Eleven Aussie startups that raised $140 million this week

This week’s startup raises range in value from $500,000 to more than $109 million, with many in between.

Here’s 11 Australian startups set to grow with fresh funding.

Songtradr: $109 million

Songtradr founder and chief Paul Wiltshire. Source: supplied.

Leading this week’s funding round-up is Songtradr, the music licensing platform founded by Australian songwriter and entrepreneur Paul Wiltshire, which has raised a massive $109 million and is now reportedly valued at $879 million.

One of the biggest venture capital raises by an Australian-founded company in 2023, the Series E investment comes from Epic Games — the same company that sold the D2C music sales platform Bandcamp to Songtradr last month — as well as previous investors including WiseTech’s Richard White, Perennial and Argo.

Songtradr has previously received backing from Australian-based investors, including the St Baker family office, Regal Funds Management, and Aware Super.

Songtradr aims to be an all-in-one music licensing platform for corporates, small businesses, and content creators. Its subscribers can select songs from the Songtradr marketplace or browse from playlists, including ones inspired by popular films and TV shows.

Wiltshire has previously described the platform as a B2B version of Spotify, with songwriters and producers earning fees whenever a Songtradr client licenses their music.

Read more.

White Box Enterprises: $12 million

Former JB Hi-Fi boss Richard Uechtritz is among 13 impact investors who have contributed to a $12 million capital raise for social enterprise incubator White Box Enterprises, which will put the funds towards its second non-profit commercial laundry in northern New South Wales.

Founded by CEO Luke Terry, White Box Enterprises ‘incubates’ social enterprises that create jobs for people experiencing disadvantage. The first of its social enterprise laundries, Vanguard Laundry, is located in Toowoomba, in regional Queensland, and the second enterprise, Beacon Laundry, is being planned for Bangalow, near Byron Bay in NSW.

Impact investors like Uechtritz contributed 75% of the $12 million raised, however, White Box Enterprises is still hoping to raise another $1 million to reach its fundraising target. 

“We have been fortunate enough to have the support of some incredible philanthropists and impact investors who can see the value of social enterprise in this regional community,” Terry said in a statement. 

Uechtritz encouraged Terry to build the Bangalow laundry to help the Northern Rivers community after coming across the Toowoomba enterprise. 

“I’d not seen or heard of anything quite like Vanguard Laundry. The impact this social enterprise has on individuals struggling with mental health is remarkable. Having the opportunity to work at the  laundry is literally changing their lives.” Uechtritz said. 

The capital raising process has taken two years for White Box Enterprises, which has also attracted a federal government grant of $750,000 and support from the Bryan Family Foundation. 

“We’ve recently opened it up to friends and family to invest small amounts, with returns of 8-12%,” added Terry.

“Commercial laundries aren’t cheap to set up, but we’ve done our research and know there is a market for this in the Northern Rivers, with most hotels currently sending their linen two  hours down the road to Coffs Harbour or up to Logan in Queensland.”  

“Beacon not only offers a local, more energy efficient option, its primary purpose is to create local jobs for people who are shut out from mainstream work. That’s the goal of all jobs-focused social enterprises.”  

Seminal: $5 million

A new tech platform designed to protect, license, and sell the work of painters and other fine artists has raised $5 million in seed funding, according to The Australian.

Seminal was founded by Ward Williams, whose father David Williams is a well-known deal maker in Melbourne, and already has a global team of 52 working on its tech.

The Seminal register hopes to replicate the kind of royalty environment that exists in the music industry but for fine arts. It is also reportedly using artificial intelligence to screen the artworks on its platform.

“We use AI to essentially segment images and create composite images to test whether you are sampling other people’s work, in order to be able to make an assessment about whether you’ve developed a novel piece of copyright,” Williams told The Australian.

Touch2Pay: $3.2 million

Touch2pay ceo. Source: supplied

Brisbane-based payments startup Touch2Pay has closed a $3.2 million pre-Series A2 funding round, bringing its total investment raised to $6.3 million to date.

The payments-as-a-service startup has not disclosed where the new funding comes from, except to say it has been provided by “a mix of existing and new investors”.

Touch2Pay was founded in 2020 by CEO Stanley Hancock, Alyson Joyce, Singapore-based JM Parc, and Australian fashion retailer Rob Cromb. It offers both payment terminals and softPOS technology, in partnership with PHOS Ingenico for both Android and iOS platforms.

“The closure of this funding round is a significant milestone for Touch2Pay,” said Hancock in a statement.

“It not only validates our vision but also empowers us to continue our journey in transforming the payments landscape. Our commitment to innovation and customer-centric solutions has been instrumental in driving our growth, and we are excited about the new opportunities this capital injection will unlock.”

Intrigue Media: $2.7 million

Intrigue Media team. Source: Supplied

Intrigue Media, founded and run by former Australian diplomats John Fowler and Helen Zhang, has raised $2.7 million (US$1.75 million) in a round led by Autumn Road Capital.

The investment values the media company at US$5.5 million and is set to “turbocharge Intrigue’s growth into the next phase”, say the founders.

