Latest updates for ANZ sales professionals
Four months after cutting 14% of headcount and exiting 22 countries, GitLab shipped a $286M quarter with 24% billings growth. Revenue grew 21% but Q3 is guided down due to Flex recognition timing. New consumption model did $20M in six weeks.
Sydney proptech RentBetter closed $5 million from EVP to build AI property management tools. The 2016-founded company is profitable but won't disclose revenue, headcount, or what the round valued it at. Previous raise was $1.9 million in 2022.
Heidi's $140 million Series C leads this week's funding haul, valuing the AI healthcare platform at $1.26 billion. Six other startups closed rounds across medtech, proptech, and fintech. The deals signal continued investor appetite for B2B software and applied AI plays in ANZ.
Australian founders are moving companies offshore earlier than they otherwise would, driven by capital gains tax exposure that gets worse as valuations climb. The flip-up gets harder once you have revenue and investors. Lawyers say cost and complexity push founders to Delaware before they raise serious money.
Bowral-based medical edtech Medcast closed a $5.4 million raise led by Best Practice Software to scale MedLuma, its AI clinical knowledge platform for Australian GPs. The round was oversubscribed. Funding goes toward tech and clinical hiring, plus integration with Best Practice's practice management software, which holds 80% of the GP market in Australia.
Sydney fintech OpenDebt closed $2 million pre-seed from Blackbird and Antler. The AI debt recovery startup is deploying with Australian lenders and collection agencies, which means sales hiring is coming. No public headcount or CRO yet, but enterprise traction with a national collection agency suggests AE roles ahead.
Melbourne AI healthcare startup Heidi raised $475 million in new capital, with $240 million earmarked specifically for sales and marketing expansion. The company is hiring across APAC and pushing into health system enterprise sales. Headcount is approaching 600, up sharply from 200-500 last year.
Sydney robotics company Advanced Navigation closed a $26 million supply contract with Norwegian defense manufacturer Kongsberg for navigation systems headed to Poland's counter-drone platforms. The deal marks international traction for the 200+ employee company, which has raised between US$75-191 million across three rounds and recently secured US$50 million from Australia's National Reconstruction Fund.
Melbourne clinical AI scaleup Heidi closed a US$100m Series C led by Blackbird, plus US$240m in growth capital. Valuation nearly doubled in 12 months to A$1.26bn. The timing matters: this is what happens after Series B when a company actually ships.
Melbourne energy tech company Amber Electric closed a $78.5M Series E led by Morgan Stanley's 1GT climate fund. The company holds over 50% of Australia's automated battery market with 40,000 customers and is now pushing into Europe. Worth noting: estimated revenue sits at $37.9M on a team of around 164, which puts them squarely in scale-up territory, not early-stage.
Sydney AI data centre operator Firmus Technologies is pricing its October IPO at A$7bn valuation with just 105 employees. The company, backed by Nvidia, Blackstone and Coatue, operates two facilities and has five more under construction across Asia-Pacific. Worth noting: this is infrastructure sales, not software, and the team is lean for the capital scale.
Buildkite closed a $21m convertible note in January after burning $23.4m and ousting its CEO. The DevOps company joins four smaller raises: Medow Health AI ($3.5m), ReFresh, Elita, and Evatto. Worth noting: Buildkite's deal only surfaced via ASIC filings, not press releases.