💌 16th July Weekly Retro of Australian Start-ups & Venture Capital

16th July

G'day and welcome to Overnight Successes, the weekly newsletter that levels you up on everything Aussie Start-ups.

Headlines:

🚀 The Australian released the top 100 innovators list for 2022. The list encapsulates those driving Australia forward and inspiring the rest of the nation to achieve continued success. In summary, if you want to see the next generation of Aussie game changers, check it out. To see the full list head here.

💾 Cut Through Ventures also released its half-year report for 2022. Click the image below to head to the full report. (Google Drive Link)

If this was forwarded to you, join investors from Startmate, Rampersand VC, x15, Blackbird, Superseed, Macquarie, Folklore, and Flying Fox keeping up to date with Aussie Start-ups here!

1. Headlines: News that's important, but you might have missed.

2. Start-up retro: Summarising the week's start-up raises with a smidge of context.

3. Venture Capital: New fund, who this?

4. Notice Board: Signposting key events and opportunities in the ecosystem.

5. Accredited Tweeters: Snippets from Twitter and linkedin!

6. (KaaS) Knowledge as a Services: Articles to make you smarter. Or share with co-workers to make them think you’re smart.

Start-up Retro!

AdTech

🌱🤘BlendAI

News: The start-up that utilizes AI to optimise and automate marketing content, BlendAI, has raised $1.5M. The round was led by EVP. BlendAI focuses on SMB who are hoping to simplify online ad channels. Currently, multiple ad-mangers and budgets are balanced between Google, Facebook and now TikTok. Businesses are struggling to maintain efficiency as their channel mix grows. BlendAI offers a single tool that manages the underlying platforms. The thematic is strong with global e-commerce continuing to grow and new merchants looking to optimise their outcomes. BlendAI will continue to grow with a product-led mindset and aids its customers with direct business growth and higher returns on Ad spending.

Read more about it: (Start-up Daily)

Students

🌱🧑‍🎓InternMatch

News: InternMatch, the aussie start-up that helps university students and graduates land 12-week internships has raised a $10M Series A. The round was led by a property developer, Doma Group with advisory firm Henslow investing as well. InternMatch launched 8 years ago under a different name, Outcome.Life. Now, InternMatch charges Unis and takes a recruitment fee if the student is hired after their internship. 65% of students are hired after their internship in what is essentially a trial before you buy. InternMatch helps students who have minimal networks get a foot in the door. The platform is built with machine learning that optimises the relationship between unis, business and the interns. InternMatch will use the $10M in capital to expand internationally and looks to target the UK, USA and Canada next.

Read more about it: (Business News Australia)

Gambling Media

🌱🏀Cipher Sports Technology

News: A new Aussie entrant in the US sports gambling world has emerged. Melbourne-based Cipher Sports Technology has raised $5M from Cygnet Capital hoping to capitalise on loosening US sports gambling rules. Cipher itself does not take bets but operates several sites that give tips to punters. The information is backed by machine learning algorithms which help predict the outcomes of sports like NFL, NBA, AFL and NRL. The company itself should be seen as a media business that is backed by technology. The majority of income comes from advertising but new revenue opportunities exist in the growing US market. Cipher will use the new capital to grow its audience and invest in more technology. We give it good odds considering punters are always looking for an edge.

Read more about it: (Finsmes)

Space!

🌱🛰️Quasar Satellite Technologies

News: Quasar Technologies, an offshoot of CSIRO that allows ground stations to communicate with multiple satellites is looking to raise $10M. The technology differs itself with multiple satellite communication at once, a step up from the current situation. Around 7000 satellites circle the earth at the moment, with estimates that this number will 10x in the next 8 years micro satellites continue to launch. To illustrate this, ABC released an article on how to spot Starlink Satellites you can read it here. The $10M is advertised as a pre-seed round and the business model relies on charging businesses to pay per minute of satellite access or per kilobyte of information exchanged.

Read more about it: (AFR)

Magnesium

🌱Magnium Australia

News: Another CSIRO development technology has landed $3.24M in start-up capital. Magnium Australia will use the cash to design and build a magnesium manufacturing plant and demonstrate it can operate using less energy and labour. The technology has been in development by CSIRO since 2003 and spent the last year being patented across the world. According to the website, the carbothermal reduction technology produces 99.8% pure magnesium ingots with renewable energy. Interestingly, the technology utilises rocket nozzles to shock quench the magnesium vapour. To read more about the company and the science behind it, head to the website here. The output of the plant would be approximately 100 tonnes per year which accounts for half of Australia’s annual consumption. Currently, Australia imports all magnesium from China.

Read more about it: (aumanufacturing.com)

New Fund, Who this?

• Tidal Ventures, known for Airrobe, Shippit, Sonder and Carted has kicked off an $80M raise for its 3rd seed-stage fund. The fund aims to lead seed rounds writing $2M to $2.5M cheques. Tidal will continue to focus on product-led start-ups. (AFR)

• Five V Capital is hunting cheques from $250K to $12.5M from investors to launch their new $100M venture fund. The fund is looking to invest in series A and B rounds targeting B2B SaaS businesses. Previously, Five V has invested in Canva, QuadPay, and Cascade across 50 investments. (AFR)

• Archangel Ventures has raised a new venture capital fund of $25M within a few weeks. The fund's partners include Ben Armstrong Quentin Wallace and renowned angel investor Rayn Ong. Archangel has made 30 investments across 21 companies since opening its doors. (AFR)

Notice Board

•  Rampersands Giant Warm Intro back. Check it out for advice, pitch feedback or some networking. More info here.

• Looking to level up on product management? Startmate has launched its Product Management 101 fellowship. More info here.

Accredited Tweeters

(KaaS) Knowledge as a Service

• Ever wanted to know how a VC investor is assessing your (B2B) business? by Chris Mann

• What's next for NASA's James Webb Space Telescope? by Popular Science. The article digs into how James Webb has revolutionised space imagery.

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