Dynamic business brings you the key startup fundraising rounds from this week:
Minke raises $650,000 in pre-Seed capital
Minke, a decentralised finance startup, has raised $650,000 in a pre-seed round to enter the rapidly expanding DeFi space. The startup is currently a part of the Startmate summer cohort and has received funding from angel investors Rayn Ong and Quentin Wallace, as well as ex-Outware Mobile founders Eytan Lenko and Danny Gorog.
Fintech Driva secures $6 million led by Carthona Capital
Driva, a two-year-old fintech that assists car buyers with financing and insurance, has raised another $6 million. The round was led by Carthona Capital and other follow-on investors, including Invictus chaired by Peter Gammell and angel investors such as CredibleStephen Dash, who made his fortune by creating the online loan marketplace Credible, and Sparesbox co-founder Nicolas Scudamore-Smith.
Reward-based fintech Upstreet raises $3 million
Upstreet, a fintech that rewards customers with fractional shares in companies listed on the ASX, NYSE, and NASDAQ, has raised $3 million in Seed-plus funding.
Wattle Hill Capital led the round, which was joined by new backers Kelly+Partners Investment Office, McKinsey & Co. Partners, and private investors including MadPaws CEO Justus Hammer, Wattle Hill Capital founder Albert Tse, Ominlab Media chair Christopher Mapp, and Hugh Robertson of Bell Potter.
Fintech Cape raises $33.1m in pre-Seed round
Cape, an expense management platform, has raised $33.1 million in a pre-Seed round. The funding is divided into $3.1 million in VC equity and a $30 million debt facility provided by Aura Ventures.
The funding round values the Sydney startup at $18 million. Investible, Scalare Partners, Mercury Capital, and 15 business angels, including Stripe APAC Head of Startup practise, Tom Richardson, and LegalVision founder Lachlan Knight, as well as a few early Atlassian employees, are on the equity cap table.
Sydney startup Cascade raises $40m Series A
Cascade, a Sydney startup, has raised $40 million in a Series A round of funding on the promise of taking strategy out of boardrooms. Former Sequoia investor Mickey Arabelovic’s Telescope Partners led the round, along with Five V and local VC Carthona Capital. The funds will be used to improve products and expand in North America and Europe.
Gilmour secures $52m federal funding for its space facilities
The federal government has announced a $52 million grant to help a Gilmour Space Technologies-led consortium build new launch vehicles and satellite manufacturing and testing facilities, as well as a spaceport in north Queensland.
The Australian Space Manufacturing Network received funding from the Modern Manufacturing Initiative’s Collaboration stream. The $52 million grant is part of the Federal Government’s $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative, which provides grants ranging from $20 million to $200 million to Australian manufacturers.
Australian fintech coaXion closes $2.65m in Pre-Series A
CoaXion, an Australian start-up that has created AI-driven ‘pay as you use it’ technology to disrupt the national equipment financing market, has closed its Pre-Series A funding over-subscribed at $2.65m.
CEO Colin Armbruster said coaXion’s proprietary technology had been developed over the past 18 months and the Pre-Series A round had sought $1.5m for initial commercialisation.
The $1.15m additional funding achieved this round will help accelerate product development in Australia, with a view to entering into the $215b US “yellow goods” equipment finance market.
Woolworths Group’s venture fund, back Samsara in a $6m raise
Samsara Eco, an Australian enviro-tech startup, has raised $6 million to build its first recycling factory plant later this year, with full-scale production planned for 2023.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), Woolworths Group’s venture capital and growth fund, W23, and cofounder, Main Sequence, the deep tech fund founded by CSIRO, are among the new investors backing Samsara and its mission to ensure that no new plastic is made from fossil fuels.
UniSuper invests $75m with Stoic Venture Capital partner Uniseed
UniSuper, a superannuation fund, has made a $75 million commitment to Stoic Venture Capital Fund partner Uniseed. The funds will be critical in driving the commercialization of university research and the growth of Australian startups, according to Guy Hedley, Executive Chairman of Stoic Venture Capital.
Birchal enters the $100m club
Birchal, the platform behind 75 per cent of Australia’s equity crowd-sourced funding (CSF) activity, announced today that it has reached a significant milestone for the industry: it is the first platform to raise $100 million in total funds. To commemorate the occasion, Birchal announced that it will legitimise SMEs and Startups by establishing Australia’s first equity crowdfunding ecosystem.
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