Six Aussie startups that raised $119.9 million this week

This week’s startup funding tally is a large one, thanks to a massive $86.3 million Series B raise by quantum computing startup Q-CTRL.

Meanwhile, startups building solutions for marketing analytics, volunteer team management and customer service also secured fresh funding.

Keep reading to learn more about six local startups that collectively raised more than $119.9 million this week.

Q-CRTL: $86.3 million

Leading this week’s funding round-up is quantum startup Q-CTRL, which has added $86.3 million to its Series B funding round.

Q-CTRL’s Series B round, which was completed over three years, now totals $166 million.

This includes $35 million raised in 2021, a $39 million extension in February 2023 and $3.8 million, in July 2023.

As reported by SmartCompany earlier this week, the latest tranche of funding was led by GP Bullhound and joined by previous contributors, including Main Sequence Ventures and Salesforce Ventures.

A number of new investors also backed the startup this time around, including Lockheed Martin Ventures, Edison, NTT Finance and Salus Group, among others.

Q-CTRL says its unique point of difference lies in the fact it is already building and selling products in a sector that is still largely research-based.

“We actually build and sell software. We are not primarily a consultancy [or] doing contract R&D for third parties,” Q-CTRL CEO Michael Biercuk told SmartCompany.

“We are in the business of building stuff and selling it. And so our own maturity and the maturation of the sector together are what gets amplified by this particular fundraising.”

Read more.

Mutinex: $17.5 million

Marketing analytics startup Mutinex has locked in $17.5 million in fresh funding as it advances its AI capabilities and doubles down on its expansion efforts in the US.

Mutinex was founded by Matt Farrugia and Henry Innis in 2018, and with this latest capital injection, the startup is now valued at $132.5 million.

As reported by SmartCompany earlier this week, the funding round was led by Marbruck Investments and included participation from EVP and Archangel Ventures.

It follows a $9.5 million raise in November 2023, led by EVP, and a $5 million seed extension round in February 2023.

Mutinex aims to help growth marketers make better, data-driven decisions via a ‘growth co-pilot’ that turns traditional marketing modelling into a growth-focused on-demand platform.

Archangel partner Rayn Ong described the company as a “fast-rising superstar Aussie startup” and said he is “very bullish about the AI capabilities that will come next”.

“In venture investing, you don’t often see software companies scale their revenue following a triple, triple, double, double, double (T2D3) growth trajectory,” Ong said in a statement provided to SmartCompany.

“Henry’s team at Mutinex has achieved more than that, by delivering very high ROI to their blue chip customers.

“We are grateful to be one of the lucky investors of this fast-rising superstar Aussie startup.”

Mutinex is already seeing growth in the Asia Pacific and US markets and plans to deploy its new funding to further drive this traction in the US.

The funding round, which the company is positioning as somewhere between a Series A and Series B stage in Australia, also coincides with some changes in the Mutinex leadership team, with co-founder Matt Farrugia planning to move from his global chief customer officer to an APAC leadership role.

Read more.

Atelier: $10 million

“We are 6 years in at Atelier and things are only just getting started.”

Those are the words of Atelier co-founder Nick Benson, whose venture successfully closed a $10 million Series A round led by Macquarie Capital.

Sydney-based Atelier promises to help cosmetics brands bring new products to market faster, by handling the laborious work of finding the right biochemists, manufacturers, and logistics providers.

The venture says that by reducing hundreds of different communications streams down to one — Atelier itself — cosmetics brands can more quickly adapt to trends in the ever-changing industry.

Co-founded by Benson and Nick Hudson, Atelier now promises services covering skincare, men’s grooming, nail care, oral care, and more.

As first reported by the Australian Financial Review, Atelier now plans to integrate AI-driven market intelligence tools into its platform.

“We’ve always had a bold vision, this moment marks another Day 1, funded to take our company to the next stage of growth — US expansion and transformational AI-native product innovation and supply chain tech,” Benson wrote on LinkedIn.

