Category: venture capital

April 30, 2025

Government VC and the catalysing of private investment

A recently released NSW Innovation Blueprint presents the NSW government’s strategic vision for the state’s innovation ecosystem. The Blueprint includes a proposal to investigate the development of a government venture capital (VC) fund, the ‘NSW Government Strategic Investment Fund’. The stated purpose of the proposed fund would be to catalyse private sector investment in target…

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April 9, 2025

Andreessen Horowitz to raise $33.5 billion AI megafund

Venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz is seeking to raise about US$20 billion ($33.5 billion) in what will be the largest fund in its history, to capitalise on global investors’ interest in backing US artificial intelligence companies, industry sources have revealed. The tech investment firm, known informally as a16z, has told limited partners that the fund…

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March 13, 2025

‘Dollar for dollar’: Serial founder wants govts to step up for startups

The founder of some of Australia’s most successful FinTech startups has called for greater incentives to be made available to venture capital funds and early-stage investors to boost private investment in local startups. Dom Pym, who is best known for co-founding neobank Up and now invests in startups through Euphemia and Triple Bubble, floated dollar-for-dollar…

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March 13, 2025

‘Dollar for dollar’: Serial founder wants govts to step up for startups

The founder of some of Australia’s most successful FinTech startups has called for greater incentives to be made available to venture capital funds and early-stage investors to boost private investment in local startups. Dom Pym, who is best known for co-founding neobank Up and now invests in startups through Euphemia and Triple Bubble, floated dollar-for-dollar…

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March 8, 2025

‘It takes a lot of capital’: AgTechs lament VC roadblock

A fundamental disconnect between venture capital firms and AgTech startups, in part due to long development cycles, is damaging Australia’s prospects of leading the global charge for change in food systems. That was the message from some of Australia’s flourishing AgTech startups at the Southstart festival in Adelaide this week amid a “funding apocalypse”, particularly…

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March 7, 2025

NSW exploring state VC fund in innovation push

An upcoming NSW innovation plan looks set to arrive this month with a state venture capital fund to fill in the strategic gaps left by private investors, like manufacturing. It follows similar moves by other states to crowd in venture capital and the Minns government is considering it ahead of its highly anticipated Innovation Blueprint,…

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January 29, 2025

Victoria tempts more VCs to set up shop with new grants

The Victoria government is offering venture capital funds and angel groups up to $300,000 to set up shop in the state, in a bid to unlock more early-stage funding for local startups. LaunchVic, the state’s startup development agency, launched the Angel Network Grant alongside the third round of its VC Support Grant – which has…

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January 15, 2025

In-Q-Tel adds Quantum Brilliance to its portfolio

The California-based VC firm spawned from the US defence intelligence community In-Q-Tel has grabbed a share of Australian quantum computing startup Quantum Brilliance as a part of its US$20 million Series A funding round. The capital raise, first flagged last month and announced in full on Wednesday night, will be used to fund the creation…

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December 5, 2024

WA govt unlocks $150m in early-stage VC capital

The Western Australian government has unlocked $150 million in private investment for the state’s startups through a new partnership with local and interstate venture capital firms. Premier Roger Cook and Digital Economy minister Stephen Dawson revealed the seven firms chosen for the WA Venture Capital Initiative (WAVC) on Wednesday, while also tipping a further $15…

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November 1, 2024

Victoria’s VC fund posts loss after grants drop off

The Victorian government’s $2 billion venture capital fund recorded its first loss since inception last financial year, despite adding more than $190 million in new investments to its portfolio. The small $3 million loss compares with a $58.7 million profit for the year ending June 30, 2023, and comes as the government stares down criticism…

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October 25, 2024

Satellite imaging firm wins $1m through NT’s Croc Pitch

Earth observation startup Esper Satellites has secured $1 million from a Northern Territory government-backed venture capital fund for winning the local Croc Pitch event. Esper develops an analysis tool, dubbed EarthTones, for images captured beyond visible light. It can be used to track soil carbon in the agricultural sector, lithium and iron deposits in the…

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October 24, 2024

‘Couch change’: Calls for super funds to dig deeper for startups

Superannuation funds are facing growing calls to stump up more of their fast-growing $3.9 trillion wealth funds into early-stage tech, as local venture capital continues to lag behind that of the United States. But the longest serving director of AustralianSuper, the country’s largest superannuation fund and one of the sector’s biggest startup investors, says the…

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September 17, 2024

State backed VC investments start flowing in Qld

Mandalay Venture Partners is the first off the mark in delivering funding out of the Queensland government’s Venture Capital Development Fund, revealing deals with two local AgTech startups on Tuesday. The specialist agrifood technology investor is using the state matched funding to back cow embryo transfer technology from Nbryo and an innovative milk processing solution…

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September 16, 2024

Octopus Deploy on the art of sustainable scaling

Australian founders need to back themselves and focus on building sustainable, profitable small businesses rather than immediately looking for government support or outside funding, according to Octopus Deploy founder and chief executive Paul Stovell. Octopus Deploy has quietly become an Australian tech success story, now with more than 4,000 clients, more than 300 employees and…

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September 15, 2024

Coordination is key if deep tech is really our future

If we want a future made in Australia, we will have to vote for it at the next federal election says Senator Tim Ayres, the newly appointed Assistant Minister for the Future Made in Australia (FMiA) mission, and to some, it’s new great white hope. “Only the Albanese government sees Australia’s potential to be more…

