This week we’ve counted eight Australian startups that have secured fresh funding.
From missions to create ‘infinite recycling’ and build a commercially viable quantum computer, to transforming wireless power transmission and pallet wrap, these startups are all working towards big, hairy audacious goals.
Keep reading to learn more.
Samsara Eco: $100 million
Samsara Eco founder and CEO Paul Riley posing with “enzymatically recycled” yarn. Source: Supplied
Leading this week’s funding round-up is Australian recycling pioneer Samsara Eco with an impressive $100 million in Series A extension funding.
Samsara Eco was founded in 2020 by Paul Riley and plans to use the new funds to expand its operations through south-east Asia.
The startup focuses on what it calls ‘infinite recycling’, where its advanced chemical processes are used to repurpose hard-to-recycle materials, such as nylon and polyester.
The latest funding round was led by existing investors Singapore-based Temasek and CSIRO-backed Main Sequence and follows a $56 million Series A round in late 2022.
Also participating in the round were new and returning investors Wollemi Capital, Hitachi Ventures, Titanium Ventures, activewear giant Lululemon and DCVC.
Lululemon became a minority shareholder in Samsara Eco in 2023 and has been working with the startup to make garments entirely from enzymatically-recycled plastic.
Diraq: $10.5 million
L-R: Will Zeng (Quantonation partner) and Andrew Dzurak, (Diraq CEO and founder). Source: supplied
Sydney-based quantum computing startup Diraq has raised another $10.5 million (US$7 million) in an extended Series A funding round, adding to the $23 million in Series A funding it secured in February.
Diraq was founded by professor Andrew Dzurak and spun out of the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in 2022, with initial Series A funding of $30.6 million, led by Allectus Capital.
As The Australian Financial Review reports, the February 2024 Series A extension was led by specialist French quantum tech fund Quantonation and included participation from Co:Act Capital.
Among the Australian investors also backing the startup are CSIRO’s deep tech fund Main Sequence, Taronga Ventures, UniSuper and UNSW.
Diraq says the additional funding will accelerate its efforts to build a commercially viable quantum computer, and allow it to do so faster than PsiQuantum, the US-based competitor that is set to receive a $940 million investment from the federal and Queensland governments.
The startup has also recently secured a deal with New York-based GlobalFoundries, which supplies semiconductors to companies like Qualcomm, reports Capital Brief.
1Breadcrumb: $4 million
1Breadcrumb CEO Simon Elliott. Source: Supplied.
Melbourne-based workplace safety startup 1Breadcrumb has raised $4 million as it prepares to expand into the UK and US.
More than 300,000 construction site workers and 25,000 subcontractors in Australia and the UK are already using the 1Breadcrumb operating platform for worksites, which helps firms move from paper-based workflows to digital ones.
Founded in 2020 and led by CEO Simon Elliott, the software helps operators save time and improve productivity by streamlining safety requirements for workers and subcontractors and linking in with commonly used project management systems.
“The construction site is still managed with a siloed approach to on-site meetings, compliance paper trails, phone calls and text messages, creating a bottleneck of confusing documentation and hours of manual administration,” said Elliott in a statement provided to SmartCompany.
“Rather than take the head-office down approach, we began with the needs of the individuals on-site in mind, providing a straightforward platform to allow transparency between the general contractors and the workers, with an easy-to-follow digital application for compliance and site issues. ”
The funding round was led by Five V Capital, with investor Chris Gillings saying the startup provides a much-needed solution in the construction market.
“1Breadcrumb is filling in the missing pieces from the technology stack for high-risk industries with an easy-to-use model for site workers that connects to general contractors in a click,” Gillings said in the statement.
“Australia is leading the global trend towards digitisation of the construction industry with its highly regulated market, and high labour and materials costs forcing sites to look towards technology to drive efficiencies and increase margins.
“1Breadcrumb increases productivity gains by giving the workers on site a voice, collecting the valuable data they hold and sharing it with those responsible for the project.”
Aquila: $2 million
L-R: Aquila founders Nelson Smith and Billy Jeremijenko. Source: Supplied.
Deep tech startup Aquila has secured $2 million in follow-on funding to continue building out its wireless power transmission products, reports Startup Daily.
The funding round was led by Alua Group and included participation by existing investors Blackbird and Icehouse Ventures.
Founded by Billy Jeremijenko and Nelson Smith, Aquila previously raised $3 million in seed funding in 2023, from lead investor Blackbird. Also contributing to that seed round were existing investors Startmate and Outset Ventures, as well as Possible Ventures, Icehouse and Stage One.
