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Welcome to another edition of 🔍 Startup Researcher - Oceania, your essential digest delivering the latest news and premium insights on startups and venture capital across the region 🌍
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📰 Important News
- Australian AI infrastructure firm Firmus secured a multibillion-dollar contract to deploy 18,400 Nvidia GB300 GPUs at its new Melbourne AI factory.
- Airwallex announced a multi-year partnership with Essendon Football Club, becoming a co-major partner.
- Techemynt launched $GoldNZ and $SilverNZ, tokenized metals that are backed 1:1 by physical gold and silver stored in secure New Zealand vaults.
- Hypersonix completed the first hypersonic flight test of its DART AE vehicle, which was launched from the U.S. on a Rocket Lab rocket.
- Envato cut up to 200 jobs as part of a major restructuring aimed at reducing costs and increasing AI investment.
💸 Top Funding Rounds
- Dog food startup Lyka secured A$67 million in a Series C round to support global expansion and invest in clinical research for dog health.
- PlasmaLeap Technologies raised A$30 million in Series A funding to scale its zero-emissions green fertilizer technology and expand its on-farm hubs.
- Firmable landed A$19.6 million in Series A funding, led by Airtree, to expand into the United States and scale its AI-powered B2B sales platform.
- Veyor closed A$11 million in Series A funding, led by Marbruck Investments, to expand in the United States.
- AI skills platform NextWork secured NZ$7.4 million in seed funding, led by Shakti VC, to expand its operations and address the AI skills gap.
💰️ IPO and M&A Watch
- New Zealand’s largest e-waste recycler, Echo Technology, acquired IT asset specialist BMS to create a full-service IT and e-waste lifecycle provider.
- Canva is accelerating Leonardo AI integration while denying job-cut reports as it expands AI capabilities and strengthens its platform through acquisitions.
🏦 About Investors
- Scarcity Partners invested in Black Kite Partners, a new private markets firm targeting tech-enabled businesses in Australia and New Zealand.
- VentureCrowd and Sydney Angels launched the final tranche of Sidecar Fund 3 with an investor event.
🚀 Startup of the Week
Introducing our Startup of the Week 🏆
Lyka
Founded in Sydney in 2018 by Anna Podolsky and integrative veterinarian Dr. Matthew Muir, Lyka has turned a personal quest for healthier dog food into one of Australia’s standout pet-wellness stories. The company delivers personalized, freshly cooked dog meals through a subscription model and has now raised A$67 million in a Series C round, taking total capital to about A$155 million, with LGVP leading, and StepStone and Shearwater among the backers. Podolsky remains CEO, joined by its new CMO Cameron Luby as Lyka pushes into new verticals and global expansion. At its core, Lyka is trying to shift the market away from ultra-processed kibble toward healthier, longer lives for dogs.
💼 Investor of the Week
Introducing our Investor of the Week 🏆
Black Kite Partners
Founded in Sydney in 2026, Black Kite Partners enters Australia’s private equity scene with heavyweight pedigree: founded by former IFM Investors executives David Odgers, Adrian Kerley and Stuart Wardman-Browne, and launched with backing from Scarcity Partners, which took a significant minority stake through its GP Access Fund. The firm is a tech-focused private markets manager targeting lower- and mid-market businesses across software, tech-enabled services and healthcare in Australia and New Zealand. It starts with A$1.8 billion in assets under advisement, continues advising IFM on six portfolio companies, and is now gearing up to raise roughly A$702 million for its first independent fund, positioning itself as a focused, high-conviction builder of next-generation regional champions.
🤑 Opportunities Expiring Soon
UNICEF Innovation Fund 2026 for Blockchain Solutions
- 📢 Organizer: UNICEF Venture Fund
- 🗂️ Category: Funding
- 🪜 Target Stages: Pre-seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Web3 & Blockchain, Social & Governance, Finance & Insurance
- 📅 Application Deadline: March 10, 2026
IDRIS Open Hackathon 2026
- 📢 Organizer: NVIDIA
- 🗂️ Category: Hackathon, Event
- 🪜 Target Stages: Ideation
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: AI & Data, DeepTech
- 📅 Application Deadline: March 10, 2026
FoundersBoost 2026 SoCal B2B Accelerator
- 📢 Organizer: FoundersBoost
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator, Training & Learning
- 🪜 Target Stages: Pre-seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Sector Agnostic
- 📅 Application Deadline: March 11, 2026
WMF Startup Competition 2026
- 📢 Organizer: We Make Future (WMF)
- 🗂️ Category: Award/Prize, Funding, Competition/Challenge
- 🪜 Target Stages: Pre-seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Sector Agnostic
- 📅 Application Deadline: March 12, 2026
Climate Solutions Accelerator
- 📢 Organizer: EnergyLab
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator, Funding, Training & Learning
- 🪜 Target Stages: Stage Agnostic
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Energy & Environment
- 📅 Application Deadline: March 15, 2026
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