🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #119, 15th June 2025

$41.95m raised across 8 rounds, StrongRoom finally gets sold, Unicorn founders launch a new $50M 'Founders Fund' and more.

Top News

• Immutable’s revenues are shrouded in a Cayman Islands mystery (AFR)

• Sydney ranks as Southern Hemisphere’s best city for startups (InnovationAus)

• ‘Building the future’: NEXTDC unveils plans for $2b AI factory in Melbourne (BNA)

• Collapsed pharmacy start-up StrongRoom sold, ending four-month saga (AFR | Joe Zhou)

• How EVP flipped the script on the StrongRoom AI fiasco (Capital Brief)

• Infinite recycler Samsara Eco signs breakthrough 10-year offtake deal with lululemon (BNA)

• Larry Diamond-backed Mighty Partners lends to listed non-bank Butn (AFR)

• Othelia expands to US with AI narrative tool Storykeeper as creative teams chase faster output (BNA)

• Pharmacy owner Joe Zhou buys StrongRoom AI for $3m after EVP loan (Capital Brief)

• Wollemi Capital to buy ASX-listed MPower's renewable energy and battery assets for $19m (BNA)

• Amazon launches new marketplace to rival Officeworks, Harvey Norman (AFR)

• Climate tech startup Kapture has successfully completed a pilot project of its carbon capture tech with Western Australia’s regional energy provider Horizon Power (SmartCompany)

• Victoria sets up review of its VC fund and startup supports (InnovationAus)

• Vocus partners with Telesat to launch Aussie Starlink competitor (InnovationAus)

• Unicorn founders launch a new $50M 'Founders Fund' - Glitch Capital (AFR | Leigh Jasper | Sam Kroonenburg)

• Travlr named best startup and Kismet, scaleup of the year in Victorian governor’s annual awards (Startup Daily)

Funding Rounds

• JumpStart Fertility, a fertility biotech that’s trying to improve IVF success rates for patients 35 and older, has raised $4m from Proto Axiom and VU Venture Partners (AFR)

• RISE, a real-time blockchain scaling Ethereum with record throughput and ultra-low latency, has raised $4m from Galaxy Ventures (CoinJournal)

• Lyrebird Health, an AI-powered medical scribe that records patient-doctor conversations and subsequently generates clinical documentation, has raised $12m in a Series A round from Five V Capital, Octopus Ventures and Startmate (Capital Brief | BNA | AFR | Kai Van Lieshout)

• Phantm, a cleantech that provides a digital platform helping businesses measure and reduce their plastic packaging by replacing it with compostable and natural material alternatives, has raised an undisclosed amount from Exhort Ventures, Black Nova and Salus Ventures (Federico Quaia)

• Voltavate, a deep-tech startup that has developed an advanced nanofibre separator to improve the performance, safety, and sustainability of lithium-ion batteries, has raised $850k in a Pre-Seed round from Artesian Venture Partners and Angel Investors (BNA | Startup Daily)

• CloudTech Group, a FinTech that leverages blockchain to offer digital asset trading, payments, custody, and investment solutions, has raised $14m in a Series A round (BNA | Capital Brief | Startup Daily)

• iCetana AI, who provides AI-powered video analytics software for real-time anomaly detection in large-scale surveillance networks, has raised $3.6m in a round from SoftBank (SmartCompany)

• Bygen, who uses a patented low-temperature technology to produce activated carbon from renewable biomass, has raised $3.5m from Breakthrough Victoria, Alberts, Investible, Artesian Venture Partners and The University of Adelaide (BNA)