🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #147, 1st February 2026
$263.2m raised across 8 rounds, Compass acquires Clipboard, Rokt rules out 2026 IPO, Cuttable expands to the US, KPMG launches 'The Exit Readiness Gap Report'
News
M&A, IPOs & Exits
Airwallex cofounder Jack Zhang says an IPO won’t happen before 2028 (Startup Daily)
Lack of ‘exit readiness’ is hurting Australia’s startups, KPMG warns (Capital Brief)
Canva quietly shifted billions of shares ahead of expected US public offering (The Sizzle)
School admin edtech Compass acquires Clipboard (Startup Daily)
Koala road-tests IPO pitch 2.0 as meetings start for $400m float (AFR)
OIF Ventures sells part of its Kasada stake to EQT Group, notching its sixth exit and taking fund returns past 3x net distributions to paid-in capital (LinkedIn)
Rokt rules out 2026 IPO as AI uncertainty rattles markets (AFR)
Capital Markets
NRF takes $75m stake in Qld Alumina producer (InnovationAus)
AnteoTech Raises $3.5m for Global Commercialisation of Life Sciences and Advanced Battery Technologies (Small Caps)
HeraMED raises $3.2m in placement to fund digital maternity care rollout in the US, Australia and Europe (LinkedIn)
Partnerships & Deals
Harrison.ai lands India’s Manipal Hospitals to roll out its technology across their 12,600 bed network serving nearly 8 million patients per year (Direct)
Aussie LLM Maincode powers Mastercard’s agent-led payments trial (SmartCompany)
VAPAR lands UK-focused partnership with Binnies to speed AI deployments for sewer inspection and wastewater asset health (LinkedIn)
Product Launches, Milestones and Expansion
Cartherics, a cell therapy biotech, secures second China patent for CTH-401, strengthening IP ahead of planned ovarian cancer trial in H2 2026 (Direct)
Cuttable expands to the US as co-founder Edward Ring relocates from Australia to New York (LinkedIn)
Go1 unveils a new product direction, launching Morgan - an AI agent that delivers in-context learning nudges, guidance and next actions directly in tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams (PR Newswire)
William Crowe, co-founder and CEO of HEO, announces the in-orbit acquisition of Satellogic’s NewSat-34, renamed to Continuum-1, giving Australia its first sovereign sub-meter imaging capability (LinkedIn)
Lorikeet co-founder Steve Hind announces Coach, an AI agent that evaluates 100% of support tickets (human or AI) and goes beyond simply finding problems but can recommend the fix and implement it (LinkedIn)
Mary Technology launches ‘Fact Explorer’ a new tool for answering questions about any legal matter with instant answers verifiable against the underlying facts and source documents (LinkedIn)
Government, Policy & Regulation
NSW pauses innovation council appointments, offers few details on next steps (SmartCompany)
Australia’s Future Fund lifts its stake in controversial tech giant Palantir above $100 million, sharply increasing its holding since Trump took office (Crikey)
Ecosystem & Hubs
Five Aussie startups join AO Startups to pilot high-tech platforms (SmartCompany)
People Moves & Spotlights
Bridgit appoints David McQueen as Chief Operating Officer to support next phase of growth (Australian FinTech)
MA Financial investment banking VP Ron Levi joins Skip Capital as a VC investor (LinkedIn)
Emily Lonsdale joins Mary Technology as Chief Commercial Officer following executive roles at Lendi and Aussie Home Loans (LinkedIn)
Reports & Data
KPMG High Growth Ventures: The Exit Readiness Gap Report (Direct)
Funding Rounds
AutoGrab, an automotive intelligence platform providing vehicle data and AI valuations for dealerships, insurers and lenders, has raised $80m in a Series B round from Octopus Ventures, Movac, Premier Capital Partners, EVP and Ten13 (SmartCompany | The Australian)
On the House, a FemTech platform providing free period products in public venues through advertising-funded dispensers, has raised $1.7m in a Seed round from Purpose Ventures, UniQuest and Startmate (Startup Daily)
Factory, a manufacturing operations platform for Australian manufacturers to manage production, inventory and quality control, has raised $4.7m in a Series A round from Shearwater Capital, Martin Tobias, Investible, Beachhead Capital and Angel Investors (Startup Daily | Capital Brief)
GigaComm, a fibre broadband provider offering gigabit internet to Australian homes and businesses as an NBN alternative, has raised $65m from Palisade Impact (AFR)
Evolt, an intelligent body composition scanner and health analytics platform, has raised an undisclosed amount from Selvas Healthcare (VentureSquare)
Applied EV, a software-defined vehicle platform for autonomous logistics and industrial fleets to operate without drivers for safer 24/7 transport, has raised $57.8m in a Series B round from National Reconstruction Fund, Barrenjoey and Japan Post Capital (Capital Brief | SmartCompany)
Hometime, a short-term rental management platform for property owners to list holiday homes on Airbnb and Booking.com, has raised $19m in a mixed debt and equity round from Verona Capital and Commonwealth Bank (AFR)
Checkbox, a LegalTech platform using AI to automate legal document drafting and contract review for law firms and corporates, has raised $35m in a Series A round from Touring Capital, Peak XV Partners, Conductive Ventures, Tidal Ventures, Five V Capital and Angel Investors (SmartCompany | AFR)