G’day and welcome to your weekly edition of Overnight Success - your download on all the important things that have happened in the Aussie startup ecosystem. 🚀
Sponsor shoutout:
Sip Ventures, the corporate venture studio of Asahi Beverages, has extended its application period for its program until November 4th. More information below.
👀 Headlines 👀
📈 Australian start-ups have raised $1.6 billion in the first nine months of 2025, up 12% from the previous year, according to data from tracxn.
While overall investment ticked up, early and seed-stage funding plunged sharply, with seed funding falling 51% to $84 million and early-stage rounds down 56% to $451 million. In contrast, late-stage capital surged 318%, hitting $1.1 billion as investors doubled down on mature, scaling companies.
The standout rounds of the year included Protecht ($280 million), Firmus ($220 million), and Airwallex ($150 million), joined by radiopharma startup AdvanCell and healthtech firm Harrison, both raising $112 million.
Sydney dominated the funding landscape, accounting for 46% of all capital raised ($743 million), followed by Melbourne at 21%.The most active early-stage investors were Antler, Startmate, and Blackbird Ventures, while Breakthrough Victoria, Co:Act, and In-Q-Tel led at the growth stage. Late-stage funding was driven by PSG and DST Global Partners, continuing strong international participation in Australian tech.
🎨 Canva launches its “Creative Operating System” in its biggest product evolution yet. (Capital Brief)
The new platform combines design, collaboration, publishing, and analytics into a single, AI-powered ecosystem designed for creative professionals and enterprises.
At its Sydney keynote, 3,000 “Canvanauts” attended as the company introduced seven new products and a comprehensive AI integration layer.
The rollout comes as Canva moves to defend its dominance against Adobe, Microsoft, and a growing wave of AI-first design startups such as Firefly and Designer.
Valued at US $42 billion (A $64 billion), Canva now serves 260 million monthly users and claims 95% of the Fortune 500 as customers, generating US $3.5 billion in annualised revenue.
CEO Melanie Perkins is embarking on her own Era’s tour, stating that the company aims to usher in the “Imagination Era,” positioning creativity as the next frontier beyond the Information Age and empowering users to “bring their ideas to life” at scale.
💰 The Aussie venture capital sector is entering its most optimistic phase yet, according to Hostplus CIO Sam Sicilia, who says money is now flowing fast enough to keep startups funded domestically rather than heading offshore. (AFR)
Sicilia describes the VC environment as “unbelievably positive”, crediting the surge to superannuation funds writing follow-on cheques that ensure sustained growth instead of boom-and-bust cycles.
A new generation of investors born out of successful tech giants like Atlassian, Canva, and WiseTech Global is recycling wealth into fresh VC firms and founder-led family offices, reinforcing the capital flywheel.
“Ideas go where the capital is,” Sicilia says, predicting that an influx of UK and US entrepreneurs will establish ventures in Australia to tap into this expanding pool of local funding.
Hostplus now allocates 10–12% of its portfolios to private equity and venture capital, far higher than most peers, while other major funds like AustralianSuper and HESTA are beginning to follow suit.
Is there enough money available to keep startups funded domestically rather than relocating offshore?
🚗 Self-driving cars in Australia are coming sooner than you think. Google-backed Waymo eyes Australia for self-driving taxi trials, while "Full Self-Driving" (FSD) (while supervised) was turned on a few weeks ago eligible Tesla owners in Australia. (Startup Daily)
Alphabet-owned Waymo is in talks with Transport NSW to test its autonomous taxis on local roads, signalling the company’s strongest move yet towards an Australian launch.
The company, billed as the world’s first autonomous ride-hailing service, has already completed more than 10 million driverless rides across five US cities, including Los Angeles and Austin.
🛥️ Anduril opens Sydney factory to build Ghost Shark submarines for the Navy (Defence Connect)
US defence tech company Anduril has opened its first Australian manufacturing facility in Sydney, marking a major milestone for the country’s naval industry and sovereign defence capability.
The first Ghost Shark, an extra-large autonomous underwater vehicle (XLUUV) designed for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and strike missions as part of the Royal Australian Navy’s $1.7 billion program, rolled off the production line as well.
💊 Pharmacy owners back StrongRoom AI’s first raise under new leadership (AFR)
StrongRoom AI has raised $1.2 million in fresh funding under new owner Joe Zhou, marking the pharmacy software startup’s first capital injection since a major management shake-up.
