🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #149, 15th February 2026
$215m raised across 10 rounds, Neara becomes Australia's newest unicorn, Firmus plans mid-year IPO, Jack Zhang full 2025 Airwallex update, Heidi announces the launch of Heidi Comms, Startmate launches
News
M&A, IPOs & Exits
ATI Global (owner of LEAP, InfoTrack and LawConnect) is preparing for an IPO in the next ~2 years (AFR)
Compass Education, an Australian school management platform, has acquired Inklass, a school-branded mobile app platform, for an undisclosed amount (Compass Education AU)
Emergence, a US PE firm backed by the Pritzker family, has acquired AlgoDriven, a Brisbane-founded automotive pricing and data software platform, in an all-cash deal valuing the business between $10m-$50m USD (AFR)
Findi, an ASX-listed fintech and payments company, has acquired Sphere, a Melbourne-based ESG and loyalty/rewards technology startup, in all shares deal for ~$6m (Startup Researcher)
Propeller, a 3D mapping and site data analytics platform for mining and aggregates, has acquired Spacesium, a Brisbane-based geospatial AI and advanced spatial algorithms specialist (LinkedIn)
Firmus plans mid-year IPO after sealing $14b Blackstone deal (AFR)
Capital Markets
Botanix Pharmaceuticals, an ASX-listed biotech developing dermatology treatments, has launched a $30m capital raising at a 45.5% discount to its last traded price. (AFR)
Car Group, the owner of Carsales, has unveiled a new global AI hub in Brazil as it reported first-half net profit up 16% to $143m (AFR)
Partnerships & Deals
HEO Secures Seven-Figure NRO Contract for Non-Earth Imaging (Direct)
Rocket Lab to Launch Hypersonix Scramjet for US Defense Innovation Unit (Startup Researcher)
Visionary Machines signs counter-drone agreement with Imrex (Defence Connect)
Product Launches, Milestones and Expansion
Jack Zhang, co-founder of Airwallex, shares his full 2025 year-end mission update and 2025 results (LinkedIn)
Anthropic quietly begins its Australian charm offensive (Capital Brief)
Elliephant rebrands as Trove - shifting from corporate gifting for employers to powering automated gifting checkouts directly on brands websites (LinkedIn)
Thomas Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Heidi, announces the launch of Heidi Comms - moving Heidi from an AI scribe that listens and documents the consult to an always-on communications layer that helps clinicians communicate with patients and the healthcare system (LinkedIn)
Venture Capital & Other Funding
Firmus seeks $420m in stealth round as Blackstone lands (AFR)
HBF Health launches HBF Ventures a a $25m corporate VC fund (managed by Artesian) to back early and growth stage health innovation (LinkedIn)
Clive Dickens hunts AI media startups with Meliora Ventures’ debut fund (Capital Brief)
Ecosystem & Hubs
Startmate launches social enterprise stream backing founders taking on society’s biggest problems (Startup Daily)
Aaron Birkby, Managing Partner at Tribe Global Ventures launches the Global Growth Accelerator - a six-month program (with UK/US immersions) to help Queensland B2B startups go from Seed to Series A and prepare for international expansion (LinkedIn)
Other News & Updates
EVP forced to lodge $750k with court to keep Strong Room claims alive (Capital Brief)
Funding Rounds
Splose, an all-in-one practice management platform which automates administrative tasks for allied health and NDIS providers, has raised $46m in a Series A round from Spectrum Equity and Athletic Ventures (SmartCompany | Capital Brief | AFR)
Operata, a call-centre monitoring platform that uses AI to detect scams and compliance issues for banks and contact centres to protect customers, has raised $11m in a Series A round from Tidal Ventures, Black Nova Venture Capital, Flying Fox Ventures, Ghost VC and Glitch Capital (AFR | SmartCompany)
Fluency, which is building the OS for operations through an AI powered platform that documents, observes and catches bottlenecks and risks in real time, has raised $8.48m ($6m USD) in a Seed round from Accel, Archangel Ventures, Carya Venture Partners, DST Global Partners, Mixture of Experts and NextGen Ventures (LinkedIn | Capital Brief | AFR)
Neara, an AI-powered predictive modelling software platform for critical infrastructure, has raised $90m in a Series D round from TCV, EQT, Partners Group, Skip Capital and Square Peg Capital (SmartCompany | AFR)
Adora, a product-mapping platform that turns product specs into interactive journey maps for product teams to plan aligned roadmaps, has raised $9.89m ($7m USD) in a Seed round from Blackbird Ventures, Co Ventures, Designer Fund, Garuda Ventures and Skip Capital (SmartCompany | AFR | Capital Brief)
HAMR Energy, a low-carbon fuels developer that converts plantation forestry residues into methanol for aviation and shipping to cut transport emissions, has raised $10m in a Series A round from Airbus, Qantas and Thyssenkrupp Uhde (Capital Brief | Direct)
eGuarantee, a proptech platform for landlords and renters to manage lease bonds digitally and avoid upfront cash deposits now, has raised $5.5m from Correlation (SmartCompany)
Iceberg Quantum, a startup designing the architecture and blueprints for fault-tolerant quantum computers, has raised $6m in a Seed round from LocalGlobe, Blackbird Ventures and Data Collective (LinkedIn | Direct)
CounterCurrent AI, an AI navigation platform for ship operators to route vessels using generative ocean forecasts to reduce fuel use and emissions, has raised $1.2m in a Pre-Seed round from TRaCE and Investible (Investible | Direct)
OncoRes Medical, a medical imaging device that helps surgeons detect residual tumour during breast cancer surgery to ensure complete removal, has raised $27m from Brandon Capital Partners, Morgans, Radar Ventures and The Table Club network (Businesswire)