Tasmanian AI infrastructure startup Firmus has locked in another US$505m ($725m AUD) equity raise led by Coatue, valuing the company at $8 billion. This follows a $10 billion debt facility in February and positions the company for an ASX IPO later this year. Sales implications: unclear. No CRO, VP Sales, or go-to-market team details disclosed.
Spoony, an Australian social app for disabled and neurodivergent users, is closing after investors shifted focus to AI startups. The company raised $1 million, hit 65,000 users, but could not land its October 2025 funding round. No sales team, no monetisation model that worked pre-1M users.
Oceania's first fintech-specific VC fund hit $10m in nine months, backed by CommBank's x15ventures. The stage-agnostic fund is deploying now, with founder Dom Pym noting it is one of the toughest capital raising markets in a decade. Worth noting: four out of five Australian fintechs have no VC on their cap table.
Australia Post bought last-mile delivery platform Rendr to expand same-day delivery to 90% of Australia. Deal terms undisclosed. No data on Rendr's sales team size, revenue, or hiring plans post-acquisition. Rendr raised $2.1M in 2021, will run standalone before integration.
Sydney startup Chime Labs closed $900k pre-seed from 500 Global to build AI phone handling for Australian trade businesses. The product answers calls, qualifies leads, and books jobs directly into calendars. Founders are targeting administrative overhead that costs tradies up to $12k monthly in missed calls.
Jason Lemkin's free pitch deck analyzer has graded 4,000+ decks. The data shows most score 55-70 on deck quality, growth drives 55 of 100 traction points, and you need A- or better (85+) for top-tier VC conversations. The weighting is deliberate: traction matters three times more than how well you tell the story.
Ed Sim's Boldstart Ventures closed a $250M fund targeting day-zero AI companies. The firm backs technical founders before they have product, team, or revenue. This is inception investing: napkin sketch to Series A, focused on enterprise AI infrastructure and agents.
Byron Bay furniture startup Koala closed a $20 million raise ahead of its ASX listing this week, valuing the business at $305 million. The DTC brand hit $175 million revenue within six years, scaling from mattress-in-a-box to whole-of-home furniture. Co-founder Dany Milham is back as CEO on $630k base after his grocery delivery detour with Milkrun.
OpenAI closed its Sora text-to-video app six months after launch, with Disney canceling a planned $1.4 billion investment. The shutdown affects sales teams exploring AI video tools for demos and social content. No Australian operations were impacted.
Melbourne IT integration startup Support Fusion closed a $1M pre-seed round led by Func Ventures and Exhort Ventures. The company is hiring go-to-market, partnerships, and customer success roles across Australia and the US. No comp details disclosed yet.
Eight ANZ startups raised $373.3M this week, led by NZ agtech Halter's $314M Series E at $2.9B valuation. Silicon Quantum Computing added $60M, Cauldron closed $35M Series A. Worth noting: these are deep tech and agtech plays, not sales software. Limited hiring data disclosed, but Halter's expansion into Australia signals potential AE and AM roles as they scale territory coverage.
Canva acquired Melbourne adtech startup Doohly for $30M, adding digital out-of-home advertising to its design platform. The deal marks Canva's sixth acquisition in two years and positions it to manage client branding from design through to in-store and outdoor advertising execution.