A number of Aussie startups secured themselves some impressive funding this week coming in at more than $60 million combined. So in case you missed it, here’s a round up.
PropHero
PropHero saw an oversubscribed $8 million in seed funding this week, which was co-led by Fifth Wall and Samaipata.
Cheekily referred to as Tinder for property, PropHero is a digital property investment platform that uses AI to help investors find and secure property.
According to the company, the new capital will be used to improve its data models and customer experience, hire for key roles, grow its partner referral channels and push into new international markets.
“After a property strategy consultation with a property coach, our platform shows you personalised recommendations. Then we make it super easy for you to buy and manage that property because we have a network of trusted real estate professionals who help with the inspection, offer, financing and ownership process,” PropHero co-CEO Pablo Gil Brusola said in a statement.
“Our ambition is to revolutionise the property investment industry globally by using digital technology to replace traditional buyer’s agents and make property investment more time-efficient and profitable.”
PropHero was the winner of the Proptech Startup of the Year award at the 2022 Proptech Awards.
Travello
Travello has received $10 million in fresh funding, led by the Queensland Investment Corporation. It also saw participation from the Paspalis Innovation Investment Fund.
Travello is a social network app that allows users to connect and share their travel experiences, recommend activities and discover things to do on trips.
It also offers the ability to browse and book over 50,000 activities right from the app. It is currently being used in over 180 countries.
With tourism being one of the worst impacted industries of the pandemic, this round of funding perhaps indicates a turnaround in recovery for the sector.
Splend
Rideshare vehicle subscription provider, Splend, has received $15 million from MA Growth Ventures.
Splend offers eco-friendly car rentals to rideshare drivers, rather than using their own purchased cars.
The company has said it will use the cash injection to expand its EV fleet which is said to be in hot demand.
“Splend is on a mission to fast-track the rideshare sector to green mobility through the rapid uptake of electric vehicles and has set a target fleet size of 10,000 EVs across its Australian and UK markets by 2024,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
Splend currently operates in 10 cities across Australia and the UK.
Lift Women
Lift Women has received an undisclosed amount of funding from the Alice Anderson Fund — a sidecar VC of LaunchVic that is offering a total of $10 million for startups led by women.
Lift Women is a female-focused crowdfunding platform to help women start their own businesses and get funding.
“What is good for gender equality and women empowerment is good for the economy and society as well,” Life Women founder Irene Tsang said in a blog post.
“Currently, the gender balance is way off kilter. Women are severely underrepresented in the entrepreneurial world. Only 22% of startup founders in Australia are women. In 2020 alone, over 6 million crowdfunding projects were created globally, but less than 30 percent were women’s projects. With LiftWomen, I aim to change this.”
Gamurs
Media network, GAMURS, closed $17.8 million in Series A funding. This was led by Elysian Park Ventures and Cerro Capital. There was also participation from Powerhouse Capital, Aura Ventures, and Artesian.
Gamurs has 16 publications across its digital publication portfolio, which cover gaming, esports and entertainment.
GAMURS has said it will use the funding for rapid growth strategy and market expansion.
“The round not only presents a fresh injection of growth capital, but offers the opportunity to collaborate with strategically aligned investors who will actively add value in our journey to redefine gaming and entertainment media. We are incredibly proud to have the backing of Elysian Park Ventures, Cerro Capital, and all of our incredible investors,” Riad Chikhani, founder and CEO of GAMURS, said in a statement.
Disclosure: My partner was an employee of Gamurs until July 2022.
A bonus from the NSW government
The NSW government is also injecting $10 million into 10 companies from its Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) program.
Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology Alister Henskens said this was to enable NSW government agencies and small businesses to work together to “develop solutions to complex problems”.
“NSW has a highly innovative small business sector and by supporting these businesses to develop home-grown solutions, we can not only improve social and environmental outcomes, but boost our innovation economy by creating high-value jobs and growing new high-tech industries,” Henskens said.
“These collaborations have found ways to tackle clearly defined real-world problems in regional connectivity, public transport accessibility, koala population monitoring, reduction of personal protective equipment waste and water purification.”
Some of the businesses receiving funding include Zetifi, which offers a solar-powered wireless network device, and BindiMaps — a mobile app that offers way-finding and navigation services for people with disabilities.
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