Last Week in Australian Startups #87, 7th October 2024
A quiet news cycle last week leading up to the Labour day public holiday today in NSW. Nothing to report on in detail but another healthy week of funding with $60M raised.
Top News
ASIC admits it didn’t review impact of the sophisticated investor change (InnovationAus)
Cauldron Ferm has secured funding from the QLD government to develop the first precision fermentation contract manufacturing facility in APAC (InnovationAus)
UNSW delivers atomic quantum computing breakthrough - demonstrating provable quantum entanglement between two atoms in silicon (InnovationAus)
Deakin University has opened Australia’s first dedicated hydrogen fuel cell R&D centre (InnovationAus)
Experian completes $820M acquisition of Illion (Australian FinTech | Andrew Black)
Six people fitted with Synchron’s brain computer face have experienced no adverse effects during a 12-month trial, paving the way for a bigger study (The Australian)
Startup lender Fundabl rebrands as Mighty Partners (Startup Daily)
7 universities and the CSIRO have secured funding in the QLD's largest-ever quantum grants program (InnovationAus)
ASX-listed Vinyl buys blockchain music startup Serenade in shares deal worth up to $2.3M (Startup Daily)
Gilmour Space Technologies has successfully puts its Eris launch vehicle through a critical wet-test rehearsal, taking the orbital rocket to within ten seconds of launch (InnovationAus)
REA abandons $12B pursuit of Britain’s Rightmove (AFR)
Tech Council opens tech talent forum to all industries, not just tech companies (SmartCompany)
Funding Rounds
Cartherics, a biotechnology company focused on developing innovative cancer therapies, has raised $15M (BNA | Startup Daily | Forbes)
Lorikeet, an AI-based customer support agent, has raised a $7.3M Seed round led from Square Peg and Skip Capital (BNA | Startup Daily)
Enrola, an education comparison platform site, has raised an $800K Pre-Seed round from AfterWork Ventures, Skalata and Antler (Startup Daily | Five V Capital | AfterWork)
Attekus, a booking and event management platform, has raised $5M from Five V Capital and QIC (Startup Daily)
Zeligate, which has developed an AI workforce platform for businesses, has raised a $2.5M Seed round from Angel Investors (BNA)
Zitcha, a unified retail media platform, has raised a $15M Series A from VMG Partners and OIF Ventures (SmartCompany | Startup Daily)
The Water and Carbon Group, a wastewater treatment start-up that removes toxic chemicals, has raised $14.5M from Emerald and Ecolab (The Australian | BNA)