The startup completed the Startmate accelerator in 2023 and in January this year, completed a successful trial of its wireless drone charging technology in regional Victoria.
Co-founder and CEO Billy Jeremijenko told SmartCompany the company’s Lightway System could allow small drones to stay airborne indefinitely.
“We’re scaling fast,” he said at the time.
“We’re focused on scaling our power transfer so we can keep larger drones in the air forever because that has huge benefits for efficiency in asset management and safety in remote sites and public places like beaches.”
National Renewable Network: $1 million
NRN founder Alan Hunter. Source: supplied
Sydney-based National Renewable Network (NRN) has locked in $1 million in pre-Series A bridge funding, led by Investible’s Climate Tech Fund.
Electrifi Ventures and other angel investors also participated in the round, which comes after the startup secured a $10 million funding facility from Catalytic Impact Capital earlier this year.
Founded by Splend co-founder Alan Hunter in 2019, NRN is focused on changing how consumers access renewable energy resources for their homes and businesses.
The startup works with both energy retailers and consumers to offer solar and battery installations at no upfront cost.
The funding round was oversubscribed, with Investible contributing more than $400,000 to the round. It is the first investment Investible has made in a company it met and collaborated with at the Greenhouse Tech Hub co-working community.
“Securing this Pre-Series A funding is a crucial step in setting the foundation for a large Series A round later this year,” said Alan Hunter, CEO of NRN.
“We are grateful for the support of Investible, Electrifi Ventures, and our other investors. Their backing validates our vision and efforts to make renewable energy solutions affordable and accessible. Over the next few months, we are working closely with Investible to prepare for the next capital raise, which will enable us to scale our operations and bring the benefits of solar and battery systems to more homes across Australia.”
Klean: $725,000
A startup that helps brands measure and communicate their environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials has raised $725,000 in pre-seed funding.
According to Startup Daily, the funding round was led by Prtnr Ventures, which is a new VC fund established by former Queensland chief entrepreneur Wayne Gerard.
Klean, which was founded in 2022 by Shan Vahora, has also secured a $200,000 IGNITE grant from the Queensland government to help it accelerate its growth, product development and marketing activities.
The startup is focused on helping brands connect with, and retain, engaged customers who care about the company’s ESG activities. As well as showcasing such credentials to customers, the startup also collects e-commerce data and uses AI to help brands retarget shoppers via email and social media marketing.
Among the startup’s clients are brands including Wild Earth, OCAM, Hommey and Arms of Eve.
Vahora told Startup Daily that Klean’s target is to “reach 50 brands in the next 12 months, raise a seed round and expand to the USA”.
Bearhug: $325,000
Tom Field of Bearhug. Source: Supplied
Sydney-based startup Bearhug has also raised new funds this week, securing $325,000 from investors to scale its reusable pallet wraps designed to eliminate single-use plastic from supply chains for fast-moving consumer goods.
Bearhug was launched in January 2023 by university friends Tom Field and Max Higgins, after Field spent several years driving trucks and seeing firsthand how much plastic was being wasted each day.
The startup already has more than 70 businesses using its pallet wraps, which can be re-used up to 1000 times. Not only do Bearhug’s wraps significantly reduce the need for plastic wrapping around pallets, but they are also cheaper and more secure than plastic, and therefore reduce breakages too, says the startup.
The startup started by supplying its reusable wraps to craft brewers, but has since expanded to all businesses. It plans to use the new funding to help it address some of the challenges that larger companies are facing when switching from using plastic pallet wraps.
Bearhug is also working on a ‘pooling model’ for the reusable wraps, through which businesses could hire and then exchange or transfer the wraps between themselves.
Sindy.ai: $300,000
Melbourne-based AI startup Sindy has secured a US$200,000 ($300,000) investment after being selected for the Skydeck accelerator run by UC Berkeley.
Founded by University of Melbourne medical student Benjamin Arya and PhD graduate Oliver Cucanic, Sindy is developing AI-enabled enterprise software for universities.
Arya told SmartCompany this week the startup, which was previously called Sincidium, helps universities to “engage, assess, provide personalised feedback and ensure academic integrity in large cohorts”.
Both Arya and Cucanic were students when they began working on the startup but have now dropped out of uni to work full-time on Sindy, which is running pilots at the University of Melbourne and UC Berkeley.
Having won a University of Melbourne’s startup competition in 2022, the founders have now relocated to San Francisco to take part in the SkyDeck program. Prominent SkyDeck alumni include e-bike giant Lime and edtech unicorn Empowering.
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