Techboard is pleased to present its funding report covering funding events (including equity, debt, coin, acquisition, and grants) confirmed in the December 2017 quarter, involving startups and young tech companies which are eligible for a listing on Techboard. Data is collated by the Techboard team from public sources and through its relationships with investors, VCs and angel groups across the country. In particular Techboard would like to thank Melbourne Angels, Brisbane Angels and Perth Angels for their on-going collaboration.
by Rafael Kimberley Bowen
National Funding Overview
Over 120 Australian startups and young tech companies raised over $720m in funding in the December quarter, up 15% of the total amount raised in the previous quarter. Over half of this was raised in New South Wales, where 40 startups raised close to $375m.
In a continuation of an on-going trend in 2017, the final quarter saw the dominance of the fintech sector in terms of dollars raised. Almost half the funds raised went to fintechs, through a combination of venture capital, debt, coin offerings, share placements and IPOs.
Average valuations, where disclosed, were $43m nationally, up tenfold on last quarter:
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Grant Funding
Over $20m of grants were recorded nationally, with NSW and South Australia the key beneficiaries.Valuations are notoriously to confirm at the lower end of the capital raises, and so data is typically driven by fundraising through the ASX and the occasional transparent VC round. The average was driven up by various high end share placements, including GetSwift (circa $400m), Livehire (c $170m) and Fastbrick Robotics (c $130m), but also by superannuation disruptor Spaceship's $170m valuation.
As with previous quarters, grant funding predominantly supported CleanTech and Health & biotech startups. Twenty five grants totalling $20m were recorded, mostly at the federal government level. The bulk of this came through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency ($5m), the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Fund ($5m), Accelerating Commercialisation ($4.1m) and various other programs like South Australia's Renewable Technology Fund, the Cooperative Research Centre and Smart Cities and Suburbs Program.
New South Wales
Over 60% of funds raised by NSW companies were raised by fintechs, with consumer lending startup MoneyMe's $120m asset-backed securitisation deal the biggest funding deal in the country during the quarter. Superannuation disruptor Spaceship quietly closed a $50m round, from investors including US-based VC Amplo ($8m) and Mike Cannon-Brookes ($3.5m).
New South Wales was also home to half the country's acquisitions, with CreditorWatch (InfoTrack), HomeHello (UrbanYou) and VMTech (Telstra) all being picked up during the quarter.
Victoria
Victorian saw the second highest amount raised, with 35 companies receiving close to a quarter of a billion dollars over the period. Fintech and transport were the trending sectors, with GetSwift raising $75m from a share placement and HCash $53m in an ICO.
Western Australia
Western Australia companies received $109m over the quarter. The main source of funds was the ASX, with seven share placements and an IPO collectively contributing over $80m to local startups. Companies in the Construction and industrial sector were the main beneficiaries, with Fastbrick Robotics and Parkd Group together receiving over half that amount. After the ASX, ICOs were the second source of funds in WA, with Power Ledger's initial coin offering raising $17m in the quarter, on top of the previous $17m raised in pre-sales in the previous quarter.
Queensland
With total funding of $22m, Queensland saw the highest proportion of venture capital (or Series A/B/C) funding of all states, with over three quarters of its funding provided by investors including the Clean Energy Innovation Fund, Right Click Capital, Main Sequence Ventures and RACQ. Queensland also saw one of its first ICOs, with eSports startup Skrilla raising $800k in the process.
Elsewhere in the country, South Australian startups raised over $6m, notably in Health & biotech, Cleantech and Edtech, and ACT startups raised over $1m, mainly in Defence and Enterprise software.
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