🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #164, 7th June 2026
$12.1m raised across 8 rounds, Airwallex acquires Leapfin, Airtree launches Frontier - a founder residency, Build Club launches Campus - a free virtual AI school, Scalare Partners acquires Fishburners
News
M&A, IPOs & Exits
4DMedical has signed a US radiology deal with SimonMed, agreed to acquire Vienna AI imaging startup Contextflow and launched a US$2m pulmonary embolism program with Mass General Brigham (BNA)
Airwallex has acquired Leapfin to expand from payments and billing into revenue recognition, reconciliation and financial reporting for global finance teams (LinkedIn)
Cuscal, an ASX-listed Australian payments company, has acquired Paymark, a New Zealand payments infrastructure provider, from Worldline, with deal terms undisclosed (Australian FinTech)
CXApp, an enterprise agentic AI platform company, has acquired EngineRoom, an Australian growth intelligence platform, for an undisclosed amount to expand into customer acquisition intelligence (Startup Researcher)
Directed Technologies, a Melbourne connected vehicle and IoT company, has acquired GPS2GO, a Bangkok telematics provider, for an undisclosed amount to expand its South-East Asian fleet management footprint (BNA)
Evaran, an Accel-KKR-backed care delivery software platform, has acquired Checked In Care, a digital care communication and engagement provider, for an undisclosed amount to expand its connected care offering (The Weekly Source)
Scalare Partners, an ASX-listed startup accelerator and investor, has acquired Fishburners, one of Australia’s oldest startup communities, out of voluntary administration in a cash deal with terms undisclosed (BNA)
Tasmea, an ASX-listed industrial services group, has agreed to acquire Maxim Group Australia, a Victoria-based specialist electrical contractor, for up to $254m through a mix of cash, shares and earn-outs to expand into data centre infrastructure (BNA)
TSS, a Topicus.com software subsidiary, has made a rejected $217m–$247m cash takeover approach for ReadyTech, an ASX-listed workforce and education software company (AFR)
Capital Markets
EBR Systems is seeking to raise $150m after its WiSE wireless cardiac pacemaker entered a US Medicare approval pathway (AFR)
Megaport is preparing an $825m equity raising to fund AI infrastructure contracts, GPU purchases and balance sheet liquidity after an 84% share price surge (AFR)
NBN Co has raised €750m ($1.2b) through its second Euro Sustainability Bond to fund energy-efficient fibre and fixed wireless network investments (BNA)
Partnerships & Deals
Firmus and Subco have agreed to build Bernacchi-1, Tasmania’s first new mainland fibre link in more than 20 years, adding 60Tbps of capacity for AI infrastructure (Capital Brief)
Google and Telstra have partnered to expand AI-ready connectivity across Australia and the Asia-Pacific through Telstra’s Aura fibre network and Google-backed subsea cable projects (Startup Rise)
Product Launches, Milestones and Expansion
Australian-founded data centre operator AirTrunk has announced a US$30b ($42.1b) plan to build 5GW of AI-ready data centre capacity in India by 2030, as CEO Robin Khuda warns global capital will follow faster policy settings (The Australian)
Build Club has launched Campus, a free virtual AI school to help people learn AI tools, build practical projects and earn certifications (Startup Daily)
Canvas has completed Australia’s first live repo using a tokenised Australian Government Bond and wholesale CBDC issued by the RBA under Project Acacia (Australian FinTech)
Sydney-headquartered neocloud IREN has announced plans for an 800MW AI data centre campus in Bundey, South Australia, with energisation expected from 2028 (Capital Brief)
Macropod has completed a live retail payment using AUDM, an Australian dollar stablecoin issued under an AFSL, at Blue Brew Café in Redfern (Australian FinTech)
Sitemate has launched Storm 1.0, an AI data capture agent that helps construction and infrastructure workers replace manual forms with spoken notes, photos and automated site reports (LinkedIn)
Venture Capital & Other Funding
Sydney investment firm Factory Capital has launched a $25m women’s midlife health initiative to build menopause care infrastructure before backing 5 to 10 commercial ventures (Startup Researcher)
