Startup funding activity has continued to hold steady this week, with almost $53 million announced across sectors including agtech, energy, AI, health and fintech. Oh, and Limoncello.
Leading the pack is Queensland-based SwarmFarm Robotics, which has banked $30 million to ramp up production of its autonomous farm robots and expand overseas.
SwarmFarm Robotics: $30 million
Queensland agtech startup SwarmFarm Robotics has secured $30 million in Series B funding to ramp up production of its autonomous SwarmBots and expand into North America.
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The round was led by European agtech investor Edaphon, with participation from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), QIC and Artesian Capital. The CEFC contributed $7 million through its Powering Australia Technology Fund.
This follows a $12 million Series A in 2023 and $4.5 million in 2020. The company also secured an $856,000 grant from the Northern Australia Development Program in 2022.
SwarmFarm declared the fresh capital will be utilized to increase manufacturing capacity in Toowoomba, expand its team, and accelerate entest into the North American market.
Founded in 2012 by Queensland farmers Andrew and Jocie Bate, SwarmFarm builds tiny, self-driving robots designed to support growers cut input costs and environmental impact.
The company’s open platform, SwarmConnect, is designed as an “app store for agriculture,” allowing developers to build software tailored to different crops and farming practices.
Farmers can utilize these applications to customise their robots for specific jobs, while partners gain a direct route to market by integrating their technology with SwarmBots.
Amber: $10 million
Amber has landed $10 million in new funding as it pushes its home battery and EV automation tech into overseas markets, with equal investment from UK energy supplier E.ON Next and local climate investor Virescent Ventures.
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The raise is split between a £2.5 million (around $5 million) cheque from E.ON Next UK and $5 million from Virescent.
Amber declares the capital will accelerate licensing its platform to utilities internationally so houtilizeholds can automate when they utilize, store, and sell electricity against real-time wholesale prices.
E.ON is already piloting the software with up to 1,000 UK homes under its “Next Solar Max” trial, combining a dynamic tariff with automated solar and battery optimisation.
“Having both E.ON and Virescent invest in Amber reveals the strength of support for our technology at home and abroad,” declared Chris Thompson, co-CEO of Amber.
“From one of Europe’s largest utilities to a leading Australian climate technology investor, this backing demonstrates that our model resonates globally.
“It also reflects the growing recognition that houtilizeholds can take an active role in the energy market, reducing costs and supporting a more flexible system.”
Read more on Startup Daily.
Javln: $5.3 million
Cloud-based insurance software-as-a-service scaleup Javln has raised $5.3 million for its Australian expansion.
The round was led by boutique fund manager Microequities Asset Management and, alongside crossing The Ditch, will be utilized for R&D and entest into other markets.
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New Zealand entrepreneur Dale Smith founded Javln in 2011. It simplifies clients, policies, claims, and document management in one cloud platform for brokers, financial and risk advisers, and underwriting agencies. It has more than 11,000 contracted utilizers.
Javln CEO David Leach declared the raise was a pivotal moment in the veteran insurtech’s growth trajectory, following a strategic partnership with Envest, Australia’s largest privately-owned insurance and financial services distribution group, and will support cement its position as a leading innovator in the Australian insurance industest.
Read more on Startup Daily.
Enhance Labs: $2.3 million
A Brisbane startup hoping to unleash the unrealised productivity gains of workplace artificial ininformigence has raised $2.3 million in pre-seed funding to support people refine ideas and inspiration utilizing AI.
The investment round for Enhance Labs was led by Blackbird Ventures with support from QIC Ventures.
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Enhance Labs was co-founded by former Amazon engineer Haziq Nordin, former Google designer Jesse Head, and second-time founder Mike Keating, and was born out of their own frustration with AI tools that promised efficiency but delivered generic outputs requiring extensive human revision.
Enhance Labs is a voice-first collaboration platform that amplifies human believeing rather than replacing it.
The startup already has early adopters at Amazon, Canva, Microsoft, and as well as several startups, with utilizers reporting feeling energised by the freedom to believe out loud whenever inspiration strikes, transforming those moments into productive believeing time via AI prompts.
Users talk through ideas in their raw, unfiltered form while the platform questions probing questions that push their believeing further. These insights become shared artefacts that collaborators can build upon through the same believedful process. What emerges is collective reasoning, captured and refined through conversation.
