🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #137, 9th November 2025
$491.9m raised across 7 rounds, Nucanon and Butter Insurance announce they've both been acquired, Carma lists on the ASX, Olivia Sioud becomes the youngest VC partner with Skip Capital
News
M&A, IPOs & Exits
Sydney-founded cybersecurity group Bugcrowd acquires Mayhem Security, a pioneer in AI offensive security developed by hackers (BNA)
Carma shares slide on ASX debut following $100m IPO (Capital Brief)
Sydney-based edtech Cluey launches $4.5m capital raise to fund $6.5m acquisition of Art of Smart (BNA)
UK software group ISH acquires Australian spend management platform ProSpend (Australian FinTech)
Photo-sharing app Tinybeans doubles subscriber base with $4m deal for Qeepsake Inc (BNA)
Steph Skevington, co-founder of Butter Insurance, announces they’ve been acquired (LinkedIn)
Nilu Kulasingham, Co-Founder and CEO of Nucanon, announces acquisition by Indian Gaming Giant Zupee in a landmark Australia-India deal in what is likely the first gaming M&A deal between the two countries in history (LinkedIn)
Capital Markets
AI software developer BrainChip launches $30m placement (AFR)
Tech start-up Sharon AI kicks off pre-IPO round (AFR)
Partnership & Deals
Melbourne defence tech startup Arkeus wins Australian Army contract (Capital Brief)
Google to build data centre on Christmas Island (AFR)
Sydney startup Seer Data secures major Telstra Foundation deal (SmartCompany)
Tanggram and NextGen Partners announce $50 million fundraising initiative to accelerate global AI innovation (Australian FinTech)
Product Launches, Milestones and Expansion
Paperform launches an AI-native workflow builder to automate small business (Startup Daily)
Quantum Brilliance opens synthetic diamonds production plant in Melbourne with $31 million in Victoria and federal government support (Startup Daily)
ASX-list Scalare Partners launches AI-powered services solution platform, The Founders Union (Startup Daily)
This Aussie start-up plans to make Medibank-style breaches impossible (The Age)
JJ Fiasson, founder of Leonardo.Ai, announces the launch of Blueprints - the ability to create workflows that can also be accessed via the Leonardo API (LinkedIn)
Radium Capital surpasses $1 billion in innovation funding (LinkedIn)
Andrew Nekvina, Head of 3D & Photo AI at Canva, announces the launch of 3D design on Canva (LinkedIn)
Harrison.ai today announced the Harrison.ai Open Platform, a new paradigm that eliminates platform fees and enables single-integration access to multiple AI vendors (businesswire)
Airwallex Founder Jack Zhang shares they’ve reached $1B ARR, doubling from $500M just 1 year ago (LinkedIn)
Venture Capital & Funds
Brighte secures $40m from CEFC as battery boom accelerates (Capital Brief)
CEFC backs Brighte with $40 million for cheaper home battery installation (Startup Daily)
Blackbird Ventures and Artesian invest in Coherence Neuro’s $10m raise for cancer treatment technology (Capital Brief)
Oliver Curtis’ Firmus set to triple valuation to $6b in fresh raising (AFR)
Gilmour Space poised to bag $150m raising as losses mount (AFR)
Government, Policy & Regulation
Tasmania starts work on AI and tech investment strategy (InnovationAus)
Australia to miss 2030 tech jobs target, projections reveal (InnovationAus)
Ecosystem & Hubs
PixelForce teams up with tech entrepreneur Tobi Pearce for $1.5m initiative to help startups scale (BNA)
People Moves & Spotlights
Tyro Payments appoints Nigel Lee as Chief Executive Officer (Australian FinTech)
Skip Capital announces Olivia Sioud as its new investment partner and head of the venture team making her Australia’s youngest VC partner (LinkedIn)
Brian Collins, co-founder of Triple Bubble, announces transition from day to day role to investment committee member (LinkedIn)
Other News & Updates
VC EVP’s legal fight with StrongRoom AI to recover its $10.4 million investment is over (Startup Daily)
Bank tech start-up Constantinople doubles losses, seeks more funding (AFR)
Founder of Metigy has pleaded guilty to misleading investors and using $7.7 million of company money to buy two luxury homes (AFR)
SafetyCulture boss spruiks AI ‘rocket fuel’ after $49m loss (AFR)
Funding Rounds
Hullbot, a global autonomous robotic hull cleaning service, has raised $16m in a Series A round from Regeneration VC, Climate Tech Partners, Katapult Ocean, Folklore Ventures, Trinity Ventures, Rypples, NewSouth Innovations and Bandera Capital (SmartCompany | Capital Brief | The Australian)
Cytophenix, a MedTech platform that delivers rapid antimicrobial susceptibility results for clinicians to pick the right antibiotic within hours, has raised $1.3m in a Pre-Seed round (Startup Daily)
Giftbee, a gifting platform that lets businesses and consumers convert unwanted gift cards into spendable rewards to reduce waste and maximise value., has raised $1m in a Seed round from Antler and Angel Investors (SmartCompany)
Lumonus, a HealthTech platform that uses AI to automate radiation oncology workflows for care teams to speed treatment delivery, has raised $25m in a Series B round from Aviron Investment Management and Oncology Ventures (SmartCompany | BNA)
Synchron, a MedTech platform offering a minimally invasive endovascular brain-computer interface for people with paralysis to control digital devices, has raised $308m (USD $200m) in a Series D round from Double Point Ventures, ARCH Ventures, Bezos Expeditions, In-Q-Tel, K5 Global, Khosla Ventures, METIS, National Reconstruction Fund, NTI, Protocol Labs, Qatar Investment Authority and T.Rx Capital (BNA | The Age | The Australian)
Zeligate, an HR Tech platform that delivers verified interview-ready shortlists for high-volume employers to speed hiring decisions., has raised $500k in a Seed round from DNX Ventures (BNA | Startup Daily)
Infravision, a platform that uses aerial robots to construct overhead power lines for utilities to accelerate grid deployment, has raised $140m (USD $91m) in a Series B round from GIC, Activate Capital, Energy Impact Partners and Hitachi Ventures (LinkedIn | businesswire)