The startup funding round: $1.25 million for craft beer, Vloggi’s $3.3 million valuation, and a payday for Startmate

There’s been no shortage of startup funding flying around this week. We’ve seen mammoth raises from the likes of Linktree, which secured $60 million, and Baraja which bagged $40 million.

Then, Lumary secured $17 million for its tech designed to help businesses navigate the NDIS, and Nourish Ingredients raised $14 million to develop its animal-free fats for the plant-based meat market.

But, there’s been plenty going on at the smaller end of town, too. Here are some of the startup funding stories you might have missed.

Batch Brewing

In the latest equity crowdfunding success story, craft beer business Batch Brewing has smashed its $500,000 equity crowdfunding target within a matter of hours.

The brewery is seeking to raise a maximum of $1.5 million, and it’s not far off. At the time of writing, the Equitise campaign has raised just over $1.25 million, with more than a month still to go.

Founded in 2013, Batch Brewing releases new limited edition beers every five days, selling tins via its two Sydney locations, a network of bottle shops and online.

The beers are also available on-tap at more than 100 locations.

Now, the business is running at capacity, and is seeking to expand nationally.

In a statement, co-founder Andrew Fineran said he is “blown away” by the engagement.

‘‘Community is at the heart of everything we do here at Batch Brewing,” he said.

“So when it came to raising capital to scale, we knew we wanted to invite that community to join us as co-owners.’’

Vloggi

Video startup Vloggi has reportedly scored $500,000 in pre-seed capital, bringing its valuation to $3.3 million.

Founded by Justin Wastnage in 2018, Vloggi is a collaborative video platform allowing users to crowdsource clips to create 60-second content reels.

This startup funding follows a topsy-turvy year for Vloggi. The funding round was originally intended to close in April 2020, but with term sheets going out just as the realities of COVID-19 started to hit, it was put on hold.

Vloggi won StartCon’s ‘Pitch for $1 million’ competition in Australia, and was set to compete in the finals in March 2020, before the event was postponed and then cancelled.

The startup was also selected to be part of the government’s Landing Pads program, and was preparing for a stint in Tel Aviv, intended to kick-start its international footprint. It had also been selected to take part in an accelerator in Seattle.

All of this also ground to a halt.

But, it wasn’t all bad. The team used the time to finalise the product and rethink the target market for the launch.

And, as Wastnage explained to SmartCompany in September last year, pitching remotely led to some unexpected leads.

Startmate

This may not be a direct startup funding boost, but accelerator program Startmate has secured $1.8 million in repeat funding from the Victorian state government.

Of that, about $580,000 is pegged for launching a dedicated accelerator program for 30 Victorian startups over three years, as well as for establishing a permanent Victorian office and recruiting a local team.

The additional $1.25 million will be invested into two funds, helping Startmate build on its existing Melbourne footprint, and boosting access to capital for local startups.

In a statement, Victorian Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy Jaala Pulford said a permanent Startmate hub in Melbourne will be “invaluable” to the local startup community.

“We know the startup ecosystem will drive economic growth and long-term job creation,” she added.