Latest updates for ANZ sales professionals
Auckland-based Sterling closed an oversubscribed seed round led by Blackbird to build AI workflow automation for finance teams. Founded in 2025 by ex-Deliveroo and Vend engineers Nik Wakelin and Ludwig Wendzich, the startup has early customers but no public headcount or sales org details yet.
The Australian Business Growth Fund lifted its initial investment cap from $15M to $30M and total investment ceiling to $50M. The government-backed fund can now take majority stakes, marking a shift upmarket from its original $5M-$15M sweet spot.
Sydney creator marketing platform Fabulate closed an oversubscribed $4.5 million round at $84.5 million post-money valuation, 90% from existing backers including Centerstone Capital and Nightingale Partners. The company is profitable and operates across 10 APAC markets with more than 100 employees.
Independent MP Allegra Spender says Labor's proposed $10 million lifetime cap on startup CGT concessions could discourage successful founders and investors from backing new ventures. The cap applies to gains under the existing 50% discount, potentially hitting serial investors and exited founders who reinvest.
Sydney semiconductor startup Millibeam shipped Rakurai, a portable drone jammer built on proprietary mmWave chips. The company pulled $4.6 million in federal grants: $2.6m from Industry Growth Program, $2m from Supply Chain Resilience Initiative. Worth noting: this is prototype stage (TRL5), not field-ready product.
Enrola ditched its education marketplace in September 2025 to focus on AI sales agents that qualify B2C leads via SMS. The Brisbane startup has now closed $2.1M seed led by Purpose Ventures, bringing total funding to $2.9M. 28 customers across ANZ, UK and Ireland already using the platform.
Australian AI infrastructure startup Firmus closed a $2.85 billion round led by Coatue and Nvidia, doubling its valuation to $15 billion in four months. The company has now raised over $4 billion in 12 months to build GPU-dense data centres across Australia and Asia-Pacific.
Joe Aston's 18-month-old business publication closed a $2.3m round at $29m valuation. Five investors in, but no public data on sales headcount, comp structure, or revenue team. Worth noting: profitable since launch, but still building commercial model.
Bending Spoons is acquiring the no-code platform for $1.285B enterprise value, roughly $2.25B equity value including cash. That is 2.7x ARR on $480M revenue, growing 20% year over year. The company raised $1.4B and was valued at $11.7B in 2021. This is what the SaaS valuation reset looks like at scale.
ASX-listed Scalare secured $5m in convertible notes after buying Fishburners out of administration for an undisclosed sum. The deal adds 40,000 founders to Scalare's database but came with no staff or liabilities. Worth noting: customer receipts hit $5.3m in Q4, up from $639k a year ago.
Strip out SpaceX's $1.77 trillion listing and 2026's IPO market is one of the weakest on record for enterprise software. Not a single B2B SaaS company has gone public or even filed. Databricks CEO called it 'a terrible year to go public' despite $5.4B ARR growing 65%. Why this matters for your quota: when the exit window stays shut, hiring plans stall.
Matt Berriman called time on his US legal battle against Google after the Ninth Circuit rejected his appeal. Unlockd, the Sydney adtech startup that raised $60m and was valued at $200m, collapsed in 2018 after Google banned it from the Play Store. Eight years of litigation later, Google won.