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September 13, 2024

Australia’s ‘quantum kindergarten’ needs a graduation plan

A dearth of scaleup funding and workforce constraints are stifling Australia’s budding quantum sector, according to local deep tech founders, who say more venture capital and government support is needed. That was the message driven home at the launch of InnovationAus.com’s Industry Papers on Wednesday, where a panel of some of the nation’s brightest minds…

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September 9, 2024

SafetyCulture banks another $75m as valuation takes a hit

Workplace software unicorn SafetyCulture secured $75 million in new capital through its latest funding round, which has valued the Sydney-based company at $200 million less than last year. SafetyCulture plans to use the new funding to continue developing software tools for larger enterprise customers, as well as accelerate its adoption of AI and reward long-time…

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September 5, 2024

WA commits $30m to entice VC funds

The Western Australian government on Thursday announced it will invest $30 million into venture capital funds looking to set up in the state if they support local startups in priority sectors. The ‘fund of funds’ model, revealed by InnovationAus.com last month, will back venture capital (VC) funds that can attract $2 dollars of private investment…

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September 3, 2024

Tall poppies and Australia’s outsized startup opportunity

If you ask Elli Hanson about the barriers facing Australian startups and founders in a US-centric VC world, she’ll tell you it has a lot to do with our humility and the social phenomenon known as tall poppy syndrome. “Australian founders hold this incredibly profound quiet confidence, but don’t want to talk about the things…

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August 30, 2024

$66m MedTech fund takes aim at ‘broken’ commercialisation link

Royalties from a breakthrough Australian cancer treatment are bolstering a new $66 million MedTech venture fund that has been aimed squarely at the local sector’s “broken” commercialisation link. The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) this week unveiled its ten year ‘ 66ten’ fund, which has been operating quietly for the last…

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August 22, 2024

WA casts its own VC net to build startup scene

The Western Australian government has followed other states in offering to tip into private venture capital funds if they back homegrown startups and establish a local presence. The state this week called for investment proposals and wants to make a commitment to fund by the end of the year. Firms vying for the yet to…

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July 17, 2024

Biosecurity startup ExoFlare raises $5.3m

Biosecurity startup ExoFlare has closed a $5.3 million capital raise to develop its online platform for tracking threats in the agriculture and food supply chain. The seed raise was led by Sydney-based Salus Ventures and attracted funding from Woolworths’ venture capital fund W23, Orange-based agrifood investor Cultiv8, and CIA-founded In-Q-Tel. The biosecurity threat management platform…

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July 9, 2024

Defence seeks investor interest in dual-use technology fund

The Defence department is seeking interest from private investors in partnering with the government to fund local dual-use companies, after startups warned of a fatal funding gap in Australia. In what would be the first-ever joint fund, venture capital and other institutional investors have been approached for feedback on the $100 million to $200 million…

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June 4, 2024

VCs Jekara, Tidal flock to Qld’s matched funding

Queensland’s startup investment pool continues to grow with four more venture capital firms agreeing to expand in the state in exchange for backing from the Miles government’s new development fund, which is being lauded as one of the most significant innovation plays in memory. Jekara Group, Tidal Ventures, Sprint Ventures, and Brandon Capital on were…

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June 3, 2024

Melbourne VC pulls in $270m for BioTech push

Melbourne venture capital firm Brandon Capital on Tuesday announced the first close of its sixth fund, which raised $270 million for local and global BioTechs. It takes the 2007 founded firm’s total raises past $1 billion and will expand its more than 60 investments in therapeutic, medical device, and HealthTech companies. The close was announced…

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May 23, 2024

Minister pushes back on govt’s investor test overhaul

A Cabinet minister is warning Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones that his sophisticated investor changes risk cutting off startup capital and sending mixed signals while the government looks to spur private investment in innovation. The changes are expected to make it harder to qualify as “sophisticated investors” by increasing asset thresholds that haven’t risen in more…

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April 10, 2024

Tech industry groups urge caution on merger reforms

Tech industry groups are troubled by the Albanese government’s merger reforms, warning they could lower the investment attractiveness of the local tech sector. But the view presented by the Tech Council of Australia and Australian Information Industry Association is not shared in the FinTech sector, with its peak body insisting there are fewer concerns for…

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April 9, 2024

Startup funding rounds hit six-year low

Australian startup funding deals fell to a six-year low in the first three months of the year, with the drop off in early-stage venture capital more pronounced as investors turn their attention to “top opportunities”. New data from Cut Through Venture shows $703 million in capital funding was announced by startups during the March quarter,…

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March 19, 2024

Breakthrough Victoria rejects high-cost fund claims

The head of Breakthrough Victoria has rejected claims of excessively high operating costs at the state’s $2 billion investment fund, saying spending is almost identical to that of private venture capital firms. The rearguard action follows recent criticism levelled at the fund set up to foster research and innovation in the state and chaired by…

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February 22, 2024

VCs stage late fightback against sophisticated investor changes

Early-stage venture capital firms have come out in force against proposed changes to the “sophisticated” investor thresholds, with more than 20 late submissions to a federal government review accepted by Treasury. The overwhelming response follows reports the government is poised to raise the income and asset test for sophisticated investors to account for for two…

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