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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
- Sendlehas shut down after parent FAST Group’s financial collapse, disrupting thousands of Australian small businesses.
- Culture Ampannounced a leadership change as founder Didier Elzinga moved to executive chair and Caroline Rawlinson became CEO.
- Obolhas expanded into Australia,partneringwith Mastercard to deliver AI-driven cash flow management via open finance for SMEs.
- OceanBit partneredwith Energy Estate to deploy OTEC-powered data centers for island communities, replacing diesel and improving connectivity.
💸 Top Funding Rounds
- Omniscient Neurotechnologysecured A$20 million from the NRFC as part of a Series D to scale its FDA- and TGA- cleared AI brain mapping platform.
- MARS Bioimaging raised a NZ$8.6 million Series A led by Pacific Channel to scale commercial adoption of its spectral photon-counting CT scanners.
- Melbourne-based estateXchange secured A$15 million from Macquarie Capital and OIF Ventures to digitize deceased estate management.
- Hapana raised A$7.25 million from Microequities and OIF Ventures to accelerate expansion and enhance its AI-powered fitness tech platform.
- GrazeMate, led by a 19-year-old CEO, landed USD$1.2 million in funding from Y Combinator and others to develop robot cowboys and drones.
💰️ IPO and M&A Watch
- New Zealand's Crossware acquired Germany's CI Solutions in a multimillion-dollar deal, creating one of the largest global email signature providers and significantly bolstering Crossware's European presence and operational capacity.
🏦 About Investors
- I Squared Capital launched ANZA Power to deliver 24/7 clean energy across Australia and New Zealand, aiming to accelerate decarbonization and enhance grid stability with a diversified mix of generation assets and battery storage.
🚀 Startup of the Week
Introducing our Startup of the Week 🏆
Omniscient Neurotechnology
Omniscient Neurotechnology is an Australian medical technology startup founded in 2016 and headquartered in Sydney, focused on transforming neurosurgery through AI-driven brain mapping. Its flagship platform, Quicktome, applies advanced connectomics and MRI analysis to deliver personalized brain maps that enable safer, more precise surgical planning. Led by CEO Dr. Stephen Scheeler, the company recently secured A$20 million from Australia’s National Reconstruction Fund Corporation, which is leading the Series D alongside OIF Ventures. The funding supports global expansion, particularly in the United States, and the commercialization of Quicktome, which already holds FDA and TGA clearances. Omniscient’s mission is to make complex brain surgery safer and more predictable worldwide.
💼 Investor of the Week
Introducing our Investor of the Week 🏆
I Squared Capital
I Squared Capital is a global infrastructure private equity firm founded in 2012 and headquartered in New York, backed by leading institutional investors and focused on energy, utilities, transport, and digital infrastructure. The firm invests in long-term, asset-backed platforms with strong operational fundamentals. Its latest move was the launch of ANZA Power, a dedicated clean energy platform for Australia and New Zealand, created through the acquisition of solar hybrid and battery storage assets with long-term contracted revenues. Led by Senior Partner Harsh Agrawal, I Squared differentiates itself through hands-on platform building and global operating scale. Its mission is to deploy institutional capital to accelerate resilient, decarbonized infrastructure worldwide.
🤑 Opportunities Expiring Soon
E3 Accelerator – Riyadh Cycle
- 📢 Organizer: E3.Ventures
- 🗂️ Category: Funding, Accelerator
- 🪜 Target Stages: Pre-Seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: AI & Data, Finance & Insurance
- 📅 Application Deadline: January 20, 2026
Spring 2026 Cooperative Business Incubator
- 📢 Organizer: Start.coop
- 🗂️ Category: Incubator
- 🪜 Target Stages: Ideation, Pre-Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Sector Agnostic
- 📅 Application Deadline: January 21, 2026
Plus Eight Western Sydney Sprint Pre-Accelerator Program
- 📢 Organizer: Spacecubed
- 🗂️ Category: Training & Learning
- 🪜 Target Stages: Ideation, Pre-Seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Sector Agnostic
- 📅 Application Deadline: January 23, 2026
Female Founders Pre-Accelerator
- 📢 Organizer: Startup Onramp
- 🗂️ Category: Training & Learning
- 🪜 Target Stages: Ideation, Pre-Seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Sector Agnostic
- 📅 Application Deadline: January 23, 2026
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