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Welcome to the Funded blog – the home of tech deal news.
This blog is the home on the AFR website for news on the deals that are done in the Aussie tech sector, as soon as we hear about them.
We will post items on deals of all sizes, so readers can understand who has been able to raise capital, who is putting their money in, and what the companies do.
Heard of a deal before we have? Then please let us know, so we can tell the world, by emailing [email protected].
Brisbane EV start-up banks $5m to put more chargers on offices
EVOS, an electric vehicle charging start-up founded by three former Tritium executives, has tapped existing investors to raise $5 million.
The Brisbane-based company was founded by Marcelo Salgado, Seshan Weeratunga and Chris Crossman, who all previously worked for EV fast-charging technology company Tritium, another Brisbane company which is now listed on the Nasdaq.
EVOs founders: Chris Crossman, Seshan Weeratunga and Marcelo Salgado.
Unlike Tritium, EVOS is focused on the fleet market, betting that many EV users will predominantly charge at home or the office.
It has developed and manufactured an EV charger for commercial buildings and is set to launch a charger for the home this month.
EVOS’ chargers are manufactured by a subsidiary of Autostrada, Circuit Solutions, which powers its operations completely by solar.
The company previously raised $1.7 million in 2021, but it has been tight-lipped about who its investors are. The company is backed by an unnamed ASX 100 company and Autostrada, an Australian automotive manufacturer.
Three local atomic physicists bank $12m for their start-up
A trio of atomic physicists from the Australian National University have raised $12 million for their start-up, which builds miniaturised quantum sensors for mining, underground resources exploration and navigation.
Christian Freier, Kyle Hardman and Paul Wigley are the co-founders of quantum sensor start-up Nomad Atomics.
Nomad Atomics was founded by Kyle Hardman, Paul Wigley and Christian Freier, who worked at ANU on a post-doctoral research project in precision measurement, a niche subfield of atomic physics that uses atoms to make precise measurements of the world.
In 2020, they raised $2 million in seed funding, but now have a fresh $10 million pre-series A round led by Blackbird Ventures with participation from Right Click Capital.
ANU is also a shareholder in the company.
For the full story click here.
Melbourne carbon credit start-up attracts big name $6m backer
Melbourne-based start-up Sensand, which has built a blockchain-based digital asset platform to enable the trade of carbon credits focused on the farming sector, has banked $6 million from high-profile businessman Robert Costa.
Sensand co-founder and CEO Peter Moulton said the funding represented important validation.
Mr Costa is the chairman of agricultural investment firm goFARM and Costa Asset Management, the investment arm of the Costa family. The investment is aimed at pushing the beta launch of Sensand’s Blockbase and Mintly technology platforms at the start of July.
Blockbase will let farmers and landowners measure and validate carbon sequestration and the impacts of their farming and forestry practices. Mintly will provide a new way for people to trade carbon credits.
The company hit an important milestone last week, when it completed its first three trades on Mintly, which it said totalled more than 100,000 tonnes of carbon credits valued at more than $600,000.
Sensand co-founder and chief executive Peter Moulton said the funding represented important validation by one of the country’s leading environmental investors in Mr Costa.
“Last year Robert Costa provided funds for R&D and platform viability. For him to again back the company is reassurance that our platform will truly be a category disruptor,” Mr Moulton said.
The valuation of Sensand after the funding round was not disclosed.
Pet Circle keeps billion-dollar valuation in raising from one investor
Pet Circle, the Australian online pet supplies business, has dodged a funding crunch that killed high-profile peer :Different on Friday, after investors from the United States swooped in with a $75 million injection.
Pet Circle CEO Michael Frizell with King Charles cavalier Chewie. Oscar Colman
The company confirmed over the weekend that it was in the final stages of closing a funding deal with one of its existing investors, Prysm Capital.
Pet Circle’s ability to retain the billion-dollar valuation it achieved in a 2021 $125 million funding round had been the talk of the industry. It last raised when the rivers of venture capital dollars were flowing freely.
Prysm Capital partner Matt Roberts, meanwhile, said it had returned as an investor because he thought Pet Circle could be a major player in a category that continued to see “strong tailwinds” globally.
Its latest funding is understood to retain a valuation of $1.125 billion. For the full story click here.
