🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #136, 2nd November 2025
$79.62m raised across 10 rounds, Canva launches Creative OS & makes Affinity free, Mary Technology and Pluralis Research named most promising GenAI startups in the world, Sidetrade acquires ezyCollect
News
M&A, IPOs & Exits
Sidetrade has acquired ezyCollect (LinkedIn)
Capital Markets
Openmarkets Group exploring US$50 million capital raise options to accelerate DeFi expansion (Australian FinTech)
Anteris Technologies, a dual-listed heart medtech backed by L1 Capital and New York healthcare-focused hedge fund Sio Partners, has raised $38.5m in capital in a placement on the ASX (AFR)
Atlassian trims Q1 loss as revenue jumps 21% (Capital Brief)
Nuix CEO Jonathan Rubinsztein exits, sending stock sliding (AFR)
Pay.com.au launches pre-IPO raise at $600m-plus valuation amid US push (AFR)
$4b wipe-out: WiseTech shares plunge after Richard White’s headquarters raided (The Age)
Partnership & Deals
OpenAI partners with small business lobby as it pursues Aussie expansion (SmartCompany)
AirTrunk inks $4.5b Saudi data centre deal, plans more expansion (AFR)
Iress and Challenger partner to deliver retirement income solution for advisers (Australian FinTech)
Fintechs LoanOptions.AI and Wych partner to deliver seamless Open Banking for Australian borrowers (Australian FinTech)
Skalata and Swinburne University of Technology launch Entrepreneurial Fellowships (LinkedIn)
Vaxxas partners with ObvioHealth for digital clinical trials of its needle-free vaccine system (BNA)
Xefco strikes deal with Indonesia’s Shinta Woo Sung to advance sustainable textile manufacturing (BNA)
Product Launches, Milestones and Expansion
Waymo wants to start testing self-driving taxis in Australia, starting with Sydney (SmartCompany)
Canva launches “Creative OS” with a design-specific LLM, AI design agents and makes Affinity free while Adobe ups the ante with ‘copyright-safe’ AI (AFR | The Australian | The Age | SmartCompany)
Flippa.com launches LaurenAI, an AI powered deal sourcing engine transforming how online businesses are acquired (LinkedIn)
Maincode gears up for AI Factory launch with $30M investment (ARN)
Q-CTRL uses quantum to overcome GPS spoofing and blocking (InnovationAus)
Wisr’s loan book surges 15% to $867 million as revenue hits $25 million (Australian FinTech)
Venture Capital & Funds
Breakthrough Victoria announces $75m in cornerstone investments across five leading venture capital funds (Breakthrough Victoria)
Sam Sicilia, Hostplus’ chief investment officer and Australia’s biggest venture capital-backer, says the environment for venture capital is “unbelievably positive” (AFR)
NZVC will back up to 60 ANZ founders with its new $50 million Fund II (Startup Daily)
Government, Policy & Regulation
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland pushes ahead with plan to charge companies for content used to train AI (AFR)
ACCC takes Microsoft to court for misleading 2.7m Microsoft 365 subscribers (Capital Brief)
Daniel Roelink to lead newly-created NSW Office for AI (InnovationAus)
Ecosystem & Hubs
Fusion Growth Labs backed by $130m QIC fund to target health, space, defence and cybersecurity (BNA)
Here are the startups in the 2025 University of Newcastle I2N accelerator (Startup Daily)
People Moves & Spotlights
Atlassian CFO Joe Binz exits and Tamar Yehoshua, a former Google and Slack executive, to become its chief Product and AI officer next month (AFR)
Heidi Sayers has joined LeadStory as Chief Commercial Officer (LinkedIn)
Alex Bullen joins Secure Code Warrior as Chief Product and Technology Officer. (LinkedIn)
Early-stage fund Uniseed appoints Monash’s Alistair Hick to replace Peter Devine as CEO (BNA)
Reports & Data
Mary Technology and Pluralis Research featured in a list of the most promising generative AI startups in the world” by The Verge (The Verge)
Funding Rounds
Hypersonix Launch Systems, an aerospace engineering start-up specialising in hydrogen-powered jets that travel at speeds breaching Mach 5, has raised $46m in a Series A round from High Tor Capital, National Reconstruction Fund, QIC, Saab and RKKVC (BNA | AFR | SmartCompany)
Gega Elements, who is developing a novel, low-carbon process to extract gallium and germanium from industrial waste streams, has raised $925k in a Pre-Seed round from Investible, Flying Fox Ventures and Salus Ventures (LinkedIn)
Uluu, a biotech that uses seaweed and microbial fermentation to produce biodegradable plastics that replace fossil-fuel-based materials, has raised $16m in a Series A round from Burda Principal Investments, Main Sequence Ventures, Novel Investments, Startmate, Fairground and Trinity Ventures (Startup News | Capital Brief | SmartCompany | AFR)
StrongRoom AI, which makes software for pharmacies to help patients adhere to their medication regime, has raised $1.2m in a round from Angel Investors (AFR | Capital Brief)
Tala Thrive, a mental health startup that provides online therapy, coaching, and self-guided resources, for culturally competent care, has raised $500k in a Pre-Seed round from Angel Investors (SmartCompany)
Understanding Zoe, an AI-native care coordination platform that creates “care villages” for neurodivergent families, has raised an undisclosed amount from Verge HealthTech Fund (LinkedIn)
SecurePII, a platform that makes payments and personal data collection over the phone secure and compliant, has raised $5m in a Seed round from Tidal Ventures (SmartCompany | SecurePII)
Human Health, a HealthTech that provides an AI-powered platform for capturing, analysing and publishing patient reported and clinical data to support personalised care for chronic conditions, has raised $8.5m in a round from LocalGlobe, Airtree, Skip Capital, Scale Investors, Aliavia Ventures and Angel Investors (LinkedIn | The Australian | Capital Brief | SmartCompany)
Nbryo, a biotech which has developed an IVF platform to enable the production and transfer of embryos at scale in the beef and dairy industries, has raised $1.5m in a Undisclosed round from AgriZeroNZ (BusinessDesk)
Karta, a gift card platform whose patented technology SafeToBuy helps to prevent fraud by embedding payment data in EMV chips instead of printed card details, has raised an undisclosed amount from CPI Card Group (businesswire)