Four Australian startups that landed $69.5 million in funding this week
After a quiet week, funding is back in business in Australia with four startups receiving over $69 million over the last few days.
Last week was a little quiet in the funding space, but we’re back with a $69.5 million spread across four Australian startups — beating out the $66 million we saw a fortnight ago. And that’s mostly due to one rather larger raise in particular.
Eucalyptus: $50 million
Digital health company Eucalyptus has the bulk of the VC cash this week with a chunky $50 million.
Founded in 2019, Eucalyptus is home to a suite of health brands targeting different demographics, including men and women’s health (particularly in regards to weight loss), skincare and sexual wellness.
This is the third bumper funding round for the startup, which landed $60 million in January 2022 and $30 million just six months earlier. It also received $8 million in Series A back in 2020.
But it hasn’t been without its fair share of controversy.
MadeComfy: $10 million
Short-term rental platform, MadeComfy, has raised $10 million in a combination of VC funding and debt. The round was led by Commencer Capital and joined by MC Fiduciary, BridgeLane Capital and private investors. It previously raised $1.1 million in 2017 and $6 million in 2018.
Founded in 2015, MadeComfy is designed for flexible accommodation options in the short-term rental market. According to the company, the round will be used to expand further across Australia as well as upgrade its tech and analytics platform.
“When the COVID-19 pandemic set in, our focus shifted from growth to survival. We knew that retaining our team at all costs would determine our ability to thrive on the other side of the crisis. We implemented flexible hours across the workplace, loaned our team members to other startups in surging industries — such as food delivery — and fully utilised JobKeeper,” MadeComfy’s co-founder and co-CEO, Quirin Schwaighofer, said in a statement.
“The strategy worked, and MadeComfy is now stronger for it. Tourism and corporate travel in this country have bounced back strongly and we’ve fully capitalised on it. Over 250 companies now use our platform to find and book accommodation. We’re now unlocking new avenues for growth, including upgrades to our B2B platform, expanding to new locations with New Zealand as our first international expansion, and securing more corporate partners.”
Safewill: $5.5 million
End-of-life planning startup Safewill has completed $5.5 million in Series A led by Carthona Capital and joined by Flying Fox as well as a previous seed investor, Reinventure.
The platform was launched in 2019 and offers comprehensive end-of-life planning in one place. This includes enduring powers of attorney, estate planning, guardianship and a subscription-based digital vault to store important documents. It also offers funeral planning services.
Charitable gifts are also a focus of the platform.
“From the day we started Safewill, we knew charities had difficulty in acquiring and tracking gifts in wills and wanted to address that problem. As the largest will writing platform in Australia, we’re uniquely placed to help charities turbocharge their bequest programs and add value to their donors,” Safewill’s co-founder and CEO, Adam Lubofsky, said in a statement.
The funding round will be used to build out the business further and expand into overseas markets.
InvestorHub (formerly Fresh Equities): $4 million
Fresh Equities has rebranded as InvestorHub and landed $4 million in funding that was led by EVP.
The platform was launched in 2022 and connects companies with potential investors as well as provides data-driven insights regarding its shareholder base.
According to InvestorHub, in under a year of operation, it has helped connect 45,000 investors per month which has resulted in over $77 million raised.
The funding round will be used to expand into the UK, Singapore, Canada and the US. The company is expecting to double its revenue in 2023.
“Our growth is testament to the fact that listed companies find it very difficult — and expensive — to communicate with everyone outside of their top 20 shareholders and institutions. There are ASX companies who are building complex stitches of multiple databases and communications platforms just to achieve a fraction of what InvestorHub customers are achieving via much simpler mean,” InvestorHub CEO and co-founder, Ben Williamson, said in a statement.
“The new InvestorHub brand better communicates exactly what we do — help public companies bridge the gap with investors. The benefits of improved investor engagement are clear. In a year of operation, we’ve seen multiple InvestorHub clients use the platform to stop potentially catastrophic selloffs, companies have been able to harvest their increased shareholder demand to run some of their best raises ever, and we’ve helped companies save hundreds of thousands in unnecessary brokerage fees.”
