Artificial intelligence, sustainability and wellness are emerging as key themes among the Australian startups that are raising capital in 2024, and this week is no different.
Keep reading to learn more about seven local startups that collectively raised $17.7 million this week.
SpatialGPT: $5.1 million
L-R: George Stavrakakis, CEO at InnovateGPT and Robert Marolda, CEO at SpatialGPT. Source: Supplied.
SpatialGPT, a new generative AI startup founded by former Microsoft executives, has secured $5.1 million in seed funding from AI-focused venture studio InnovateGPT.
SpatialGPT is being led by ex-Microsoft executives George Stavrakakis and Rupert Walsh, with fellow Microsoft alumni Robert Marolda appointed as CEO.
As SmartCompany‘s Tegan Jones reports in Neural Notes this week, the funding round, which also includes backing from several high-profile angel investors, brings together the worlds of hardware and software in the AI space.
The startup’s goal is to use augmented and virtual reality devices, such as the Apple Vision Pro and Microsoft HoloLens, to transform spatial environments in industries such as architecture, construction, education, healthcare and retail, with generative AI.
It has been working with Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service and Australian AR startup own JigSpace, which featured in the Apple Vision Pro announcement in 2023.
Great Wrap: $5 million
Great Wrap co-founders Julia and Jordy Kay. Source: Supplied
Material science startup Great Wrap has raised $5 million to help drive a new partnership with Opal ANZ, one of the nation’s leading packaging and recycling companies.
Founded in 2020 by Julia and Jordy Kay, Great Wrap initially launched with a compostable cling wrap product for consumers.
It has since switched its focus to the business-to-business market and in 2023 launched the world’s first compostable pallet wrap, after raising $24 million to “completely knock petroleum plastic off the supermarket shelf”.
That Series A funding took the company “from a small system on the Mornington Peninsula, to a much larger facility at Tullamarine which allows us to produce huge amounts of product, at much higher quality”, co-founder Jordy Kay told SmartCompany earlier this week.
The new $5 million capital injection comes from new and existing investors, government funding and debt.
Among the new investors are former world number one tennis player Aryna Sabalenka, and RCV Partners, with the round also including follow-on support from Barrel Ventures, Giant Leap, Platinum Mile, Startmate and Darren Thomas, the managing director of Thomas Food International.
WeMoney: $3 million
WeMoney team. Source: WeMoney
Fintech WeMoney has secured $3 million in fresh funding, according to Capital Brief, as it continues to grow its financial wellness app.
WeMoney was founded by former banker Dan Jovevski and emerged out of stealth mode in 2020 with $2 million in funding.
It followed this with a $7 million round in mid-2022, led by existing investors Full Circle VC and Betterlabs, and including participation from new investors including Laurence Escalante’s family office and US Fund Dream Ventures.
The latest backing reportedly comes from existing investors. WeMoney is also seeking to potentially raise another $10 million as ‘open banking’ develops in Australia via the Consumer Data Right.
Clean State Clinic: $1.6 million
Digital health startup Clean State Clinic has raised $1.6 million to help Australians affected by substance abuse with at-home virtual care, according to The Australian Financial Review.
Clean Slate Clinic was founded by chief executive Pia Clinton-Tarestad, who has lived experience with alcohol dependency, along with GP Dr Chris Davies and Chris Raine, who previously founded Hello Sunday Morning.
The social enterprise’s first funding round has been backed by the Snow Foundation, Australian Medical Angels and Scale Investors, as well as Kristy Chong, founder of Modibodi, Chum Darvall, former CEO of Deutsche Bank, and prominent investor Roger Allen.
Melodie: $1 million
Melodie founder Evan Buist. Source: Supplied
Music licensing startup Melodie has secured a $1 million investment via a convertible note from Future Now Capital.
As reported by SmartCompany earlier this week, the bridge funding will be deployed to support Melodie’s expansion into Europe, where it will establish an office in France. The startup is also planning to undertake a larger equity raise in 2025.
Melodie was founded by Evan Buist in 2017 as an online platform for companies and content creators to find and license music for various projects.
To date, the startup has now raised close to $3 million in investment, with previous backers including Nick Menere, an early Atlassian employee and founder of Code Barrel (which Atlassian acquired in 2019), and Peter Strain, co-owner of The Drop Festival.
CLT Toolbox: $1 million
CLT Toolbox co-founders Adam Jones and Ringo Thomas. Source: supplied
Also raising $1 million this week was Melbourne-based startup CLT Toolbox, which produces mass timber design software.
The bridge funding round includes contributions from climate-focused VC firm Giant Leap as well as Archangel Ventures, Adrian Hondros, Ecotone Ventures and angel investor Harrison Rose, and comes less than 12 months after the startup raised an initial $1.5 million seed round in October 2023.
CLT Toolbox’s design software platform is specifically tailored for mass timber construction and provides structural engineers with tools to design complex timber structures.
The platform allows users to source materials and components efficiently and sustainably via robust supply chain functionalities.
CLT Toolbox plans to use the funding to support its expansion into Europe and the US, as it seeks to make mass timber a mainstream material in construction projects worldwide.
Infamous Swim: $1 million
Infamous Swim founder Gemma Crowe. Source: Supplied.
Infamous Swim has secured approximately $1 million in funding from a group of entrepreneurs from the tech, e-commerce, fashion and communications sectors, after emerging from voluntary administration earlier this year under a new ownership structure.
Founder Gemma Crowe remains a shareholder in the swimwear business and will continue in her role as CEO.
New investors in the business include tech CEO Alex Macpherson, startup investor Brad Down, Australian fashion designer Mary Ioannidis, commercial director Matt Child, and growth-focused operations and information security specialist Greg Campbell.
The new investment and ownership structure comes after Infamous Swim attempted to raise $600,000 on the crowdfunding platform Birchal in late 2023 but was unsuccessful.
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