The Raises
Four Australian startups closed $80 million in funding this week. Two are in space tech.
MAKO: $28 million Series A Sydney aerospace startup MAKO (formerly MicroTau) raised $28 million led by Virescent Ventures. The company makes Flightfilm, an adhesive coating that mimics shark skin texture to reduce aircraft drag by up to 4%.
This follows a $5.6 million seed in 2022 and a $3 million federal grant in March 2025. That grant programme got cut by $102 million in December MYEFO, then paused entirely after the May budget. MAKO got in before the door closed.
No word on headcount expansion or sales team hiring.
Southern Launch: $25 million Series A South Australian rocket launchpad operator Southern Launch raised $25 million, including $10 million from the National Reconstruction Fund. The company runs launch facilities for aerospace testing.
Again, no hiring announcements attached to the raise.
Emesent and Fluent: $27 million combined Two more startups, Emesent and Fluent, raised the remaining $27 million. Details on their rounds, sectors, and hiring plans were not disclosed in the original coverage.
Market Context
This $80 million week sits within Australia's strong 2025 funding year: $5.48 billion across 390 deals, up 31% from 2024. AI led at $1.0 billion, followed by fintech at $868 million. The final quarter of 2025 delivered over $2 billion, the strongest since the 2021 peak.
Weekly funding swings wildly. One recent week saw six startups raise $13.4 million. The week before hit $211 million.
The Sales Angle
Series A typically means adding 2-8 AEs and building out an SDR team. None of these four companies disclosed hiring plans, comp structures, or sales org buildouts. For sales professionals tracking ANZ tech hiring, that makes these raises less actionable than most.
If you are targeting aerospace or space tech, MAKO and Southern Launch are worth monitoring. Check their careers pages in 30-60 days. Series A hiring usually lags the announcement by 4-8 weeks.