Digital business cards, AI agents and palm oil alternatives: this week’s funding round-up showcases just some of the exciting innovations being developed by Australian startups.
Keep reading to learn more about five local companies that collectively raised $87.1 million this week.
Blinq: $38.4 million
Melbourne-founded startup Blinq leads this week’s funding round-up with a $38.4 million (US$25 million) investment that is being billed as the largest Series A round by an Australian company so far this year.
Founder Jarrod Webb began working on Blinq in 2017 while working at Uber Eats and becoming increasingly frustrated about the growing piles of outdated business cards on his desk.
His solution was to design an app that would give users a digital business card that was easily shareable and always up-to-date.
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Blinq raised $5 million in seed funding from leading Australian VCs Blackbird and Square Peg Capital in mid-2022 and has now completed its Series A round.
The funding round was led by US-based Touring Capital, with HubSpot Ventures, the investment arm of customer relationship management giant HubSpot, also participating.
Blackbird and Square Peg have also once again backed the startup, which is now reportedly valued at $200 million.
Blinq has grown the user base for its digital business cards platform to 2.5 million users from 500,000 companies in 189 countries. It expects to surpass 50 million card shares this year.
The majority (80%) of Blinq’s customer base is in the US, and the startup operates out of San Francisco and New York. However, it also operates out of Sydney, and almost all of its 70-strong team is based in Australia.
Relevance AI: $37 million
Sydney startup Relevance AI plans to continue scaling its AI workforce tools after securing $37 million (US$24 million) in Series B funding.
The funding round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with existing investors Insight Partners, Peak XV and King River Capital also participating.
Relevance AI was founded in 2020 by Daniel Vassilev and Jacky Koh. The company specialises in AI agents and says 40,000 agents were created on its platform in January 2025 alone.
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Its clients now range from scale-ups to Fortune 500 companies, including Activision, Qualified, and SafetyCulture.
The startup previously raised $15 million in Series A funding in 2023, and participated in AWS’ 2024 Generative AI Accelerator.
Alongside the new funding, Relevance AI has also launched two new features: a no-code builder for multi-agent systems called Workforce, and a text-to-agent generator called Invent.
Haast: $6 million
Sydney-based AI compliance startup Haast has also revealed new funding this week, after securing $6 million in a seed funding round led by Airtree.
US-based defy.vc, Aura Ventures and Black Sheep Capital also contributed to the round, which follows a $1.2 million pre-seed round for the formerly Canberra-based company in 2023.
Founded in 2022 by former Australian National University students Jason Watling, Kunal Vankadara and Liam King, Haast helps large organisations automate and strengthen their compliance processes, including for marketing and public content.
According to the company, the platform reduces manual review of material by up to 80%, gets compliant content live three times faster, and is able to continually monitor live internal, external and third-party channels for risks.
Haast’s corporate customers include Telstra, Future Super, Zurich Australia & New Zealand and US insurer and asset management firm Aviva.
In a statement provided to SmartCompany, Haast said it plans to use the funding to grow its team, progress its expansion into the US, and continue development in additional compliance areas, including contract reviews and anti-money laundering.
“This is just the beginning,” said co-founder Kunal Vankadara.
“We believe compliance technology is entering a new era, where AI works hand-in-hand with human expertise to eliminate inefficiency, reduce risk and create space for more strategic work. Haast is the technology to lead that future, globally.”
1Breadcrumb: $4.5 million
Sydney construction startup 1Breadcrumb has secured a $4.5 million SAFE note alongside a cash and equity deal to acquire its Canberra-based rival, SignOnSite.
According to Startup Daily, the SAFE note is backed by Five V Capital, Tribe Global Ventures and an unnamed US-based family office.
Five V Capital is already an investor in 1Breadcrumb, having led the startup’s $4 million capital raise in mid-2024.
The acquisition will see five-year-old 1Breadcrumb merge with 12-year-old SignOnSite to create a combined software company dedicated to improving worksite safety and operational efficiencies in the construction sector.
The combined business is set to serve around 900 companies and more than 1.5 million construction workers in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
SignOnSite CEO Alexandria Garlan will move to the role of chief commercial officer for the combined business, with 1Breadcrumb founder CEO Simon Elliot to lead the business.
In a statement provided to SmartCompany, Elliot said the acquisition “marks a step-change in our growth strategy”.
“Together with SignOnSite, we strengthen our position as the dominant platform for commercial construction companies dealing with complex regulations, a space where software adoption is accelerating globally,” he added.
“With a larger team, expanded product suite, and backing from top-tier investors, we’re well-positioned to continue to scale into new markets.”
Levur: $1.2 million
NSW-based ethical oil startup Levur has raised $1.2 million in pre-seed funding, four months after it won the top spot in KPMG’s Nature Positive Challenge.
According to Capital Brief, the funding round was led by CSIRO’s Main Sequence and GrainCorp Ventures, with SparkLabs Cultiv8 and the UNSW Founders program also participating.
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Founded in 2023 by Joanne Barber and Tom Collier, Levur is focused on creating sustainable alternatives to plant and animal oils, in a bid to reduce the environmental effects of deforestation and biodiversity loss.
The startup plans to use the pre-seed funding to commercialise its synthetic biology platform, which uses precision fermentation to produce oils from genetically engineered yeast strains, via a process that is similar to brewing beer.
The goal is to provide the oils as raw materials to companies that manufacture cosmetics, food products and nutraceuticals.
In January this year, Levur won $100,000 by taking the top spot in KPMG’s competition, which supports startups tackling environmental issues.
At the time, Collier said the win represented a key milestone for the startup.
“It’s a validation of the mission our team has worked so hard to make a reality and a powerful reminder of why we started this journey: to protect our planet and create solutions that leave a lasting impact,” he said.
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