Five Australian startups have raised $35.2 million this week across AI, biotech, fashion, and adtech, led by Linkby’s Series B raise.
Linkby: $23 million
L-R: Linkby co-founders Andrew Chak, Chris Wirasinha and Adrian Fagerlund. Source: Supplied.
Performance PR platform Linkby leads this week’s funding round-up, with a $23 million Series B funding round led by Boston-based Volition Capital.
As reported by SmartCompany earlier this week, the Series B round follows Linkby’s $4 million Series A round in 2024.
The company, which was founded by Chris Wirasinha, Andrew Chak and Adrian Fagerlund in 2020, plans to use the new capital to support its expansion in the US, as well as its investment in generative engine optimisation (GEO).
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This investment in GEO is particularly timely as brands increasingly shift their focus from traditional search to large language model (LLM)-based discovery.
Linkby’s platform helps brands run editorial campaigns on a cost-per-click or cost-per-thousand-impressions basis with more than 600 publishers.
The startup says its global user base now includes more than 3,800 brands, including the likes of Charlotte Tilbury, New Balance, Disney+ and Lululemon.
The US is now Linkby’s largest market, according to Wirasinha, and accounts for 55% of the company’s revenue.
The company plans to double the size of its North American team following the Series B raise, and is also exploring campaign automation and publisher-matching tools.
Eclipse Ingredients: $7 million
Source: Eclipse Ingredients
Also raising fresh funding this week was Brisbane-based biotech startup Eclipse Ingredients, which has emerged from stealth mode with more than $7 million.
As reported by SmartCompany, Eclipse Ingredients is working to commercialise an elusive, yet highly promising compound: lactoferrin.
Lactoferrin is referred to as a “wonder protein” in scientific literature because of its numerous potential health benefits across areas including immunity, infant nutrition and skincare.
The compound is found throughout the human body, including in breast milk, immune cells, and bodily secretions. However, traditional ways of producing it at scale are costly and inefficient, and can result in a structurally different compound.
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Eclipse Ingredients, founded by dietitian and MBA graduate Siobhan Coster, is solving this problem through the use of precision fermentation, which will allow it to sustainably produce human-identical lactoferrin at an industrial scale.
The startup was incubated within the CSIRO and is now operating from facilities at the Queensland University of Technology.
Its new funding includes $2.9 million from the Commonwealth Government’s Food and Beverage Accelerator, alongside investment from AgFunder.
“The benefits of lactoferrin are honestly near endless – it is such an incredible protein in terms of its functionality,” Coster told SmartCompany.
“Some of its key health benefits span across anti-inflammation, microbial immune system and microbiome support, as well as iron boosting properties too.”
Eclipse Ingredients plans to launch its first commercial product in 2027 and is initially focusing on skincare applications.
The company is also actively exploring commercial partnerships and will, over time, develop applications for other health-beneficial ingredients beyond lactoferrin, too.
Visionary Machines: $3.5 million
L-R: Dr Rhys Newman, chief scientific officer; Gary Aitchison, CEO; and Dr Samson Lee, chief technology evangelist. Source: Visionary Machines.
Defence tech startup Visionary Machines has raised $3.5 million in fresh funding, marking its first capital injection since a $7.5 million seed round in 2021. The raise, first reported by Capital Brief, was led by Folklore Ventures, OIF, Salus Ventures, and Significant Capital Ventures.
Visionary Machines was founded in 2019 and previously drew backing from In-Q-Tel, the investment arm of the CIA.
The Sydney-based startup has reportedly shifted focus from consumer and R&D applications to defence and commercialisation, with its flagship product, Pandion Sentinel, now offering signal-free autonomous navigation and drone detection capabilities.
Voqo AI: $800,000
Sydney-based startup Voqo AI has raised $800,000 in pre-seed funding to tackle inefficiencies in Australia’s $10 trillion real estate sector.
The round includes backing from Blackbird Ventures, Mark Bouris, and the University of NSW. Founded by Adam Ma and fellow university graduates, Voqo is building AI-powered voice bots that answer and triage calls for real estate agents, helping prevent missed inquiries and collapsed deals.
Speaking to The Australian, Ma said only around 60% of phone calls to property agents are answered, often leading to lost leads and poor customer service.
It’s crazy that in 2025, property managers are still scrambling to check voicemails.
Voqo’s bots are already being trialled by Barry Plant and Property Investors Alliance, replacing traditional call centres and automating routine tasks like inspection queries and maintenance triage. The platform is built on a combination of closed and open-source models, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Meta’s Llama, with voice interfaces reducing hallucination risks compared to text-based AI.
Mark Bouris said the product addresses one of the industry’s biggest inefficiencies: “Most teams don’t realise how much revenue they lose from unanswered phone calls. Voqo AI brings generative AI to one of the industry’s biggest inefficiencies, and does it in a way that improves service, not just cuts costs”.
The team is exploring broader applications for agentic AI, including maintenance task management, while keeping humans in the loop for final approvals.
Orbitkey: $393,500
L-R: Orbitkey co-founders Charles Ng and Rex Kuo. Source: Supplied.
Orbitkey has raised over $393,500 through its eleventh Kickstarter campaign, bringing its total crowdfunding haul to over $8 million from more than 63,000 backers globally.
The Melbourne-based brand, best known for its minimalist key organisers and accessories, is launching its new Daily Tote system, built around modular, durable design principles. The campaign continues Orbitkey’s track record of crowdfunding success and its commitment to designing “for decades, not seasons”.
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Founded in 2013 by Charles Ng and Rex Kuo, Orbitkey remains independent and uses Kickstarter as a strategic tool to test and launch new products without relying on outside investors. Over half the backers from the previous campaign returned for this latest release.
“Our customers value quality, function, and longevity,” Ng told SmartCompany. “It might not be flashy, but it works, it lasts, and it still fits into their life today.”
The Daily Tote features recycled, water-repellent materials, modular components, and custom aluminium hardware. Orbitkey’s global retail network now spans over 2,000 stores, alongside its growing e-commerce presence and collaborations with franchises like Star Wars and Marie Kondo.