The raise was backed by wealthy pharmacy owners, healthcare investors, aged care operators, and hospitals. Once valued at $70 million, StrongRoom AI is now in turnaround mode as it seeks to rebuild trust after allegations of financial misrepresentation by former management, which are still before the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Existing VC investors, EVP and Artesian Ventures did not participate, following a period of turmoil and ongoing legal action against the company’s former directors.
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⚡ Startup Retro ⚡
Uluu raises $16M Series A to scale production of seaweed-based plastic alternative
Founders: Dr Julia Reisser and Michael Kingsbury
Western Australia-based sustainable materials startup Uluu has raised $16 million in Series A funding to scale production of its seaweed-based plastic alternative. The round was led by Burda Principal Investments, with participation from Main Sequence, Novel Investments, Startmate, and impact investors including Fairground and Trinity Ventures.
Founded in 2021 by Dr Julia Reisser and Michael Kingsbury, Perth-based Uluu utilises a fermentation process that converts seaweed into polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), biodegradable materials that can replace conventional plastics in packaging, textiles, foams, and more. The company currently operates a pilot plant producing 100kg of PHA per batch, supplying brands like Quiksilver and Papinelle, but the fresh funding will be used to build a commercial facility capable of producing 10 tonnes annually.
The startup is now collaborating with cosmetics, fashion, and automotive companies on product trials and aims to bring its materials to industrial textile mills through its new partnership with Novel Investments. Beyond replacing petrochemicals, Uluu claims its process sequesters carbon, capturing around 5kg of CO₂ for every kilogram of material produced, compared to the 3kg emitted by traditional plastics — positioning the company at the forefront of climate-positive materials innovation.
Due diligence: Overnight Success, AFR
Human Health lands $8.5M to build AI-powered platform for chronic illnesses
Founders: Kate Lambridis and Georgia Vidler
Human Health, a healthtech startup founded by former Canva executives Kate Lambridis and Georgia Vidler, has raised $8.5 million to build an AI-powered platform designed to transform how people manage chronic illness.
Positioned as a “Precision Health OS,” Human Health acts as a digital bridge between patients and the medical system — enabling users to track symptoms, treatments, and progress, and to generate personalised, doctor-ready reports. Its technology is already being used by more than 200,000 patients, who have logged over 20 million health actions globally.
The fresh capital, which comes from the likes of LocalGlobe, AirTree, Skip Capital, Aliavia, and Scale Investors, will accelerate product development and international expansion, while supporting the rollout of Human Evidence, a platform allowing patients to share anonymised data for research into chronic diseases.
Human Health was born out of the founders’ personal frustrations with a fragmented healthcare system. Drawing on their product and scaling experience at Canva, Lambridis and Vidler are applying the same user-first philosophy to healthcare — building an intelligent platform that puts patients at the centre of medicine. Their goal is ambitious but clear: to create an operating system for human health.
Due diligence: The Australian, Forbes, Capital Brief, Startup Daily
Hypersonix Launch Systems raises $46M Series A at $141M valuation to develop hypersonic aircraft engines
Founders: Dr Michael Smart and David Waterhouse
Brisbane-based aerospace startup Hypersonix Launch Systems has raised $46 million in Series A funding to accelerate the development of its hydrogen-powered hypersonic aircraft engines and UAVs, as NASA prepares to test its technology.
The round was led by UK defence investor High Tor Capital, joined by Saab, RKKVC, Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC), and Australia’s National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC), which invested $10 million in its first defence-sector deal. The raise values Hypersonix at $141 million.
Founded in 2019 by Dr Michael Smart and David Waterhouse, Hypersonix is building a new class of sustainable flight systems powered by green hydrogen instead of kerosene. Its 3D-printed scramjet engine, Spartan, has no moving parts and is capable of reaching Mach 12 (14,800 km/h), promising clean, reusable propulsion for the next generation of high-speed defence and aerospace missions.
The funding will support a NASA and Pentagon-backed test flight of DART AE, a 3.5-metre autonomous vehicle powered by Spartan, which will mark the world’s first sustained hypersonic flight using green hydrogen. Hypersonix will also expand manufacturing in Queensland and develop its second platform, VISR, a reusable, hydrogen-fuelled hypersonic aircraft designed for intelligence, surveillance, and rapid space delivery.