Black Nova VC has completed Fund II’s 24th and final first investment and is preparing to raise Fund III, with first close targeted by the end of June and final close expected by the end of September (LinkedIn)
New Zealand data security startup DataMasque has raised US$4m, with Australian investor OIF Ventures doubling down as it serves customers including TAL and Australian government agencies (Direct)
Toowoomba livestock tech company DIT AgTech is seeking up to US$5m ($7m) through a US crowdfunding campaign to expand its automated water-supplementation and methane-reduction technology into the Americas (BNA)
Government, Policy & Regulation
Lawyer David Turner has argued the “Albo is my cofounder” backlash misrepresents Labor’s startup tax changes, saying the budget also includes measures to improve early-stage startup cashflow (AFR)
South Australia’s 2026-27 budget includes a new $50m R&D Productivity Fund and targets $200m in private co-investment for early-stage businesses (Startup Researcher)
Atlassian co-founder and Tech Council chair Scott Farquhar has called for urgent copyright reform, warning Australia could lose AI data centre investment if model training remains legally impractical (AFR)
Competition Minister Andrew Leigh has criticised WiseTech’s non-compete restrictions on laid-off workers as the government prepares to ban non-competes for most employees (The Australian)
Ecosystem & Hubs
Airtree has launched Frontier, a founder residency offering $250,000 on an uncapped SAFE and compute credits to help founders explore their next startup idea (LinkedIn)
The NSW government has backed Catalysr, Remarkable, First Nations Economics and Barayamal through its $4m diversity pre-accelerator program for underrepresented founders (Startup Daily)
Other News & Updates
Anthropic is expanding its Mythos cybersecurity program to about 200 organisations, with Australia among the new Five Eyes partners gaining access (Capital Brief)
A former Culture Amp AI specialist has filed a Federal Circuit Court claim alleging he was sacked days after complaining about a co-worker, with Culture Amp denying wrongdoing (AFR)
Property investment startup Dashdot has entered voluntary liquidation and cut more than 40 jobs after blaming weak investor demand, tax reform uncertainty and Meta advertising changes (SmartCompany)
Firmus is facing political backlash in Tasmania over its planned $2.1b Launceston AI factory campus, despite support from the state Liberal government (Capital Brief)
Funding Rounds
Care GP, a HealthTech AI assistant platform that automates GP clinic admin workflows for clinicians to reduce admin time, has raised $700k ($500k USD) in a Pre-Seed round from Y Combinator (LinkedIn)
Alloovium, a construction AI workspace that centralises a firm’s documents, emails and industry tools for construction teams to find answers fast, has raised $700k ($500k USD) in a Pre-Seed round from Y Combinator (The Australian)
Gutgutgoose, a biotech that uses at-home stool tests and AI to make personalised probiotics for people with gut symptoms to improve digestion, has raised $700k ($500k USD) in a Pre-Seed round from Y Combinator (BNA)
Nardo Experience, a sports merchandise design platform that helps clubs and teams create and order customised fan apparel to streamline production, has raised $1m in a Pre-Seed round from Angel Investors (Startup Daily)
QuantX Labs, a precision-timing platform that builds compact optical atomic clocks for defence and research to provide ultra-accurate timing, has raised $7m in a Seed round from Serendipity Capital (AFR)
Nitrosend, an AI native email platform that automates email marketing, has raised $700k in a Seed round from Eastend Ventures, Archangel Ventures and Aussie Angels (Startup Daily)
Oscorp Energy, an AI robotics platform that automates sorting for waste and recycling facilities to improve material recovery, has raised $1.3m in a Pre-Seed round from Antipodean Capital, Antler Australia, Atlas SGR and Angel Investors (LinkedIn | Startup Daily)
RoboHelix, a robotic CNC flight-forming machine for manufacturers of helical flights and augers to automate repeatable die-free production, has raised an undisclosed amount from Fagor Arrasate (AFM)