🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #162, 24th May 2026

May 23, 2026

News

General Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja says Canva does not need an IPO as the $84b design software company shifts deeper into AI and continues scaling in private markets (AFR)
Codan, an ASX-listed Australian defence technology company, has acquired US engineering company Adaptive Dynamics for $21m to expand its unmanned systems and electronic warfare capabilities (Capital Brief)
Monvia, a Sydney insurance software company, is preparing a $17.5m IPO at a potential $100m valuation as shareholders seek liquidity (AFR)
Perx Health, a digital health platform for chronic and injury-related care, has merged its Australian business with Navigator Group and sold its US arm to Clutch Holdings (LinkedIn)
URUS Group has agreed to acquire AgriWebb, an Australian livestock management and supply chain data platform, to expand its digital capabilities across global beef production (LinkedIn)

TechnologyOne shares fell 3% despite record first-half profit and reaffirmed FY26 guidance as foreign exchange headwinds limited the ASX-listed software company’s earnings beat (Capital Brief)

EatClub is partnering with Commonwealth Bank to bring its AI-powered, time-based restaurant deals into the CommBank app for eligible CBA customers (LinkedIn)
Phasor Innovation, Nomad Atomics and Q-CTRL have won $7.2m in Defence contracts to develop quantum undersea navigation systems for GPS-denied environments (InnovationAus)
PredicTx Health, a University of Melbourne spinout developing AI-enabled oncology treatment optimisation technology, has signed an MoU with Alibaba.com East China and Cognis Technology to explore Australia-China commercialisation opportunities (LinkedIn)

Block Earner has secured an Australian Credit Licence to offer Bitcoin-backed lending products while ASIC continues its High Court fight over the crypto startup’s discontinued Earn product (Startup Daily)
Mutinex has launched Self-Serve GrowthOS, a lower-cost commercial mix modelling platform that gives startups and scaleups access to marketing effectiveness tools without agency support (LinkedIn)
Xero has opened early access to XeroForce, a no-code AI agent builder that helps small businesses and accountants automate financial workflows across Xero and third-party apps (LinkedIn)

Early investors in Applied EV, a Melbourne autonomous vehicle maker for logistics and mining, are seeking a secondary share sale at a $150m valuation amid frustration over commercialisation delays (AFR)
August Robotics, a global construction and industrial robotics company founded by Australian Alex Wyatt, has raised $42m in Series B funding led by Big Pi Ventures, with backing from Blackbird, Skip Capital, Tanarra and Future Family Office (Capital Brief)
Diraq has signed an LOI for a proposed $US38m US CHIPS Act award, with the US government to receive a minority equity stake, as part of a broader $US2b quantum funding package (LinkedIn)
Grok Ventures has provided project-level financing for Antora Energy’s 5GWh thermal battery project as the Californian energy storage company eyes Australian industrial customers (AFR)
SAPHI, an industrial AI company turning cameras and sensors into safety and productivity tools for mining and heavy industry, has received an Australian Government Industry Growth Program grant (LinkedIn)

The federal government has paused new applications to the $392m Industry Growth Program, raising uncertainty for startups and SMEs seeking commercialisation grants (Startup Daily)
Victoria has scrapped its $20m Industry Development Fund before awarding any grants or loans to startups and scaleups in healthtech, defence and other priority sectors (InnovationAus)
ASX-listed biotech and deep tech companies could lose millions in refundable R&D tax incentives under a Budget change limiting eligibility to firms younger than 10 years old (Capital Brief)
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has accused critics of spreading misinformation about Labor’s CGT changes as startup founders warn the reforms could increase tax bills on company exits (SmartCompany)
Gilmour Space, Myriota and Quantum Brilliance are pushing for deep tech carve-outs from Labor’s proposed 10-year cap on refundable R&D tax incentives (Capital Brief)
Startup leaders are pushing Labor to carve founders, employees and angel investors out of CGT changes, warning higher taxes on equity gains could weaken ESOPs and early-stage investment (AFR)

Arelis, a women’s health diagnostics startup focused on endometriosis, has won Startup World Cup Australia’s Melbourne final and will pitch for a $US1m investment in San Francisco (Startup Daily)
Victoria has unveiled Innovation Victoria as the new agency replacing LaunchVic and Breakthrough Victoria, with Rod Bristow appointed CEO to lead startup and commercialisation support (SmartCompany)
Startmate has taken 19 ANZ founders to San Francisco for investor meetings and its first US Demo Day since 2020 as it pushes startups closer to global capital (Startup Daily)

Canva has lost four senior leaders, including CTO Brendan Humphreys, as the $84b design software company pushes deeper into AI ahead of a potential Nasdaq listing (AFR)
Former Telstra CEO Andy Penn has been appointed chair of Sharon AI as the neocloud company prepares for an IPO amid growing demand for AI infrastructure (Capital Brief)

Women-owned startups received just 8.6% of approved Industry Growth Program grants before the federal government paused new applications to the commercialisation scheme (Startup Daily)
Committee for Sydney has launched an Innovation Atlas mapping Sydney’s startup, biotech, deep tech and fintech hubs to show the city’s ecosystem extends beyond Tech Central (Startup Daily)

ASIC has appealed the Federal Court’s dismissal of its case against ASX-listed intelligence software company Nuix over alleged continuous disclosure and misleading conduct breaches (Capital Brief)
Zip has acquired the “ZIP” trademark from Firstmac to settle a High Court dispute and avoid being forced to rebrand its Australian payments business (BNA)

Diagno Energy, a cloud platform that monitors and diagnoses solar and battery assets for owners and operators to detect faults and quantify losses, has raised an undisclosed amount from Formbay
Sharon AI, an AI infrastructure platform that offers GPU-as-a-service for enterprises to run large-scale model training and inference, has raised $490m ($350m USD) from Oaktree Capital Management and Two Seas Capital LP
Indi, an AI-powered co-pilot app intended to help parents of children with complex care needs navigate the appropriate healthcare, allied health, education and NDIS services, has raised an undisclosed amount from MooCoo Ventures, Antler and Giant Leap
Ordermentum, a hospitality wholesale ordering and payments platform that automates supplier orders for hospitality venues to cut admin, has raised $55m from Five V Capital