Beyond Macquarie Capital, the new $10 million round was backed by Archangel Ventures, Daniel Attia, and Geoff Tarrant.

Rosterfy: $3 million

People management software startup Rosterfy has also raised fresh capital this week, securing a $3 million follow-on investment from ASX-listed venture capital fund, Bailador Technology Investments.

Bailador has previously invested $12.4 million in Rosterfy. It told the market on Tuesday that the valuation of the latest investment round has improved the valuation of its existing investment by 14% ($1.7 million or $0.01 per share). The total investment valuation now sits at $17.1 million.

Rosterfy was founded by Bennett Merriman, Shannan Gove and Chris Grant in 2015 to provide software to not-for-profits, government bodies and large-scale sports and events to help them recruit, train and manage volunteers.

The software is used by the likes of Lifeline Australia, Oz Harvest and the St Vincent de Paul Society, along with local governments, and has been deployed to manage volunteer workforces at major international sporting events, including the NFL Super Bowl in the US.

Bailador said on Tuesday that the startup is seeing rapid revenue growth, and has facilitated more than 100 million volunteer hours from 3 million users in 35 countries.

“We’ve enjoyed our partnership with Bailador over the last 18 months since their initial investment, and we’re thrilled that they are continuing to support our future growth ambitions,” said Rosterfy co-founder and CEO Bennett Merriman in the statement.

Bailador co-founder and managing partner David Kirk added that the startup continues to perform well and attract new clients.

“This additional funding will help the company expand their global go-to-market teams, and further accelerate their product roadmap to extend their product leadership,” he added.

Bailador has made a number of other startup investments this year, including a $20 million investment in telehealth startup Updoc in May.

Build Club: $1.75 million

Build Club, a training hub for aspiring artificial intelligence engineers and a portal for businesses to access AI solutions, this week closed an oversubscribed $1.75 million pre-seed round.

When SmartCompany first spoke to founder Annie Liao in September 2023, Build Club was a six-week residency program, allowing engineers, hackers, and curious techies a space to build out their AI-powered projects.

The market for AI-powered business solutions, and Build Club itself, have grown massively since then.

Today, the Build Club e-learning platform connects developing AI talents to hands-on training and certifications provided by firms like Cohere.

On the other side of Build Club are small businesses and startups, who may want to integrate AI into their business but don’t have the talent, or funding, to develop those tools in-house.

Businesses can submit their projects to Build Club for a ‘bounty’, with participants paid for the solutions they develop.

“With AI, anyone can be empowered to build,” Liao said on LinkedIn.

“Build Club is the platform my friends and I wish we had when we started our AI learning journeys.”

Beyond the thousands of participants Build Club claims in Australia, the startup intends to use the new capital to develop a presence in San Francisco.

As first reported by The Age, Blackbird and Airtree led the round, which also features early backers Co Ventures, Archangel Ventures, Startmate, and a cluster of angel investors.

Axify.ai: $1.37 million

Sydney-based startup Axify.ai has raised $1.37 million in its first external funding round to help build its AI booking assistant for the hospitality, service, and health sectors.

The conversational AI assistant, Axi, is already being used by hospitality groups to manage phone calls and complete bookings, with what the startup says is an accuracy level of 99%.

The goal is to help businesses free up valuable staff time and eliminate missed calls, which in turn helps businesses become more efficient and capture more revenue.

Founder Bianca Brady is a career hospitality professional and a data science graduate from MIT who is on a mission to make AI accessible and practical for businesses of all sizes, from small businesses to large enterprises.

One such business is Momento Hospitality Group, which has been using Axi at its venue Sarino, where it would previously miss 55 calls a week despite having a reservation team.

“Since we implemented Axi, we haven’t missed a single one and this has definitely increased trade,” said executive director Marcello Colosimo in a statement provided to SmartCompany.

“All callers have the option to speak to a staff member, but this is happening less and less. Axi frees up our staff to provide all-important service in venue.”

The startup says its tech can integrate seamlessly with all existing operations and booking systems and calendars, and it is planning to expand throughout the Asia Pacific and US regions.