Dynamic Business brings you the key start-up fundraising rounds from this week:
Disability matching startup closes second raise with $2m
Kynd, a Queensland-based disability support service platform that matches people on the NDIS with support workers in a similar way to a dating app, has received funding from Gandel Invest, one of Australia’s largest family investors.
The $2 million growth capital raise, led by Tony and Adam Gandel, includes two new big investors, as well as the company’s original health technology and impact investors opting back in, allowing Kynd to take the solution to the next level as it expands.
The other major backer is health tech and “Shark Tank” investor Glen Richards.
Gandel Invest is known for strategic investments in fast-growing tech companies in Australia and the United States.
CARS24 raises $100 million to expand Australian operations
Following a successful market debut in September 2021, CARS24 has announced the closing of a $100 million debt facility to enable the expansion of its local operations.
IFM Investors, a Melbourne-based global fund manager, led the company’s first round of Australian fundraising.
The Australian debt funding follows the company’s global US$450 million funding round in September this year, which saw CARS24 expand its global presence to new markets, including Australia.
Splash secures backing from Amazon’s Alexa fund in $27m in series A round
Splash, a Brisbane-based music technology business that developed a Roblox song-making game, has raised $27 million in Series A funding.
Amazon’s Alexa Fund and BITKRAFT Ventures co-led the round, which also included Australian venture capitalists King River Capital and Khosla Ventures.
Stephen Phillips launched the company in 2017 and has developed the world’s most powerful AI singing technology, as well as using AI to compose music on the piano, bass, and drums.
NZ startup First AML raises $30 million in series B round
First AML, an anti-money laundering regtech business, has secured A$28.7 million (NZ$30 million) in a series B round. Blackbird Ventures led the round, with new investor Headline Ventures joining existing backers Pushpay founder Eliot Crowther, US company Bedrock Capital, and Kiwi VC Icehouse Ventures.
The money will be utilised to double the team’s global size from 90 to 180 personnel by the end of 2022, as well as to expand into Europe. In September of last year, First AML raised A$7.3 million in a series A round.
Quantum cybersecurity firm QuintessenceLabs raises $25 million in series B round
QuintessenceLabs, based in Canberra, has raised $25 million in a series B round of funding.
The investment was led by the CSIRO’s VC fund Main Sequence Ventures and Canadian VC TELUS Ventures, with participation from Mizuho Financial Group-backed InterValley Ventures, which assists early-stage Australian software startups to break into the Japanese market, and Capital Property Group.
The funds will be used to expand the company’s global customer base, with a focus on financial services, cloud providers, government organisations, and the defence industry.
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