Due diligence: Startup Daily
ENA Respiratory lands $34 million (US$22.4m) Series B to support the development of its virus-agnostic nasal spray
CEO: Christophe Demaison
Melbourne biotech startup ENA Respiratory has raised $34 million (US$22.4 million) in a Series B round to accelerate trials of its virus-agnostic nasal spray, INNA-051, designed to strengthen the body’s natural defences against respiratory infections.
The funding was led by Brandon Capital and Uniseed, with participation from Stoic Venture Capital, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Flu Lab. ENA plans to launch its Phase II community study during the 2025–26 North American respiratory virus season, recruiting up to 1,100 participants to evaluate the treatment’s safety and effectiveness.
Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Melbourne, ENA Respiratory is developing INNA-051 as a once-weekly dry powder nasal spray that primes antiviral immunity in the nose, the entry point for viruses like influenza, RSV, and coronaviruses. Early results suggest it could significantly reduce viral load and prevent illness before infection takes hold.
CEO Christophe Demaison said the trial represents a major step toward global regulatory approval and commercial rollout. With backing from both Australian and international investors, ENA aims to bring a new preventive tool to millions at risk of severe respiratory infections, offering a scalable, non-vaccine alternative for seasonal outbreaks.
Due diligence: SmartCompany
Tala Thrive raises $500K pre-seed to make mental health services more culturally responsive
Founders: Sonia Kaurah
Melbourne-based mental health startup Tala Thrive has raised $500,000 in pre-seed funding as it relocates operations from London to Australia, aiming to make mental health and coaching services more culturally responsive.
Founded in 2023 by Sonia Kaurah, Tala Thrive connects clients with therapists and coaches who share or deeply understand their cultural background, language, and lived experiences. The startup uses a proprietary matching algorithm that considers factors often ignored by mainstream platforms, including visa stress, colourism, and racial trauma.
The round combined a successful £220,000 (A$440,000) crowdfunding campaign with top-ups from angel investors such as Duncan Gould (ex-Amazon), Feike D (800x Limited), and Izzy Obeng (Foundervine).
Inspired by Kaurah’s own experiences navigating therapy as a Malaysian-Indian Australian, Tala Thrive now has 80 practitioners across 30 languages, offering both therapy and coaching services worldwide. Beyond the platform, it also develops self-guided programs and affirmation cards addressing generational and racial trauma.
Returning to Melbourne, Tala Thrive plans to expand through government and corporate partnerships, advancing research to make mental health tools and assessments more inclusive. ensuring people of all backgrounds can be seen, heard, and supported. You can sign up here.
Due Diligence: SmartCompany
Heatseaker hits first close on a $5M seed round to help marketers better understand real customer behaviour
Founders: Kate O’Keeffe, Fiona Smith, and Rutger Wesseling
Sydney-based behavioural data startup Heatseeker has secured a strategic investment from HearstLab, marking the first close of its $5 million seed round. The round follows a $2.5 million pre-seed led by Capital F, with participation from Eastend Capital and Euphemia.
Founded by Kate O’Keeffe, Fiona Smith, and Rutger Wesseling, Heatseeker is tackling advertising’s biggest blind spot, the “say–do” gap, by helping brands predict how audiences will actually behave before campaigns go live. Its Market Experiments Engine uses verified behavioural data such as clicks and engagements to simulate audience reactions and forecast campaign performance with up to 90% accuracy.
The company also visualises this data through AI-powered avatars that replicate real customer behaviour, known as synthetic personas, allowing marketers to test messaging, pricing, and creative concepts in minutes rather than weeks.
HearstLab, Hearst’s corporate venture arm supporting women-led startups, said the partnership will open opportunities across its global media ecosystem. O’Keeffe said the funding will expand access to real behavioural insights for brands seeking faster, smarter creative decisions.
At SXSW Sydney 2025, Heatseeker showcased its technology in collaboration with KPMG, demonstrating how AI and behavioural science can transform marketing by turning guesswork into evidence. The product is used by the likes of Tyro, Medibank, KPMG, Salesforce and Wamo.
Due diligence: Wral, The Australian
SecurePII locks down a $5M seed round to make phone calls more secure
Founders: Jason Thals and Haydn Faltyn
Melbourne-based data privacy and compliance startup SecurePII has raised US$3.5 million (A$5 million) in Seed funding to accelerate its global expansion and product innovation. The round was led by Tidal Ventures, marking growing investor confidence in privacy-focused AI infrastructure.
