Four Aussie startups that raised $20.7 million this week
Carbon technology, EV charging and e-waste recycling were the flavours of the week when it came to startup funding rounds.
Carbon technology, EV charging and e-waste recycling were the flavours of the week when it came to startup funding rounds.
Keep reading to learn more about four Australian startups that together raised $20.7 million in new funding.
KC8 Capture Technologies: $10 million
Melbourne startup KC8 Capture Technologies is one of several carbon tech startups to secure new funding this week.
KC8 has raised $10 million, in a round that saw participation from Woodside Energy and Cemex Ventures.
The startup was founded in 2021 and specialises in carbon capture technology designed for industries where emissions are harder to abate, including cement, steel, power and chemical production.
KC8 plans to use the new funding to expand the team and roll out key projects across Australia, the US and Mexico.
“Our mission is to provide the most sustainable, cost-effective solution for large-scale abatement,” said executive director Greg Ross in a statement earlier this week.
“This investment will accelerate our commercialisation plans and help industries meet their net-zero targets.”
Sircel: $5 million
Australian e-waste recycling venture Sircel has secured a $5 million investment from Kilara Capital, helping it retrieve precious materials from discarded technology and tackle the pernicious problem of old solar panels.
The federal government estimates the value of materials in e-waste reached $820 million in 2019, but only $145 million of that value was captured before those discarded goods hit landfill.
Australia contributes a particularly high level of e-waste per capita, CEO Anthony Karam told SmartCompany, posing a significant opportunity for waste agnostic processors like Sircel.
But some of the most promising e-waste is defunct solar panels, including ‘first generation’ units approaching the end of their lifespan.
“There’s a whole wave of solar panels that are going to need to be recycled,” Karam said.
Sircel is in the process of establishing an automated solar panel recycling site within the Parkes Recycling Special Activation Precinct, NSW’s first dedicated resource recycling precinct.
Ben Krasnostein, founder and managing director of Kilara Capital, said Sircel posed a compelling business case.
“After so many years of R&D, it’s an exciting and critical time for the business as it scales nationally, diverting more e-waste from landfill and recovering more materials than was previously thought possible,” he said in a statement.
EVOS: $4 million
Electric vehicle charging startup EVOS has raised $4 million from existing investors, and wants to secure another $6 million in funding, to continue building out its sales and marketing teams and expand its local manufacturing capability.
The Brisbane-based startup was founded in 2020 by CEO Marcelo Salgado, chief experience and innovation officer Seshan Weeratunga, and chief technology officer Chris Crossman.
The former Tritium executives previously raised $5 million in July 2023 and $1.7 million in 2021 for the startup.
EVOS specialises in fleet energy management and AC charging for EVs. It says the $10 million funding round, when completed, will also allow it to bring products to market faster and meet increasing demand for its charging products in Australia and globally.
“We’re ramping up the rollout of new products and software rapidly, and demand for EV charging at home is only increasing from here on out,” said Salgado in a statement provided to SmartCompany.
“Research shows that EV owners will spend most of their charging time at home or the workplace – and we know that Australians are keen on Australian products.”
The startup has continued to add to its product suite with the launch of its Fleet Platform for business sites this year, and its SB7 charger for individual users, which was launched last year. These add to its Fleet Home 22 AC charger and the company’s existing energy management platform, which helps users identify the optimal time to charge their vehicle.
EVOS said it is seeing sales growth in southeast Asia and India, and was one of 35 Australian exporters to receive support from Trade and Investment Queensland’s Go Global Export Program.
Fugu: $1.7 million
Carbon tech startup Fugu has secured more than $1 million in seed funding for its machines that can suck carbon dioxide from the air.
The Sydney-based startup was founded by two former SunCable executives, CEO Luke Marshall and Mac Thompson, and the first prototypes for the “deliberately boring looking” machines were built by Marshall in his attic.
The seed funding comes from Investible, Jelix Ventures, Electrifi Ventures and UK-based Counteract, and will allow the startup to produce more machines and bring on its first customer, a brewery in Sydney.
While Capital Brief reported the funding round was for at least $1 million, Business News Australia has the figure at $1.7 million.
The startup is reportedly aiming to make 2000 machines a year, and extract 1 billion metric tonnes of CO2 each year by 2032.
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