This week’s startup funding round-up features five local startups that have collectively raised $7.5 million to tackle areas as diverse as manufacturing workflows, hemp-based building materials and the dating industry.
Take a look.
Manufacturing tech startup Phasio leads the funding news this week, with a $3.8 million seed round, led by AirTree Ventures.
Phasio’s goal is to help transform the local manufacturing industry with a platform that digitises the workflow between buyers and manufacturers. Using the Phasio interface, buyers and manufacturers can create instant quotes, collaborate on designs and manage orders.
Founded by Harry Lucas and ex-CSIRO researcher, Sudharshan Raman in 2021, Phasio is striving to contribute to a more resilient economy by increasing high-value manufacturing and prioritising sovereign manufacturing capabilities.
“Manufacturing accounts for about a quarter of Australia’s national research and development investment. But right now, the industry is stuck with inefficient, siloed processes that are slowing manufacturers’ ability to imagine, design, and create, and with it, our economy,” said Lucas in a statement.
Investors 500 Global, Entrepreneur First and Michael Sorkin’s Gattaca Ventures are also backing Phasio, which is being used by more than 50 manufacturers in Australia, southeast Asia and Europe.
A software startup that is making it easier for structural engineers to design with mass timber has locked in $1.5 million in seed funding from a group of prominent investors, in a round led by Archangel Ventures.
According to the Australian Financial Review, BluescopeX, the venture arm of steelmaker Bluescope, is also backing CLT Toolbox, along with Gravel Road Ventures, which is run by Aconex co-founder Rob Phillpot.
Other participants in the round include Flying Fox Ventures, Ecotone Ventures, former Porter Davis CEO Adrian Hondros, Jodie Imam and Peter Lam.
The raise reportedly values CLT Toolbox at $8.5 million. The startup plans to use the capital to fund its expansion in Europe and build out its team.
Tasmania-based startup X-Hemp has successfully raised $1.5 million via equity crowdfunding platform Birchal, to help continue develop its unique eco-friendly hemp-based building material.
Founded by Andi Lucas, X-Hemp grows, harvests and processes cannabis to produce a building material called hempcrete. The business runs the only hemp fibre processing mill in Tasmania and is one of the few operating in Australia. It also has memorandums of understanding with partners in the US to work towards producing HempWood and HempWool.
More than 960 investors backed X-Hemp’s campaign, which closed on Thursday evening. The business plans to use the funds raised to recruit key managerial staff, purchase machinery to make its products, and obtain a custom-built facility that will have retail, educational, and office space.
Renewable energy software startup gridmo has secured $500,000 in its first round of external funding, 80% of which has come from the Cannon-Brookes family fund Grok Ventures, according to Startup Daily.
Gridmo was founded by power system engineers Jarman Stephens and Damien Vermeer earlier this year and the startup built its minimum viable product as part of Startmate’s Summer 23 cohort.
The startup aims to accelerate energy grid connection studies, which currently face lengthy delays. The wait times are expected to only increase further as more renewable projects come online.
“Last year Australia connected approximately 3GW to the grid,” said Stephens, according to Startup Daily.
“However, Australia has over 100GW of generators in the queue to get connected – and needs another 100GW to complete its energy transition. At this rate, Australia will take over 50 years to complete its energy transition.”
Dating app Humpday has secured $225,000 in pre-seed funding from Antler VC to fuel its mission to vision to “make offline dating the new online dating”.
Founded by Kara Zervides and Charlotte Vieira this year, Humpday describes itself as “the dating app for people who hate dating apps”. Unlike other popular dating apps that are based on swiping to make connections, Humpday has no swiping and is only active for 24 hours a week on Wednesdays.
More than 3 million Australians use dating apps, according to Zervides and Vieira, and yet the vast majority feel the time they waste time on the apps, receive incompatible matches or their messages go unanswered.
Humpday wants to create meaningful connections in real life (IRL) for these users, hosting offline events and dating experiences that can be booked within its app.
“We know that the majority of people would prefer to first meet their partner in person, but the reality is, that this is getting rarer and rarer. We’re aiming to bridge the gap between online and offline dating through technology, and so far the reception has been incredible,” said Zervides in a statement to SmartCompany.
“With a fast-growing waitlist and sold-out singles parties under our belt, we’re proud to have secured a pre-seed funding round with Antler VC which will power the building of a platform designed to end dating app fatigue.”
Antler partner James McClure said Zervides and Vieira “have shown they have the grit, resilience and complementary skills” to execute their vision.
“What attracted Antler to Humpday, apart from its innovative 24-hour Wednesday-only model, is its focus on restoring the value of real, face-to-face interactions. It’s not just about online match-making; it’s about facilitating authentic connections that can lead to meaningful relationships,” he said.
Editor
Eloise is an experienced business journalist and editor, who has held senior editorial roles at SmartCompany since 2014. Prior to joining SmartCompany, Eloise was news editor at Books+Publishing, the trade press for the Australian book industry. Eloise has degrees in media and communications, marketing and business management, and political science. You can follow her on LinkedIn, and Twitter at @ellykeating.
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