Spun out of cloud communications company BroadSource earlier this year, SecurePII is tackling one of the last major compliance frontiers, voice data. Its patented AI technology removes personally identifiable information (PII) in real time during recorded customer calls, allowing businesses to stay compliant while maintaining service continuity.
The startup’s flagship product, SecureCall, integrates with VoIP systems and payment gateways to automatically redact sensitive information such as credit card details. It’s already being deployed across the US, Europe, and Australia, helping companies meet the new PCI DSS data security standards introduced in March.
Tidal Ventures managing partner Wendell Keuneman described voice as “one of the last unprotected frontiers in payments,” praising SecurePII’s potential to become the global compliance layer for business voice.
With the new funding, SecurePII plans to scale sales and engineering teams, enhance its AI-powered selective redaction technology, and solidify its position in the rapidly expanding regtech and data privacy market.
Due Diligence: Startup Daily
Huckleberry snags $1.84M pre-Seed to implement AI into work feedback 360’s
Founders: Aaron Ward and Diogo Böhm
New Zealand startup Huckleberry has raised NZ$2.1 million (A$1.84 million) in pre-seed funding to reimagine how employees give and receive feedback at work. The round was led by Oregon Venture Fund, with participation from Archangel Ventures and notable founders including Nathan Christensen (Mineral), Rowan Simpson (TradeMe), and Serge Van Dam (M-Com).
Founded in 2025 by Aaron Ward, the Maori entrepreneur behind customer experience platform AskNicely, and Diogo Böhm, Huckleberry replaces traditional surveys with voice-based, AI-powered feedback sessions. The platform listens, analyses, and provides actionable insights in minutes, making feedback more conversational and human.
Its latest feature, an AI-generated growth plan, automatically builds 90-day development roadmaps from colleague feedback, helping employees turn insights into measurable progress. For HR teams, Huckleberry summarises and delivers individualised insights, saving hours of manual review.
Headquartered in Auckland and Portland, Oregon, the startup will use the funding to expand into the US, grow its team, and advance its AI models. Early adopters such as Oceania Healthcare have praised Huckleberry’s ability to make performance feedback “effortless, constructive, and engaging.” Ward says the mission is simple: “By using voice, we’ve made feedback 10x faster and 100x more human.”
Due Diligence: Startup Daily
🍻 Asahi Beverages: Sip Ventures Pilot Program Applications Extended
We heard you. Deadline extended to Midnight, 4th November.
You've got 48 more hours to apply for up to $150K equity-free funding from Asahi Beverages.
What's on offer:
Non-dilutive $150K funding
12-20 week commercial pilot
Access to Asahi's retail & venue network
Perfect for: Startups with traction in payments, loyalty tech, smart dispensing, venue solutions, delivery innovation, subscription services & more.
🤝 New Fund, Who’s This 🤝
💰 Breakthrough Victoria commits $75M to five venture capital funds (Innovation Aus)
The funds backed include Virescent Ventures Fund II (climate), SYNthesis BioVentures Fund I (oncology & therapeutics), Scale Venture Fund I (female & diverse founders), Galileo Ventures Fund II (early-stage tech), and a new North American healthcare fund establishing an Australian base in Victoria.
Each fund must allocate at least 25% of capital to Victorian companies, ensuring local startups directly benefit from the program.
The investment forms part of the state’s Economic Growth Statement, aimed at crowding in private capital and expanding Victoria’s innovation and commercialisation ecosystem.
🥝 Auckland-based NZVC launches $50M Fund II to back 60 ANZ founders from pre-seed to Series A, with strong reserves for follow-on funding. (Startup Daily)
Founded in 2021 by Mark Pavlyukovskyy, NZVC is Aotearoa’s first operator-led venture fund, focused on helping founders scale globally. Pavlyukovskyy, a Forbes 30 Under 30 alum and Princeton’s Entrepreneur of the Year, previously built and exited edtech startup Piper.
The new fund targets four strategic themes, all underpinned by AI:
Service as a Software – AI-driven service delivery
The Next Automation Frontier – robotics and automation in the physical world
Human Enhancement – longevity and cognitive tech
Geopolitical Sovereignty – reshoring, defence, and data infrastructure
Fund II has already invested in Puralink (autonomous inspection robots), Foundry Lab (on-demand metal casting), and Wych (open banking automation). Fund I backed 53 companies and ranks among the top 5% of APAC funds for its 2021 vintage.