Fowler and Zhang founded the company in 2022 with a mission to help “global leaders and curious global citizens understand what’s going on in the world, and why it matters for them”.

The company, which is run from Washington DC, London, Sydney and Austin, produces a daily newsletter called International Intrigue, which aims to explain the biggest news stories around the world in five minutes or less, as well as its Intrigue Outload podcast and a Spanish-language newsletter called Intriga Internacional.

The media company has recently collaborated with the likes of The Economist, Millenium Space Systems, HubSpot, Morning Brew, Atlantic Council and the Australian Financial Review.

Avarni: $2.5 million

L-R: Anuj Paudel and Misha Cajic of Avarni. Source: Supplied

Decarbonisation startup Avarni has also raised fresh capital this week, completing a $2.5 million extension round with existing investor Main Sequence and new backs Sprint Ventures and AfterWork Ventures.

Avarni was launched in 2021 by founders Anuj Paudel and Misha Cajic, with a platform to help businesses understand, report, and forecast their Scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions.

The startup said this week its platform has now surpassed more than $1.58 trillion worth of supply chain carbon footprint data from 311,000 suppliers.

The new funding adds to the $3 million Avarni raised in November 2022 and will go towards advancing the company’s AI and supply chain analysis tools. To date, the startup has raised a total of $6.1 million.

“Our mission is to help companies manage their carbon emissions, an increasingly important problem which requires sizable energy and investment for real-world impact,” said Avarni co-CEO and co-founder Misha Cajic.

“As scrutiny on emissions reporting rises from both a policy and investment perspective, companies will need to actively address their supply chains by collaborating with partners to make serious decarbonisation inroads.”

Aerologix: $2 million

L-R: Aerologix founders Tom Caska and Rakesh Routhu. Source: Supplied

Sydney-based drone technology startup Aerologix has revealed it has raised $2 million and acquired Brazilian mapping software company Mappa. 

Aerologix was founded in 2019 by ex-airline pilot Tom Caska and former tech consultant Rakesh Routhu. The startup bills itself as “Uber for drones” as it connects drone operators with companies that need aerial imaging. 

Having already signed up more than 29,000 drone pilots in its four years of operations, the startup expanded into New Zealand this year and has North and South America in its sights.

The latest investment was led by existing investor Nightingale Partners, while Ellerston Capital has also backed the company. 

The acquisition of Mappa is seen as a strategic one, as the Brazilian company has a strong presence in South America. Its mapping technology will be integrated into the startup via a new product offering, called AerologixMaps.

EarlyWork: $1.5 million

Tech bootcamp EarlyWork also made headlines this week, after closing a $1.5 million seed funding round to expand its tech sales school with new roles and locations.

Singapore will be the first cab off the rank for the company’s geographic expansion, as it seeks to help more startups fill their gap for sales staff.

EarlyWork’s goal is to help companies hire junior talent that already have the skills and know-how, and it says it is working alongside startups including Shippit, Eftsure and BuildPass to make this happen.

Contributing to the funding round were No Brand, Jelix Ventures and Archangel Ventures.

More insights into EarlyWork’s fundraising journey is available on the company’s Substack.

SuperAPI: $1 million

A superannuation tech startup founded by former Xero employees has also raised this week, locking in $1 million in seed funding, according to the Australian Financial Review.

Elliephant: $560,000

Elliephant team. Source: Elliephant

LaunchVic’s Alice Anderson Fund is backing corporate gifting startup Elliephant, which has raised $560,000 in pre-seed funding.

Tractor Ventures co-founder Jodie Imam also participated in the funding round, along with the Jagen Family Office, according to Startup Daily.

Elliephant was founded by Sheree Andersen and Johnny Reid in 2022 with a mission to find a better way to do corporate gifting that saves both time and waste. The startup connects with a company’s existing HR, marketing, and sales setups to produce gifting campaigns that can be automated and more personalised.

The startup was part of this year’s Melbourne Accelerator Program at the University of Melbourne and has already signed up corporates including Seek, Quantium, APA and IXOM.

Elliephant represents the 29th company to receive backing from the Alice Anderson Fund since mid-July 2021 when the fund was launched.

“Sheree’s journey into startups follows many of our other founders – purpose-led women who have seen a gap in the market during their professional careers and created a business grounded in impact,” said LaunchVic CEO Dr Kate Cornick.

“We’re proud to back Sheree and the team in their mission to bring sustainability into the corporate gifting industry and build those lasting relationships we know are crucial to growing companies.”

LeVel Lemonade: $584,346 

LeVel Lemonade. Source: supplied

Sports drink brand LeVel Lemonade is planning on taking on the canned drinks market, following a successful equity crowdfunding raise on Birchal that resulted in 315 investors backing the company to the tune of more than $584,000.

According to the company’s Birchal profile, it has already sold 4 million bottles of its supplementary sports drink, which is available in more than 3000 retail stores including the two major supermarkets and service stations.

LeVel Lemonade says its drinks are low in sugar and high in vitamin C and magnesium, while still being a “deliciously refreshing fizzy drink.”