Last Week in Australian Startups #88, 14th October 2024
Cut Through Venture released the Q3 2024 recap last week (see full report here), the tl;dr is on page 5 but here’s some of my observations from the report;
Q3 2024 saw total funding drop significantly compared to the previous quarter, hitting a multi-quarter low of $695M. Despite this decline, total deal announcements increased, indicating continued investor activity, particularly at the early stages. Seed-stage deals were particularly active, accounting for a third of all announced non-accelerator investments.
This year we’ve seen some articles in traditional media talk about how many deals aren’t being announced and some guesses as to why. I’d be curious to know if this general sentiment has been driving that ie has the total % of deals closed being publicly announced increasing, or are we just seeing the total number of deals being done increase as we see the ecosystem grow.
Seed-stage deals were particularly active, accounting for a third of all announced non-accelerator investments. Deals under $50M remained near the highest levels since late 2022, and Accelerator announcements approached an all-time high
We’ve come a long way since the OG StartRail Network map was made by BlueChilli. Along with local accelerators, it’s really positive to see global players becoming more and more active like Antler and Techstars.
Portfolio health showed less positive signals: reports of layoffs and startup closures increased relative to Q2 2024
Always sad to hear, I think this trend will continue for the next few quarters as we see more realignment, and potentially many startups who raised bridging rounds not being able to hit win on their last roll of dice.
Female-led startups continue to achieve better outcomes in the earliest funding rounds. Pre-Seed participation by teams with at least one female founder reached 50% for the first time, while Seed- stage participation hit 26%. 54% of Accelerator funding rounds included female founders. Although lower, female participation in Series A and Series B+ rounds remained in the mid-to-late 20s percent. The share of funding to female founders was weaker, at 20%.
A good read here on Forbes going deeper into Female Funding
And a selection of analysis done this week worth reading;
Startup funding slumps to $690M in Q3 as mega-deals dry up, but 2024 may yet finish strongly (BNA)
VC deep freeze still manages to outrun IPO market (AFR)
VC funding falls in Australia as investors head to the exits (Startup Daily)
VC funding plummets again as mega deals remain elusive (Capital Brief)
Australian start-up funding slumps to $695 million across Q3 (Forbes)
Chris Gillings on LinkedIn
And of course this week, all you’ll hear about is SXSW in Sydney. Annie Liao, founder of Build Club, has made this neat chatbot you can use to help you navigate the event. I’ll be around most days so drop me a note if you’d like to catch up!
Top News
Aconex cofounder Leigh Jasper, Canva design boss Andrew Green and Deputy CFO Emma Seymour join Unicorn Day lineup (Startup Daily)
Appen returns to underlying profitability and is now looking to raise $50M to fund GenAI opportunities (BNA)
Dubber launches $25M raise to power recovery under new CEO (BNA)
NSW and SA Premiers back age limit for social media (The Australian)
Sydney open banking app Waave snapped up by UK fintech Banked (BNA)
The Tech Council of Australia’s new head of policy and strategy is Harry Godber, a former senior adviser in the Turnbull and Morrison governments on tech policy (InnovationAus)
Private markets scrutiny at odds with ‘faster, targeted’ mergers (AFR)
WiseTech board decides White’s alleged affair strictly ‘personal’ (AFR)
After increasing its pricing by up to to 300% for some plans after customer backlash Canva says it will now offer discounted pricing for early adopters and introduce a new “Pricing Promise” (The Age | AFR)
Australia’s first Cyber Security Act: What small businesses need to know (SmartCompany)
Coinbase backs Melbourne marathon, offering runners $20 in Bitcoin (The Australian)
Jessica Baird-Walsh is launching Capital X – a free, community-driven network of startup and tech professionals committed to supporting women founders to fund and scale their businesses, and make their stories and success more visible (Startup Daily | SmartCompany)
Quantum Motion, a UK based quantum startup, has opened a new lab up in Sydney's deep tech incubator Cicada Innovations (InnovationAus)
$3B Queensland unicorn Go1’s investors prep secondary (AFR)
Climate-tech sector set for $100M boost from new Virescent Ventures fund backed by Westpac and CEFC (BNA | AFR | Virescent Ventures)
Google Cloud appoints Paul Migliorini to lead ANZ (ARN)
Live caption translator Sunflower AI wins Best New Idea in Best in Tech Awards by ACS (Startup Daily)
Sydney data centre designer Greenbox Architecture acquired by US multinational Woolpert (BNA)
Antler exceeds target for second Australian fund raising $77M against an initial target of $60M as it brings forward its Brisbane launch to 2025 (AFR | Startup Daily | James McClure)
Unimarket and VendorPanel announce merger to provide industry-leading source-to-pay solutions (Five V Capital | Justin Lipman)
Funding Rounds
Build Club, an e-learning platform for the next gen of AI First Talent from beginner to advanced, has raised a $1.75M Pre-Seed round from Blackbird, Airtree Ventures, Co Ventures, Archangel Ventures and Startmate (The Age | Annie Liao)
Axify.ai, a conversational AI assistant used by hospitality groups to manage phone calls and complete bookings, has raised $1M (SmartCompany)
DASH, a fintech that makes software for financial advisors, integrating client management, product comparisons, and dynamic presentations, has raised $5M from Bailador (Startup Daily | BNA)
Atleier, the world’s first all-in-one product development and manufacturing platform for beauty, health, and wellness, has a raised $10M Series A round from Macquarie Group (AFR)
Mutinex, which helps every marketer get more value out of their marketing by knowing more about the value of past decisions, and predicting the value of future decisions, has raised $17.5M from Marbruck Investments, EVP and Archangel Ventures (SmartCompany | Startup Daily)
Rosterfy, which provides a software platform specifically designed to manage and engage temporary or flexible workforces such as volunteers, has raised $3M from Bailador (BNA | Startup Daily)
Q-CTRL, which is accelerating the pathway to commercially useful quantum computers through the power of quantum control, has raised an additional $87M in a Series B round from GP Bullhound (InnovationAus | The Age)
IMMERSIV, which makes interactive 3D sales platform for unbuilt properties, enhancing buyer engagement with virtual inspections and data-driven insights, has raised an undisclosed sum from REA Group (Elite Agent)
Porous Lane, Cell Bauhaus, Remagine Labs, Proxima Bio, exteRNA, Apromore, FlowAI will split an $11.7M investment from the University of Melbourne Genesis Pre-Seed Fund, Breakthrough Victoria, Tin Alley Ventures and Tanarra Capital (Capital Brief)