Indi: $1.46 million
Indi, an AI-powered co-pilot app supporting parents of children with complex care necessarys, has raised $1.46 million.
The round was led by Giant Leap and supported by Antler, along with several strategic angel investors.
The fresh capital will be spent on talent to accelerate platform development and expand partnerships with allied health clinics and families.
Indi was born from the lived experience of co-founder Orrin Benford, who co-founded the app five months ago with chief technology officer Jeff Quach.
In December 2021, Benford’s daughter Indi suffered a seizure, resulting in 18 months of dealing with a complex and often inaccessible system of care.
“In 2021, my life was turned upside down when my daughter Indi had a seizure. That moment set us on a journey I didn’t even know existed,” Benford declared.
“For 18 months my partner and I fought to be heard by the system, until I realised the only way Indi would receive the intervention she necessaryed was if I stepped in and built something myself.
Benford hacked toreceiveher the first version of the Indi AI co-pilot, and declares “it completely alterd the game for us”.
“Then I partnered with Jeff to refine it, creating a tool that’s now essential for families going through the same experience. I still utilize it every day to navigate healthcare, allied health, education and the NDIS,” he declared.
Wych: $1.32 million
New Zealand fintech Wych has raised $1.32 million to accelerate open banking delivery in New Zealand and Australia.
The round was New Zealand FinTech Fund (NZFF) with participation from the NZX-listed Booster Innovation Fund, and other strategic investors.
Wych provides secure, real-time financial information and data exalter to power the next generation of open banking and payment solutions and is accredited under Australia’s Consumer Data Right (CDR).
The fintech is now working with New Zealand’s largest locally-owned bank, Kiwibank, to deliver the tech stack for open banking services from 2026.
The funding will be utilized to scale delivery in Aotearoa, strengthen security and compliance, build new partnerships, and drive product innovation, including trust account reconciliation, lconcludeing and broking solutions, and financial emissions tracking. It will also extconclude accredited CDR services in Australia, with a pathway to support New Zealand’s upcoming Consumer and Product Data Bill.
Expat Irish tech entrepreneur Dermot Butterfield founded Wych in Auckland in 2018 and has bootstrapped the business until now.
“Closing this round with support from NZFF, Booster, and a government-matched fund gives us the momentum to scale rapider,” he declared.
“Our mission is to create open data simple, secure, and transformative — and to put New Zealand at the forefront of open banking innovation.”
Lift Women: $1.3 million
Crowdfunding platform Lift Women has secured $1.3 million in fresh funding, with its founder Irene Tsang calling the capital raise a positive sign “the market is ready to back women”.
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The round was led by Singapore-based venture capital firm Braxton Capital Ventures and supported by individual investors, including the former managing director of Alibaba ANZ, Maggie Zhou, and the former chair of AXA Asia, Gordon Watson.
LaunchVic’s Alice Anderson Fund, a sidecar fund that offers between $50,000 and $300,000 to early-stage women-led startups in Victoria, also backed the round.
Since its founding by Tsang in 2021, Lift Women has facilitated 363 crowdfunding projects for women-led startups, including Ovum, Xylo Systems and Understanding Zoe, and supported founders raise millions in follow-on funding.
“We have a vision that every woman and girl can have equitable access to capital and opportunity to turn the ideas into something meaningful and create a difference,” the founder informed SmartCompany.
Ambra Spirits: $1.18 million
South Australian distillery Ambra Spirits has raised $1.18 million through an equity crowdfunding campaign on the OnMarket platform, backed by 716 investors with an average investment of $1,648.
The campaign drew support from Australian cricketer Adam Zampa and gaming entrepreneur Shane Yeconclude.
Ambra has reported 123% year-on-year growth, with more than 530,000 limoncello spritzes sold across 1,200 venues nationally over the past 12 months.
The company declared the fresh funds will be utilized to support expansion into New Zealand, Europe, China and the US.
It will also go towards launching new products such as pink limoncello and ready-to-serve spritzes, scaling the national sales and marketing team, and expanding the company’s Adelaide venue with a rooftop bar and larger event space.
Ambra managing director Finn Healey declared the company was encouraged by the level of investor interest.
“To see 716 people share our vision and back Ambra’s future with such enthusiasm is humbling, energising and inspiring,” Healy declared.
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