Four Australian startups that raised $60.6 million this week

Aussie startups managed to beat last week’s funding round by over $2 million, landing $60.6 million across four companies. This was primarily led by two big raises from Unyoked and SpeeDX.

Unyoked: $28 million

Off-grid Cabin startup, Unyoked, has landed $28 million in a funding round led by SURPLUS Equity Partners in Germany and Realside Financial Group.

Launched in 2017 by twin brothers Cam and Chris Grant, the company already has 100 cabins across Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.

The small cabins are off-grid and reside in remote areas outside of major cities. There is a range of options you can choose from, including ones that are pet friendly or have zero mobile phone service.

The idea of Unyoked cabins is for people to unwind from the hectic modern world and reconnect with nature.

The raise will be used to extend its network of cabins into Europe.

“From very early on, we built the company with the idea to solve a problem that we were experiencing ourselves. We were spending too much time in the city, and were feeling friction from modern life and technology and working too much,” Chris Grant said to SmartCompany in an interview.

Read the full story here.

SpeeDx: $26 million

Medtech startup SpeedDx is nipping at the heels of Unyoked with $26 million, with $5 million coming from Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest’s Tenmile. There was also participation from Platinum International Healthcare Fund and US-based specialist medical fund Northpond Ventures.

Founded in 2009 by Dr Elisa Mokany and associate professor Alison Todd, SpeedDx, its tests allow for the identification of different bacteria and antibiotic-resistance targets simultaneously, leading to faster infection diagnosis. It also advises labs on which antibiotics would be best to treat them.

While it has specialised in sexually transmitted infections, SpeeDx can also test for genetic targets of certain cancers as well as identify infectious diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, or parasites.

The raise will be used to develop new diagnostic technology as well as expand overseas in the US.

Mutinex: $5 million 

‘Martech’ startup Mutinex announced a $5 million seed extension, bringing the total round to an impressive $37 million. This has been led by Equity Venture Partners (EVP), which was joined by existing shareholders such as Bloomsbury Information Capital.

Mutinex specialises in marketing investment analytics, developing its own proprietary GrowthOS software to help marketers target their spend through its insights.

The raise will be used to scale the offerings of the platform as well as add to headcount and expand further into the US.

“Mutinex as a business has the potential to transform the entire marketing industry. With a clear vision as to how to create the Bloomberg of Growth, supported by a well-disciplined management
team, it’s clear Mutinex has the potential to become the dominant market leader in this category,” Justin Lipman, partner at EVP, said in a statement.

Live Verdure: $1.6 million

Health and wellness startup Live Verdure has secured $1.6 million in funding from existing shareholders.

Live Verdure is an Australian plant-based food, nutraceutical, and skin care company that owns the fast-growing hemp consumer brand “13 Seeds”, with Tasmanian hemp as its hero protein.

The company plans to utilise the cash to accelerate its growth by investing in sales, marketing, and inventory. The round will also help fund partnership discussions and further due diligence into potential merger & acquisition targets.