This week’s startup funding round-up showcases the diverse range of industries that Aussie innovators are tackling, from green hydrogen production, to online search, medicinal cannabis and clothing that offers better protection for women athletes.
Here’s a look at eight startups that together have locked in a whopping $149 million in funding this week.
Human resources data analytics startup One Model is not headquartered in Australia, but given it was co-founded by Queenslander Chris Butler and the state-government backed Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) has taken part in its US$41 million ($64 million) Series B raise, we’re going to count it among the Aussie startups to raise this week.
As reported by Startup Daily, One Model’s funding round was led by Riverwood Capital, with participation from the QIC, AV8 and Geekdom.
The funds will go towards bolstering One Model’s presence in Queensland, where CEO Chris Butler grew up, attended university and even ran a cruising business at the Great Barrier Reef.
One Model, which helps brands use AI to better understand their workplace data, was founded by Butler, David Wilson and Matthew Wilton in the US eight years ago, and it participated in the Techstars program there.
However, the startup has always had engineering and operations staff in Queensland.
“As early as 2015, we invested heavily in our Brisbane-based research, development, and engineering operation and have considerably expanded our investments since then,” Butler said this week.
“That commitment to Queensland-based talent is the reason One Model can offer a world-class technology platform that is winning accolades in the global market.”
Aussie unicorn SafetyCulture’s valuation is now sitting at $2.7 billion, after the OH&S-focused company secured $34 million in fresh funding. At the same time, however, SafetyCulture is also looking to recoup $500 million worth of shares from early investors next year.
As first reported by the Australian Financial Review, the company’s latest funding round was led by Morpheus Ventures and Marbruck Investments, which were joined by Index Ventures. According to the report, SafetyCulture’s revenue hit $132 million last financial year, up 32% on the year prior.
CEO and founder Luke Anear has indicated SafetyCulture is once-again eyeing growth, having previously shifted towards profitability amid global economic turmoil and a dryer investment pool. Part of this new growth is expected to come from the insurance space, with SafetyCulture recently buying out its insurance partner QBE. This offering was underwritten by Allianz.
Hydrogen tech startup Hysata expects to create 44 new local jobs from a commercialisation project in Rockhampton, Queensland, which has attracted around $24 million in new funding from the Commonwealth and Queensland governments.
Based in New South Wales, Hysata has pioneered a high-efficiency electrolyser, which promises to transform how green hydrogen is produced and help accelerate the decarbonisation of sectors like steel making, chemical manufacturing and heavy transport.
The company unveiled a new 8,000 sqm manufacturing facility in Port Kembla this week and shared details of multimillion-dollar government grants that will allow it to undertake the commercial demonstration of a 5 MW electrolyser unit, which will be trialled near the Stanwell Power Station near Rockhampton.
Hysata will receive a $20.9 million grant from the Commonwealth-backed Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), via its Advancing Renewables Program, while Queensland Government-owned power company Stanwell Corporation will provide $3 million to support the project.
In a statement, Hysata CEO Paul Barrett said the company has reached the “next phase of our scale-up journey”.
“We are proud to be partnering with ARENA and Stanwell to deliver the first commercial demonstration of our electrolyser. It is the first step towards Hysata reaching gigawatt scale by 2026 to fulfil burgeoning demand for our electrolysers,” he said.
“This [Port Kembla] site will also serve as the headquarters for our entire staff, fostering collaboration and fortifying our values-driven culture. We look forward to creating hundreds more local jobs and strengthening Australia’s sovereign manufacturing capabilities as we continue to grow.”
Sydney-based customer engagement startup Pendula also has fresh funding to deploy, having completed a $14.5 million funding round with investors MA Growth Ventures and Octopus Ventures.
Pendula, which was founded by CEO Alex Colvin in 2017 and was featured in the 2022 Smart50 Awards, is gearing up to open new international offices in London and Singapore as it aims to unlock significant year-on-year growth in the southeast Asian and European markets by the end of the 2024 financial year.
Pendula’s customer retention software uses advanced analytics and generative AI to help companies reduce churn and maximise customer lifetime value, which it says will help clients navigate a projected downturn in the global economy.
Melbourne-based startup Marqo has secured a US$5.2 million ($8.1 million) seed funding round, led by Blackbird, to develop its vector search engine powered by artificial intelligence.
Marqo was founded in mid-2022 by two former Amazon employees Jesse Clark and Tom Hamer, who are working on search technology that will help users find related items using both machine learning and user engagement.
Other investors participating in the round included Creator Fund, January Capital and Cohere founders Ivan Zhang and Aidan Gomez, according to Startup Daily.
The startup’s tech, which is currently in closed beta, will initially target e-commerce and marketplace operators, but the company says it will also apply to areas including generative AI, analytics and security.
A medicinal cannabis biotech startup based in Geelong locked in the third largest equity crowdfunding campaign in Birchal’s history, raising $3.4 million from more than 2000 backers during a three-week-long campaign.
Medigrowth, which was founded by Adam Guskich and Todd McClellan in 2017, originally set a goal of raising $500,000, however, that target was surpassed within 45 minutes of the campaign’s launch. Within the first 24 hours, the campaign had attracted $1.2 million from interested investors.
“We’ve always been aware of the public support for our work, but to see that translate into funding for our current and future projects is so exciting,” said co-founder and CEO Adam Guskich in a statement on Friday.
Medigrowth distributes a range of medicinal cannabis products around Australia, including THC, CBD and dry cannabis flowers, and says it has achieved an average monthly growth rate of 30% over the past 12 months.
The funds raised will go towards more product development, as well as its plans to build a ‘Centre of Excellence’ in Geelong, where the six-year-old company is already collaborating on clinical research with experts from Deakin University.
The company also launched a direct-to-patient telehealth platform called Haiku Health earlier this year, to help improve accessibility to plant-based medicine prescription consultations.
A virtual reality startup best known for projecting spectacular artworks on the Sydney Opera House during Vivid has raised $1 million in funding from Galileo Ventures and existing investors as it explores a new way to use its tech in the metaverse.
While Curiious has been around for close to 25 years, it has previously mostly focused on creating immersive visual experiences. Now, it is working with brands to create 3D worlds to improve their customer engagement, employee training and marketing, reports Startup Daily.
Curiious is already working with the likes of Johnson & Johnson and Peugeot and plans to use its latest funding to press ahead with product development, sales and expanding globally.
Another startup based in Geelong, Zena Sport, has secured $148,000 in pre-seed funding from Breakthrough Victoria, which it plans to put towards its expansion plans, both locally and overseas.
The sportstech startup, which was founded by husband-and-wife team Donna and Brad Johnson in 2018, has developed what it says is the world’s only scientifically tested chest protection vest for women and girls in contact sports, such as AFL, rugby, basketball, and soccer.
The investment from Breakthrough Victoria will allow the startup to increase its marketing in Australia, the US, and Europe, build its business development team, and create up to 12 local jobs within two years. Zena Sport also plans to progress product development and extend its product offering by launching the next iteration of its Zena Sport Z1 Vest.
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Eloise is an experienced business journalist and editor, who has held senior editorial roles at SmartCompany since 2014. Prior to joining SmartCompany, Eloise was news editor at Books+Publishing, the trade press for the Australian book industry. Eloise has degrees in media and communications, marketing and business management, and political science. You can follow her on LinkedIn, and Twitter at @ellykeating.
