Techboard Ranking September 2017

By Rafael Kimberley-Bowen

Firstly, some stats and insights on startups and tech companies in September:

• Since last month we’ve added a further 100+ companies – we’re now profiling 1,680 Australian companies.
• Among other metrics, we captured 769 press mentions (globally) of Australian companies, 221 milestones, 57 funding milestones, over 27,000 tweets and 10,000 Facebook posts, over 300 iTunes apps and 200 Google Play apps, and employee counts at 1,080 companies.
• More than half of the top ten are ASX listed, including those newly listed during the month (Titomic and Schrole). 91 (or 5%) of our total companies are ASX listed. The top performing (share price wise) ASX company in August was GetSwift, up 145%.
• Four acquisitions occurred during the month: NuSkope (Superloop), OpenLearning (Prestariang), Babyology (Kinderling Kids radio) and ServTech Global which sold its rent roll business to Summit Development Corporation and Housemart Real Estate.

Superloop was the top trending startup of September, as the Queensland telecom company raised $20m in a share placement, and acquired South Australian startup NuSkope for $10m. NuSkope (ranked 14th) was South Australia’s highest ranked startup, largely as a result of the acquisition. Superloop was founded by serial entrepreneur Bevan Slattery, who is also founder and executive chairman of NEXTDC (ranked second in last month’s ranking) and Megaport (ranked 31st this month). The NuSkope acquisition follows the earlier acquisition of BigAir late last year.

Titomic was the second highest trending company in September. The 3D metal printing manufacturer began trading on the ASX following its IPO in which it raised $6.5m, valuing the Melbourne-based startup at over $22m. Shares were up over 100% on the first day of trading and at time of going to press remain valued at over twice their launch price.

Speaking to Techboard, Titomic CEO and Technical Director Jeff Lang highlighted the high level of interest in the company’s Kinetic Fusion technology from various industries. Titomic is currently building what it says is the world’s largest metal additive manufacturing machines. The 3D technology was jointly developed by CSIRO and Force Industries. CSIRO also provided the technology for Cardihab (ranked 50th), which it spun out this month following a $1.35, capital raise from Uniseed, private cardiology groups and Artesian Capital.

Power Ledger was ranked third, having previously topped Techboard’s August ranking when it launched its ICO pre-sale. “September was an amazing month for Power Ledger,” according to the Perth-based blockchain startup’s cofounder Jemma Green. “We launched our ICO, the first in Australia, with the pre-sale selling out in 72 hours. Since then, the public sale has been going really well.”

This month Power Ledger announced a series of technology trials with Tech Mahindra, to bring energy microgrid developments to India’s booming urban population. The company also entered into an agreement with Origin for a three month technical trial of its energy trading platform. Commenting on these agreements, Green is enthusiastic about the road ahead. “We can now say that blockchain-powered peer-to-peer energy trading has truly arrived.” The company has attracted strong mindshare, with strong press coverage including in India, continued social media engagement across all channels and a presentation at the Wholesale Investor Emerging Company Showcase in Perth.

Afterpay was the fourth highest trending startup. The Victorian fintech, which allows consumers to purchase now with repayments over the following weeks, announced two new partnerships. Jetstar is now offering Australians booking domestic flights the chance to pay off their airfares in small, regular payments, and Afterpay will be available on Target.com.au for online purchases and click and collect in store. The app itself saw good traction on iTunes and Google Play, with an increase in number of reviews and an increase in average review score on iTunes. The startup also saw strong press coverage and picked up a nomination from our panel of experts.

Jayride was the only NSW startup in this month’s top five. The transfer comparison company closed a $8m capital raise, led by Follow[The]Seed. The fund’s founding partner, Andrey Shirben, is an existing angel investor in Jayride and has been on its board since 2012. Initially launched as a marketplace for bookable transport, today the company focusses on connecting travellers to private transfer and shared shuttle companies. This month it announced a partnership with Rome2Rio (ranked 99th).

Other notable fundraises include food startup THR1VE‘s (ranked 22nd) $10m round, betting site TopBetta‘s (11th) $9m placement, cloud call recording provider Dubber‘s (8th) $7m over-subscribed placement and edtech Schrole‘s (7th) $6m reverse takeover.