🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #135, 26th October 2025

$130.38m, raised across 7 rounds, ANZ bank shuts down DataCo, Black Nova closes oversubscribed Fund II from initial target of $35m, Startmate launches AI, hardware, B2B & consumer accelerator streams

News

M&A, IPOs & Exits

• ACCC greenlights Cuscal’s proposed acquisition Indue (Australian FinTech)

• Credit Clear to acquire UK-based debt collection agency ARC Europe for $10.8 million (Australian FinTech)

• Five V and AirTree-backed super software darling Grow eyes $250m-plus sale (AFR)

• Sphere to be acquired by Findi Group, accelerating climate action to new markets (Australian FinTech)

• ANZ bank kills off another startup investment – consumer data insights platform DataCo (Startup Daily)

• Bizcap acquires US e-commerce funder 8fig in a major step for financier’s global ambitions (BNA)

• Data security engineering platform Redactive AI has been acquired by data management firm RecordPoint (Startup Daily)

• Australian cybersecurity firm Sekuro has been acquired by tech services firm Insight Enterprises (AFR)

Capital Markets

• ASX-listed Beforepay delivers record quarterly profit with continued momentum (Australian FinTech)

• Australian Buy Now Pay Later pioneer Zip announces record cash earnings of $62.8 million (Australian FinTech)

Product Launches, Milestones and Expansion

• Maincode unveils Matilda, the ‘Aussie-made AI’ set to take on Microsoft and Google (The Australian)

• Isaacus, an Australian foundational legal AI startup, has launched Kanon 2 Embedder, a state-of-the-art legal embedding LLM (LinkedIn)

• Sheree Andersen, co-founder of Elliephant, launches “Trove” a fully automated corporate gifting platform (LinkedIn)

• Raiz hits record $2 billion in Funds Under Management as customers continue to increase (Australian FinTech)

Venture Capital & Funds

• Acquisition-hungry accounting start-up Squeeze seeks war chest funding (AFR)

• Archangel Ventures kicks off rare ‘community round’ for medical AI startup Heidi (Capital Brief)

• Square Peg invests in SF startup Sumble, a sales intelligence startup, $59m round founded by Australians Anthony Goldbloom and Ben Hamner (Capital Brief)

• Why so few women get funded in Australia: the founder experience is broken (Forbes)

• Black Nova VC closes oversubscribed Fund II from initial target of $35m (LinkedIn)

• Investor bias, visa chaos and a $500,000 win: The reality of raising capital as a POC founder in Australia (SmartCompany)

• Blackbird funds change hands at steep discounts, rattling investors (AFR)

Government, Policy & Regulation

• Banks, proptechs trial digital ID for rental applications (InnovationAus)

• OpenAI just won a 2nd Australian government contract after being the only company invited to bid (Startup Daily)

• Energy tech Relectrify secures $25m grant from ARENA for launch of grid-scale battery storage system (BNA)

• SeaStock, which develops production and extraction techniques of algae-based compounds for commercial application, has received $740k from the federal government-backed Food and Beverage Accelerator (SmartCompany)

Ecosystem & Hubs

• Startmate launches AI, hardware, B2B & consumer accelerator streams (Startup Daily)

People Moves & Spotlights

• ‘AI isn’t coming for sofas’: The rise, fall and return of Koala’s Dany Milham (Capital Brief)

• Tech Council of Australia CEO Damian Kassabgi to step down after two years in the role (SmartCompany)

• ‘The right vision and momentum’: Deep-tech incubator Cicada Innovations names Liza Noonan as CEO (BNA)

Funding Rounds

• iiShield, a MedTech that develops a device called the “Kidney Protective Jacket” to help transplant surgeons protect organs from thermal injury during surgery, has raised $1m in a Seed round from Sydney Angels (BNA)

• Balo, a 24/7 Salesforce help desk, has raised $7.2m in a Pre-Seed round led by DJ Kim founder of Matrix Education (BNA)

• 2cloudnine, a unified workforce platform built on Salesforce for the Staffing and Healthcare Sectors, has raised $7.5m from Blackpeak Growth Partners (SmartCompany)

• VeriQuantix, which is developing a Quantum Link Verification technology to inspect and alert the presence of of an intrusion in optical communication, has raised $240k in a Seed round from Uniseed, UniQuest Extension Fund, Powerhouse Ventures and Lucerne Investment Partners (BNA)

• Heatseeker, an AI-powered platform enabling businesses to run rapid experiments based on real buyer behaviour helping teams make faster, data-driven GTM decisions, has raised $7.67m ($5m USD) in a Seed round from HearstLab (WRAL)

• Roller, an all-in-one venue management platform for leisure and entertainment venues, has raised $76.71m ($50m USD) from Insight Partners and J.P. Morgan (PR Newswire)

• ENA Respiratory, a biotech that develops host-defence enhancing nasal therapies to help protect at-risk populations from viral respiratory infections, has raised $34.36m ($22.4m USD) in a Series B round from Gates Foundation, Flu Lab, Brandon Capital, Uniseed and Stoic Venture Capital (Direct)

And a bonus round I missed from last week

• Block Texx, a clean technology company that recovers polyester and cellulose from textiles and clothing, has raised an undisclosed amount from Erema Partners (Plastic News)