💸 Overnight Success launches angel syndicate with Aussie Angels with backing from startup leaders, including Canva’s Luke Buccheri and Forbes 30 Under 30 investor Abhishek Maran, both praising the syndicate’s potential to fuel Australia’s next generation of founders. (Startup Daily)
The Overnight Success Syndicate will focus on AI-first pre-seed and seed startups, enabling Richards’s 5,000-member community to participate in deals as wholesale investors. Join here.
Richards said the goal is to lower minimum cheque sizes, making angel investing more accessible: “I’d hate to think how many operators are sitting on the sidelines despite working inside the industry.”
Abhishek Maran, a Forbes 30Under30 and former investor with Rampersand, commented that he had “always been impressed by the [Overnight Success] community’s depth and market coverage… I’m excited to see the deal flow and support more founders through the syndicate.”
🥳 Wins 🥳
🏟️ The 2025 ANZ Sports Tech Awards were announced during the week. Here are a few highlights! (LinkedIn)
🧢 Equipment & Apparel: Anti-Ordinary awarded for its advanced performance headgear, redefining athlete safety.
🎥 Media & Broadcast: BarTV Sports celebrated for democratising live sports coverage across grassroots competitions.
📊 Data Analytics: Your Brain Health is recognised for its data-driven insights into cognitive performance and wellbeing.
💪 Fitness & Wellness: GravityFit is awarded for its science-backed training tools used by elite athletes worldwide.
🎮 Esports, Gamification & Fantasy: Valor Esports for its e-sports coaching platform.
🇦🇺 Sydney startups help power Nvidia’s “Rosetta Stone” for quantum computing (Innovation Aus)
Two UNSW spinouts, Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC) and Diraq, have played a key role in developing NVQLink. Nvidia’s new open system architecture links quantum processors with classical supercomputers.
🏆 State Library Victoria has announced the 2026 Lisa Ring and Family Scholarship winners who receive $10K equity-free.
🌿 Aliet Bior (Umbrellus) – creating modular, regenerative infrastructure to protect livestock and vineyards while improving soil health and reducing waste.
💊 Abhijeet Waykar & Justin Yeung (PredicTx Health) – using AI to personalise chemotherapy dosing from CT scans, reducing toxicity and improving outcomes.
📆 Notice Board 📆
🌏 Demo the Future, Techstars Tech Central Sydney Accelerator Demo Day is bringing 2,500+ founders, investors, and innovators together for one epic night.
🚀 See 12 bold startups take the stage, Mon, 8 Dec 2025 | 6–8pm | Darling Harbour Theatre, ICC Sydney 👉 Register now
Australia’s longest-running tech and innovation festival, hosted in Perth, is kicking off on the 8th of December.
With speakers including Lars Rasmussen, Bill Tai, Julia Reisser (Uluu), and Rayn Ong (friend of the newsletter), why wouldn’t you want to attend? Learn more about the event here.
The best place to find upcoming events to attend and promote any events you’re hosting is the ANZ Startup Events Calendar.
Would you like to promote an event or an opportunity? Enquire about a Notice Board promotion here.
🧠 KaaS (Knowledge as a Service)
Will’s Pick 💁 Inside the Playbooks of Australia’s Fastest-Growing Founders, the debut podcast hosted by Brendan Hill (Venture Partner at TEN13)
The debut episode features founders of some of Australia’s fastest-growing companies. Dr Tom Kelly (Heidi Health), Liam Millward (Instant), and Charlie Gearside (Eucalyptus) share some preeeetty unfilted views, especially on hiring talent.
Also, a friend of the newsletter, Luke Rix, founder of KC Ventures, launched a newsletter with a few funny lessons from his first business, Thrust Australia. 👀
Have we missed something? Got some feedback? We love emails, so send one over!
👔 Connect with me on LinkedIn: Overnight Success, Will Richards
📈 Want to invest in great startups? Join Australia’s friendliest investment syndicate here, where small cheques are welcome!
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Have you just raised capital and you’re looking for a hand with PR and comms to make a splash, hire the best talent and get on the radar of your next investors? The team at Encour and I would be happy to help. Book in with me for a chat here.
‘Til next time,
👋 Will