Funding

Canon Oceania announced the finalists of its 2023 Grants Program and opened public voting, following 447 submissions across categories; Education, Community and Environment. Canon celebrates 50 years of product innovation and supporting communities across the Oceania region in 2023. This year’s program will present AU$50,000 in grants across ANZ.

Moove, the world's first mobility fintech, has secured $76m in new funding, consisting of $28 million in equity from new and existing investors, in a process led by Mubadala Investment Company (Mubadala), $10m venture debt from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, and $38 million in previously undisclosed funds raised during the prior twelve months.

Insurtech disruptor LifeBid has launched its equity crowdfunding campaign with Stride Equity, Australia’s first venture backed equity crowdfunding platform. The launch of the campaign follows a strategic co-investment of $700K from industry partners and the Stride Group. LifeBid is the first company the Stride Equity team has approved for an investment and concurrent hosting on their equity crowdfunding platform since its launch earlier this year. The platform only hosts firms that are pre-qualified by Stride Equity’s experienced investment team and meet the stringent criteria for strategic co-investment by the Stride Group.  

Green hydrogen company, Hiringa Energy and Australian agricultural and pastoral enterprise, Sundown Pastoral Co, have partnered to drive forward the next generation of decarbonised farming and agriculture in the northern NSW region after being awarded $35.8m in funding from the NSW Government. Together, the two industry leaders will enhance the capacity of the world’s first Good Earth Cotton farm to produce climate-positive and traceable cotton.

The team behind Side Stage Ventures has announced a $15 million first close of their new founder-led seed fund backing entrepreneurs in the earliest stages of building companies. The fund is led by Ben Grabiner and Markus Kahlbetzer, founded and invested in numerous category leaders and industry-shapers. Grabiner co-founded the UK creator platform, Platoon, which helped launch the career of Billie Eilish, and has since been acquired by Apple. 

Remedial Health, a healthtech startup that creates solutions to make Africa’s pharmaceutical value chain more efficient, announced that it has secured $12m in an equity and debt funding round to deepen the penetration of its services in Nigeria and support the delivery of targeted financial services to drive business growth across the country’s pharmaceutical sector.

Cyble, one of the fastest-growing threat intelligence provider that blends cybersecurity and AI to develop state-of-the-art threat intelligence solutions, announced a $24 million injection of capital through Series B funding. Cyble has been steadily gaining recognition as the favored solution for Dark Web and Threat Intelligence among cybersecurity specialists, solidifying its position as the champion of a secure digital future with advanced artificial intelligence tech.

Plerion, a cutting-edge cybersecurity company founded by industry veterans Mike Rahmati (CEO), Paul Garner (COO), and Pierre Liddle (CTO), has announced the closure of its seed round funding, raising US$10 million led by Prosus Ventures, with participation from Cercano and Atlassian Ventures. The revolutionary platform empowers organisations of all sizes to proactively identify, prioritise, and mitigate risks within their cloud operating environments.

US and Australian venture capital climate and sustainability heavyweights have led a $28m Series B funding round for deep-tech mining company Plotlogic. Galvanize Climate Solutions, the climate-focused investment firm founded by billionaire Tom Steyer and Katie Hall, and SE Ventures, the firm backed by French energy and automation giant Schneider Electric, co-led the round. Both seek to foster cutting edge tech that tackle major climate change challenges.

Orthogon Therapeutics LLC, a trailblazer in antiviral therapeutics, announced a dual victory. Its lead molecule has completed acute toxicity studies, marking a pivotal technical milestone that has unlocked an additional $3m from its syndicate of healthcare investors. This wraps up a $6m financing in the past year and brings Orthogon's total raise to a formidable $18.5m.