🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #138, 16th November 2025

$546.8m raised across 9 rounds, HealthEngine tests buyer appetite at $200m, Linktree acquired Fingertip, Rokt secures a US$7.9b valuation in secondary share sale, new merger laws ‘put deals at risk’

News

M&A, IPOs & Exits

• Wayfinding startup BindiMaps emerges from administration with new owners (SmartCompany)

• Oliver Curtis’ $6b Firmus brings in Wall Street duo ahead of IPO (AFR)

• HealthEngine tests buyer appetite amid PE interest seeking a $200m buyout with 13m patients and 21,000 practitioners on its platform (AFR)

• EV charging provider JOLT expands into the US with a stake in Shell’s Volta Media Network (BNA)

• Linktree acquires emerging Melbourne-based competitor Fingertip, an all-in-one business platform (BNA)

• New chapter for Megaport with $200m raise to fund $459m acquisition of India’s Latitude.sh (BNA)

• Rover, the world’s largest online marketplace for loving pet care, has announced the completion of its acquisition of Mad Paws, the leading online pet care marketplace in Australia (Direct)

• Xero’s $4b Melio acquisition weighs down investors despite profit jump (AFR)

Capital Markets

• DroneShield dream run comes to abrupt end after CEO dumps $50m stake (AFR)

• Rokt secures $US7.9bn valuation in secondary share deal, eyes Wall Street float (The Australian)

• ASX-listed Wisr have announced an equity capital raise of up to $11.4 million, an upgrade to its FY26 guidance (Australian FinTech)

• Zip submits draft registration statement to SEC as it considers US dual listing (Australian FinTech)

Partnership & Deals

• Beauty giant Mecca partners with packaging tech startup Phantm in the ultimate AI glow-up (SmartCompany)

Product Launches, Milestones and Expansion

• Melbourne-based startup PredicTx Health is taking its AI-driven chemotherapy dosing tool global—expanding into India, the Middle East, and broader Asia-Pacific markets as it gears up for regulatory approvals in Australia and the EU (Mobihealth News)

• Heatseeker has been named one of the winners of L’Oréal’s 2025 Big Bang Beauty Tech Innovation Program (SmartCompany)

• Vexev clinically proves a world-first autonomous ultrasound robot, hitting 94% scan completion in Texas dialysis clinics (Capital Brief)

Venture Capital & Funds

• Seven WA startups (DermR Health Research, Respirion Pharmaceuticals, ProGenis Pharmaceuticals, ArthoLase, Biotome, Pretect Devices and Materia Health) share $3.2m in WA Government ‘Innovation Seed Fund’ grants to help develop and commercialise health innovations (WA Gov)

• $50m ACTivate Capital fund launched to back ‘great science’ and boost Canberra startups (BNA)

• Breakthrough Victoria posted a $5.7 million loss last financial year (Startup Daily)

• Skip’s Energy Bay accelerates embedded networks strategy with $215m facility (AFR)

• UX research startup Great Question closes $20 million Series A (Capital Brief)

• Laronix Secures $3.2 Million Grant from the Australian Government to Bring its AI-Powered Voice Technology to the Market (PR Newswire)

• Medtechs get lion’s share of latest IGP grants (InnovationAus)

• Brian Cooke announces the launch of MooCoo Ventures - a new syndicate platform (LinkedIn)

• SunDrive lands $25m grant to commercialise copper solar cell (Capital Brief)

Government, Policy & Regulation

• Tech founders warn of mayhem when new mergers come into force (AFR)

• New merger laws ‘put deals at risk’ (AFR)

• Women in tech groups cut from federal program amid union dispute over unpaid invoices (Capital Brief)

• Labor revives plans to force Meta, Google, TikTok to pay for news (Capital Brief)

Ecosystem & Hubs

• Cicada Innovations a ‘leap of faith’ 25 years ago that has delivered an $8b boost to the economy (BNA)

People Moves & Spotlights

• Albert Bielinko has joined Folklore Ventures as a Partner, making the switch from Titanium Ventures as their GP (LinkedIn)

• Vaxxas appoints former CSL exec Brent MacGregor to its board (Capital Brief)

Other News & Updates

• The Khuda Women in STEM Program is officially live - a $100m, 20-year commitment to breaking barriers and building pathways for young women from Western Sydney to thrive in STEM (LinkedIn)

• Food delivery service Menulog to shut down after two decades (The Age)

• StrongRoom AI founder Max Mito gives his version of events as court examines collapse (Capital Brief)

• Vast Renewables in administration just months after raising $5.3m for Port Augusta energy hub (BNA)

Funding Rounds

• Bless Payments, a FinTech remittance platform for migrants to send money home, has raised an undisclosed amount from the ATAYF Family Office (AFR | LinkedIn)

• Fabra, a FashionTech platform that lets apparel designers create and test 3D garments in-browser to export manufacturer-ready tech packs., has raised $2.8m in a Pre-Seed round from January Capital, Side Stage Ventures, Concept Ventures and Li & Fung (Capital Brief | SmartCompany)

• MyGig, an Employer of Record service for casual workers, has raised $1m in a Pre-Seed round from Artesian, Co Ventures and Angel Investors (SmartCompany)

• Keeyu, an AI-powered Agent for e-commerce operations teams, automating issue resolution, has raised $2.3m in a Pre-Seed round from Rampersand, Archangel Ventures, Empress Capital, Startmate, Exhort Ventures, Sydney Angels, Southern Angels and Angel Investors (LinkedIn | Rampersand)

• Number 8 Bio, an AgTech company that makes slow-release feed capsules for cattle farmers to cut enteric methane from livestock, has raised $11m in a Series A round from Icehouse Ventures, Main Sequence and One Innovators (SmartCompany | Capital Brief)

• RAGE Biotech, a biotech company that develops inhaled RNA therapies for patients with chronic inflammatory lung disease to reduce inflammation, has raised $29m in a Series A round from IP Group Australia, Hostplus and Monash Ventures (SmartCompany | BNA | InnovationAus)

• Drone-Hand, an AgTech platform that uses autonomous drones and AI to monitor livestock for farmers to reduce checks and improve animal welfare, has raised $720k in a Pre-Seed round from Radius Capital (Startup Daily)

• Firmus Technologies, who builds renewable-powered, liquid-cooled “AI factories” to deliver efficient and sovereign AI compute across Australia and Southeast Asia, has raised $500m (Capital Brief | ARN | AFR)

• Preview Health, a HealthTech platform that uses metabolic‑profiling AI on blood samples for clinicians to enable earlier brain disease diagnosis, has raised an undisclosed amount from PharmStars Ventures (LinkedIn)