Licorice founder Samantha Glocker. Source: provided.
Once once more there was a lot cash flying across the Australian startup ecosystem this week that it’s been robust to maintain up.
In Wollongong, we topped a brand new Aussie unicorn as BNPL participant Scalapay raised $692 million at a valuation of greater than $1 billion “in all the currencies”.
Arkon Energy additionally took house in all probability the most important pre-seed spherical in Australian tech historical past for its tech utilizing extra renewable power to mine bitcoin. And a WA startup raised $1 million in half-hour to take native medicinal honey to the world stage.
But elsewhere, cash was additionally pouring into e-bikes on subscription, two completely different digital verification startups (taking part in in very completely different areas) and tech rethinking the ticketing course of utilized by IT professionals.
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Here are seven $1 million-plus raises you might have missed this week.
OCR Labs: $42 million
Aussie regtech OCR Labs has closed a $42 million Series B spherical, because it gears as much as increase its world footprint.
The digital identification verification tech is designed to assist companies adjust to anti-money laundering and know-your-customer laws, utilizing issues like character recognition, face-matching and video fraud evaluation.
Over the previous 12 months, the startup has seen a 500% enhance in new shoppers, and tripled its headcount.
The newest spherical, led by New York VC Equable Capital, will see it increase that staff additional in Australia, North America and the EMEA area.
Zoomo: $27.8 million
E-bike startup Zoomo has tacked one other US$20 million ($27.8 million) onto its Series B increase, bringing the full worth of the spherical to greater than $100 million.
Founded in 2017 and backed by Atlassian co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, Zoomo gives e-bikes on subscription, largely for gig economic system employees and last-mile couriers.
As effectively as catering to people, it additionally works with companies to offer complete fleets of bikes. According to Zoomo, that enterprise arm of the enterprise grew 20-fold in 2021.
The enterprise additionally expanded its presence from three nations to 6. The contemporary funds will partly be used to speed up that world progress.
“We see a world within the next decade where every last-mile delivery will be completed on a light electric vehicle,” Zoomo founder Mina Nada stated.
![Zoomo](https://www.smartcompany.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Bolt-Zoomo.jpg)
Zoomo co-founders Mina Nada and Michael Johnson. Source: provided.
Lumi: $10 million
Small enterprise lender Lumi has secured $10 million to scale its platform nationwide.
The money injection follows a $20 million increase introduced simply months in the past in December final 12 months. The enterprise has, nonetheless, been rising extra rapidly than forecast, founder Yanir Yakutiel stated in a press release.
Now he’s predicting a powerful 12 months of progress for Aussie SMEs as they recuperate from two years of lockdowns and uncertainty.
“The last two years have been a stress-test of the technology-driven model we have pioneered at Lumi,” Yakutiel stated.
“We have come out of that test with flying colours — our loan originations remained strong, and the number of customers who had to apply for hardship was low.”
![connect with large enterprises](https://www.smartcompany.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Yanir-Lumii.jpg)
Lumi founder and chief govt officer Yanir Yakutiel. Source: provided.
Upflowy: $6.6 million
Sydney-based Upflowy has banked US$4 million ($6.6 million) to construct out its ‘drag-and-drop’ device serving to companies present personalised experiences on-line.
The tech is designed to assist companies enhance buyer expertise and make higher use of information. It additionally means companies can extra simply observe their prospects’ journeys, noting and bettering on any areas the place they could drop off.
The spherical was led by San Francisco investor Counterpart Ventures, and marks the primary time the VC has invested in Australia.
The funding will primarily be used for constructing out the tech, in addition to for hiring and investing in buyer assist.
Linkby: $5 million
One of the co-founders of Pedestrian has reportedly raised $5 million for his adtech startup, Linkby.
Founded in 2020, Linkby permits manufacturers to pay for content material with chosen publishers, on a cost-per-click foundation.
In an interview with The Australian Financial Review, co-founder Chris Wirasinha stated the device gives manufacturers a substitute for the big-tech promoting fashions, which aren’t as they as soon as had been.
“There are tonnes of direct-to-consumer brands whose return on investment on Facebook is going backwards and are hungry for more advertising channels,” he stated.
“It’s created a moment for publishers to re-enter the conversation when it comes to contextual and mindset-based targeting.”
Fortiro $3.5 million
A fraud prevention startup spun out of PwC has reportedly closed a $3.5 million increase, led by Our Innovation Fund.
Fortiro is headed up by former PwC administrators Sean Quagliani, David Weber and Amir Vahid, who left the company to formally launch their startup as an impartial enterprise simply weeks in the past.
Their Protect product was designed and constructed inside the skilled providers agency, to assist organisations confirm the legitimacy of proof-of-income paperwork equivalent to payslips.
It combines machine studying, doc forensics and knowledge extraction to hurry up the verification course of that had beforehand been largely guide.
“It’s a massive pain point for lenders,” Quagliani instructed the Australian Financial Review.
“There’s lots of generic document processing tools that you can try and use, but these documents are complex, and it’s hard to do any meaningful automation or validation.”
Licorice: $1.8 million
An Adelaide startup has secured $1.8 million for its AI-powered scheduling device for IT professionals.
Licorice is designed to exchange the outdated ‘ticket’ system for IT duties. The AI device matches requests with the suitable engineer, calculates the time required and permits customers to pick an applicable.
Founder Samantha Glocker compares the device to Apple’s Genius Bar, “but for all enterprise IT services or any industry with a complex customer support business model”.
The thought is that jobs will probably be prevented from slipping by means of the cracks, she provides, whereas timings, bookings and biollables are additionally calculated robotically.
“In the world of IT tickets, the most urgent jobs are triaged to the top of the list while less critical tasks are shuffled down the pack, and that’s where over 30% of revenue is lost in IT companies,” Glocker provides.