🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #106, 23rd February 2025
Top News
WiseTech Global Trading Halted Amid Governance Review and Complaints Against Founder (The Australian)
Airtasker becomes the latest Australian startup to sponsor an F1 team - Visa Cash App Racing Bulls (SmartCompany | Tim Fung)
Cannon-brookes files injunction against employee over alleged misuse of confidential information (AFR)
Goodman Group raises $4b for expansion of Data Center capacity as profits surge (The Australian)
Launchvic selects 11 scaleups for 30x30 program with $1 billion growth potential (Startup Daily)
Rivals criticise YouTube’s exemption from Australia’s social media ban (AFR)
The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has backed ‘breakthrough’ battery powder facility VSPC with $30m (InnovationAus)
Andromeda to launch Australia’s first humanoid robot production line (SmartCompany)
Brag Media cofounder sues Vinyl for $2 million over acquisition dispute (Startup Daily)
Gilmour Space secures approval for upcoming rocket launch in March (InnovationAus)
Mandalay Venture Partners teams with Malaysia’s Segi Fresh to roll out local agtech into Asia (BNA)
Morpheus Ventures has been testing investor appetite of its stake in $2.5b SafetyCulture as it looks to realise gains after 8 years (AFR)
Zeller launches ‘Zeller for Startups’ as it looks beyond card acceptance (SmartCompany | Capital Brief)
Antler in Australia residency 13 kicks off with more than 90 founders across 3 capitals (Startup Daily)
Canberra Data Centres valued at $17 billion following $2 billion share sale (AFR)
Seek sells $95m stake in Employment Hero to KKR, and will retain a meaningful stake (AFR | BNA | Capital Brief)
Tyro Payments keeps an ear out for suitors amid share price plunge (AFR)
Steve Baxter launches defence technology fund, Beaten Zone raising $10m of a $60m target, as Trump pushes for higher military spending for Western countries (The Australian)
The findings from the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Corporations and Financial Services on the Wholesale investor tests are out with no major changes proposed (Cheryl Mack)
Australia's two leading real estate sites could be US owned as CoStar makes an all cash $2.65b bid for Domain (BNA)
Eight QLD startups to receive $25,000 in NRL Magic Round Tech Sprint (SmartCompany)
US judge throws out Aussie start-up Unlockd's Google antitrust case (AFR)
Funding Rounds
Twine, an AI insights startup bridging the communication gap between Product and Sales, has raised $2.3m in a Pre-Seed round from Airtree Ventures and Angel Investors (Capital Brief | Twine)
PropHero, a property investment platform that helps clients find, buy, and manage high-return, low-risk investment properties, has raised $25m in a Series A round from Bailador, AfterWork, Jelix Ventures, Samaipata, Fifth Wall and Opera Tech Ventures (AFR | Startup Daily | BNA | Mickael Roger)
ParkBooker, a caravan park booking platform, has raised $600k in a Pre-Seed round from Rising Tide Investment and Angel Investors (Startup Daily | SmartCompany | Josh Volk)
Splose, an all-in-one practice management platform which automates administrative tasks for allied health and NDIS providers, has raised $5m from EVP (The Australian)
MyPass Global, a workforce compliance management startup which helps organisations in highly regulated industries reduce risk and admin costs through digital skills passports and real-time compliance data, has raised $7.5m in a Series A round from OneVentures (AFR | Capital Brief | Startup Daily | Matt Smith)
Banksia Minerals Processing, which is developing a novel electrochemical process to slash costs and unlock millions of tonnes of copper from otherwise overlooked resources, has raised $1.05m in a Seed round from UniQuest and IP Group (Startup Daily)