Ten businesses, all with ANZ roots, all raising in the same fortnight. Here is who they are and what they do.
Byron (Perth-born founder, San Francisco)
US$6.5M (about $9.1M) seed led by Square Peg. AI agents that automate business tax prep for US accounting firms. CEO Blaze O’Byrne was born in Perth.
Oli (Sydney)
$6.5M Series A3 from Scale Investors, Clare Ventures and the University of Sydney. A wireless, wearable device that monitors mother and baby during labour to predict and reduce birth complications.
AlleSense (Victoria)
$5M led by Welcome Ventures, with Breakthrough Victoria and a government grant. A La Trobe spinout whose microscope slide helps spot abnormal cells without chemical stains.
QuantX Labs (SA)
$7M (US$5M) seed led by Serendipity Capital. Optical atomic clocks it says are 10 to 100x more stable than existing systems. It got to revenue without outside equity, sells to Defence, and has flown its tech on a SpaceX mission.
DataMasque (NZ)
US$4M led by Wavemaker. Lets enterprises mask sensitive data and generate synthetic versions of it, so it can be used for AI and testing safely.
Oscorp Energy (Sydney)
$1.3M pre-seed led by Atlas. AI vision and robotics that pull lithium-ion batteries out of waste streams before they start fires.
Nardo (Sydney)
$1M pre-seed. Fixing how grassroots sports clubs design and order team kit. Tim Cahill came in as an investor.
Nitrosend (Adelaide)
US$500K seed led by Eastend Ventures. AI-native email marketing from the Hartley brothers, whose last company was acquired in 2022.
Alloovium (Brisbane)
US$500K after getting into Y Combinator. Uses AI to kill construction site paperwork.
Gutgutgoose (QLD)
US$500K, also via Y Combinator. Personalised probiotics built from an at-home gut test.
My read
The spread is the story. Tax software, maternal health, cancer diagnostics, atomic clocks, battery recycling and footy kits, all in two weeks. Two Queensland companies getting into YC in the same batch is also worth noting. ANZ founders are not just building software anymore.