatibility solution that lets users select a bike and instantly see which parts fit. The investors, who chose to remain disclosed, are apparently industry insiders providing crucial market validation and expertise. 

Founded by bike mechanics Adam Townsend and Lyndal Bailey, the platform addresses a major issue in cycling—matching parts with bikes, a process traditionally reliant on physical inspections and industry knowledge. Bike Matrix’s technology assesses the compatibility of components for any bicycle, streamlining processes for online stores, retail systems, workshops, B2B, ERP systems, fleet management, and bike design. 

Townsend, the system's architect, and Bailey, also a seasoned bike mechanic, are set to expand their team and enhance Bike Matrix’s offerings with the new funding. The platform now supports 80 component brands and major global bike brands, with ongoing integration plans.

Bike Matrix aims to become the standard for bike parts compatibility, akin to the automotive industry’s approach. For the automotive industry, platforms exist like RockAuto and Auto Zone, allowing users to search for parts based on their car make and model.

Due Diligence: Startup Daily, Bike Europe, BicycleRetailer.com

Funding the Balance | Weekly Edition

*Includes conversion of NZ$2M raise from Bike Matrix to AUD as at 23rd August.

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

🎉 Wins 🎉 

🗺️ BindiMaps, an indoor navigation tool for the vision-impaired, has secured the Australian Post as a new customer in Sydney and Melbourne. (Smart Company)

• BindiMaps raised $4 million in 2021 in a round led by Artesian and then received a $1 million grant from the NSW Small Business Innovation and Research program. 

• The platform uses simple camera technology, such as that found on smartphones and GoPros, to create digital twins of well-trafficked locations like train stations or post offices. 

• BindiMaps charges customers $2 per square meter on a subscription model plus a set-up fee. 

• Now the challenge is to teach the guide dogs to use the App… 😜 

🌻The ambitious SunCable renewable energy project, which plans to build Australia's biggest solar farm in the Northern Territory, has had the first stage approved by the Federal government.

🎉 M&A 🎉

🧭 Advanced Navigation, now profitable, is on the lookout for acquisition targets to fuel expansion. (Capital Brief)

• Advanced Navigation was founded in 2021 and last raised $108M. The business focuses on navigational tools and sensors that can work in abnormal environments like below sea level and above the atmosphere. 

• The core product, DFOG, provides positioning capabilities more precise than traditional GPS systems, often where GPS doesn’t work. 

• Advanced Navigation counts Intuitive Machines, Lockheed Martin and Tesla as customers. 

• Former Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull is on the board and invested in their 2018 round.

🏗️  Sitemate acquires Nomad Fleet in a deal bringing together two platforms focused on operations in construction. 

• Nomad Fleet was acquired for $2 million and focuses on asset management for equipment in large projects like bulldozers and diggers. Sitemate focuses on project delivery and operational management of construction sites. The latter was recently valued between $100-200 million by Startmate this year with Blackbird investing in their $5.2 million Seed round in 2022. 

• Both startups previously took part in the Startmate accelerator program, with Nomad Fleet participating in the Winter23 cohort and Sitemate as part of a 2017 cohort.

🔔 Notice Board 🔔 

⚕️ Have an idea for health innovation? The MedTech Actuator is calling for superhero founders to join Origin 2024 – a program for emerging MedTech, BioTech and HealthTech ventures.

• Join the pitch bootcamp in September to transform your idea into an early stage startup and compete for a $15K prize pack! Head here to find out more and apply before Aug 26!

🧠 KaaS (Knowledge as a Service)

Gem’s Pick 💁‍♀️ Building B2B Startup Marketing Org Charts, by Emily Kramer from MKT1

• Hiring marketing experts is, in my opinion (and Emily’s!), one of the hardest hiring jobs for a startup to do. Marketing includes such a broad array of potential skill sets and figuring out what combination of people you need is incredibly challenging - especially when you’re still figuring out what “works” for your startup’s marketing.

• This article explains super clearly how to think about this for B2B startups as you grow, and introduces the idea of hiring ‘producers’ once you have 5+ marketing team members, to help bridge the silos between individuals/ teams with different focuses.

Will’s Pick 💁‍♂️ Thrive, Consolidate or Die by Abhishek Maran from Rampersand

• “Competition is for losers”. Abhi highlights that in the current market, perhaps it’s easier for a startup to build in the blue ocean market than one surrounded by competition. It's a worthwhile read, especially if you’re a founder in the earlier stages.

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‘Til next time,

👋 Will & Gem