We were only halfway through 2026 and ANZ startups had already raised serious money. These were the top 10 raises of the year at the midpoint.
- Firmus (Sydney). US$505M led by Coatue with Nvidia in, at a US$5.5B valuation. AI infrastructure, building data centres across Australia, with an ASX listing in its sights.
- Gilmour Space (Gold Coast). $217M Series E at a valuation above $1B. Rockets and satellites, and Australia’s first space unicorn.
- Neara (Sydney). $90M Series D led by TCV, valuing it at more than $1B. AI models of power grids and critical infrastructure.
- AutoGrab (Melbourne). $80M Series B at a $230M valuation, co-led by the UK’s Octopus Ventures and NZ’s Movac. AI for the car industry.
- Ordermentum (Sydney). $55M from Five V Capital. The ordering platform connecting hospitality venues with their suppliers.
- Splose (Adelaide). $46M Series A led by Spectrum Equity. Practice software for allied health, and the largest growth round ever for a South Australian SaaS business.
- Syenta (Sydney). $37M Series A co-led by Silicon Valley’s Playground Global. An ANU spinout building next generation chip packaging.
- Arkeus (Melbourne). $25M Series A at a $100M valuation. AI-powered sensing for defence drones, already with Pentagon contracts.
- ProcurePro (Brisbane). $15M Series B led by QIC Ventures. Construction procurement software, with Bouygues investing through its venture arm.
- Marloo (Auckland). US$10M (about A$14M) seed led by Blackbird. An AI partner for financial advisers, with 650+ paying firms across 6 countries.
The total
Add it up on a rough conversion and it is more than A$1 billion across 10 companies in about 5 months.
My read
Look at the mix. AI infrastructure, power grids, space, chips, defence, construction. Most of the biggest cheques went into hard, physical industries, not consumer apps. The ecosystem is heating up, and it is heating up in the places where Australia has real depth.