Seven Aussie startups that raised a casual $284 million this week

This week has proven that massive startup raises are back, baby. Look, we might not be at September 2021 levels, but there were still some exciting cash injections across the Aussie landscape over the past few days.

Advanced navigation: $108 million

AI robotics and navigation tech company Advanced Navigation has topped the investment charts this week with a whopping $108 million in Series B funding. The round was led by KKR and joined by CSIRO’s Main Sequence, In-Q-Tel, OIF Ventures, AI Capital and former prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

It follows Advanced Navigation’s $20 million Series A round at the end of 2019.

According to the company, this funding round will be used to develop its AI tech to expand autonomy drastically for the likes of flying taxis, driverless vehicles, space crafts, drone deliveries, autonomous farming and deep sea robotics. All the fun stuff, basically.

Advanced Navigation co-founders Xavier Orr and Chris Shaw. Source: supplied.

Vow: $73 million

Cultured meat startup Vow has closed on $73 million (US$49.2 million) in a funding round led by Blackbird and Prosperity7 Ventures.

Part of the funds will go towards a second facility, with another chunk being invested in the company’s first brand: Morsel. The first phase of its rollout will involve launching the world’s first cultured meat dining experience in Singapore.

Read the full story here.

Vow founders George Peppou and Tim Noakesmith cutting the ribbon on Factory 1 with NSW Treasurer Matt Kean. Source: supplied.

Ofload: $60 million

Freight logistics startup Ofload also scored big with a $60 million Series B round, led by Jungle Ventures.

It was joined by existing investors King River Capital, Bay Grove, Maersk Growth, Foundamental and Mars Growth Capital.

Ofload also took out the number two spot in our Smart50 Awards this week. I think we can all agree that’s equally as good as $60 million. You can look at the full list of winners here.

Here’s the full story.

Buildkite: $31 million

Software development startup Buildkite has received $31 million in Series B funding, led by OneVentures and AirTree.

Founded in 2013, the company is a continuous integration (CI) and continuous development (CD) workflow service that allows developers to merge changes to in-progress work with stable code, as well as roll out updates incrementally as code and testing is completed.

The startup currently works with more than 30,000 engineers across companies like Canva, Slack and Uber to test their codes, saving them time and providing an automatic feedback loop.

ULUU: $8 million

ULUU is a biotech startup out of Perth that’s locked in $8 million in fresh funding, led by Main Sequence and joined by Albert Impact Ventures, Mistletoe and Possible Ventures.

ULUU is utilising seaweed and fermentation techniques to create an alternative to traditional plastics. Its story is extremely cool and you can read the full thing, including an exclusive interview with Dr Julia Reisser here.

ULUU founders Dr Julia Reisser and Michael Kingsbury. Source: supplied.

ClearCalcs: $2.5 million

ClearCalcs has secured $2.5 million from its existing investors EVP and Shearwater Capital. This follows an initial $1.65 million back in 2021 and its pre-series capital is now at $5 million.

The company’s structural design software allows engineers, architects and designers to access calculators and tools to help simplify and streamline the building process.

According to the company, the funds will be used for more hires, to secure more users through partnerships and roll out more products.

ClearCalcs founders Chris Borzillo and Steven Robinson. Source: supplied

Kindship: $1 million

Kindship has secured a $1 million round led by the Birchal equity crowdfunding campaign.

The startup is led by four women who are raising children with disabilities and their aim is to provide tools to help navigate the complex National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

Here’s the full story.

Kindship founders Stephanie Wicks, Tara Thompson, Sandy Golder and Summer Petrosius.. Source: supplied.