News | OnTargetIsh

Advanced Navigation lands $26m Polish defense deal, signals Europe expansion

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.

Sep 23, 2026 · 3 min

Funding & Startups

Heidi hits $1.26bn after $140m Series C, 12 months from Series B

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.

Sep 23, 2026 · 2 min

Funding & Startups

Amber Electric raises $78.5M Series E, targeting Europe expansion

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.

Sep 22, 2026 · 2 min

Market Intel

Albanese meets Apple in California, pushes AI guardrails and algorithm opt-outs

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with Apple executives at Cupertino to discuss AI regulation, child safety features, and Australia's under-16 social media ban. The one-hour meeting covered international AI frameworks and algorithm transparency. Australia is pushing for global standards while Apple rolls out safety features influenced by ANZ policy.

Sep 22, 2026 · 2 min

Sales Leadership

Why Experienced ANZ Sales Execs Are Joining $150M ARR Companies Growing 0%

Somewhere between 1,400 and 1,700 unicorns exist globally, many minted in 2021-2022. A significant chunk are now growing 0-10% annually but still need full commercial teams. For seasoned ANZ sales leaders, these roles offer better cash comp, proven playbooks, and less existential chaos than hyper-growth AI startups.

Sep 22, 2026 · 3 min

Funding & Startups

Firmus targets A$7bn ASX IPO, 105 employees managing hyperscale infrastructure play

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.

Sep 22, 2026 · 2 min

Sales Tech

SaaStr doubled sponsorship revenue with 21 AI agents, 3 humans

Jason Lemkin's media business ran 17,000 conversations and booked 600 meetings using AI agents for inbound, renewals, and outbound. Sponsorship revenue is up 2.1x, renewals up 60%, with Salesforce running headless under a custom Replit agent. Here is what the stack actually looks like.

Sep 20, 2026 · 3 min

Market Intel

ICONIQ's New Benchmark: $100M ARR Companies Growing 115%, 55% Gross Margins

ICONIQ Growth dropped new benchmarks that throw out the old SaaS playbook. Median growth at $100M ARR is 115%, not 50%. Gross margins start at 55%, not 80%. Here is what changed and why your board deck just got harder to defend.

Sep 19, 2026 · 3 min

Funding & Startups

Five ANZ startups raised $29.9m, Buildkite's $21m note disclosed 8 months late

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.

Sep 19, 2026 · 2 min

Funding & Startups

ServiceTitan beats revenue by $8M, stock drops 30%, back half guided to 15% growth

ServiceTitan reported $292.8M revenue, up 21%, and beat guidance. The stock fell 30% the next day. The problem: Q3 revenue guided below Q2 in absolute dollars, and the back half is planned at mid-teens growth against 25% a year ago. Growth or die, especially when you are priced at a SaaS multiple.

Sep 18, 2026 · 3 min

Market Intel

Defence sector eyes $15.7B supplier consolidation, new SME contracts

Government-backed push to consolidate Australian defence suppliers could mirror the old automotive supply chain model. Top 40 contractors turned over $15.7B in FY23/24, led by BAE ($2.0B) and Boeing ($1.2B). For sales teams: opportunity sits in sustainment, robotics, and advanced manufacturing, not mass production.

Sep 18, 2026 · 2 min

Market Intel

Kmart, Bunnings deploy shelf-scanning robots across hundreds of ANZ stores

Wesfarmers is running autonomous robots in Kmart and Bunnings stores after hours to scan inventory, check pricing, and identify out-of-stocks. This is not a pilot: Tory operates across all Kmart large-format stores in Australia and New Zealand, while Bunnings has trialled Zippedi. Worth noting: Bunnings did $20.4bn in FY2026 revenue with 20,399 employees, Kmart Group $11.8bn with 5,444 people. Any efficiency gains at that scale matter.

Sep 18, 2026 · 2 min

GitLab cuts 350 staff, posts $286M quarter, 24% billings growth

RentBetter raises $5m, won't say valuation or revenue

Stripe AI CRO: Top AI companies grew 175%, half their revenue outside home market

Seven ANZ startups raise $274.7 million: Heidi hits unicorn status at $1.26 billion

Gorgias publishes open competitive eval against 18 vendors, shows where it loses