Latest updates for ANZ sales professionals
Canva's internal valuation fell 20% to US$31B ($43.5B AUD) in its latest employee share grant, down from $38.9B a year ago. That is $11B wiped off the books. The drop comes as the company navigates AI cost pressures and volatile late-stage private markets, with IPO plans now looking less certain than they did 12 months ago.
Gold Coast AI receptionist startup Sophiie AI closed $5 million seed at $30 million valuation. Archangel Ventures, Admiralty Capital Group, Antler, Gandel Invest and Aussie Angels backed the round. Company is hiring for US market entry and product expansion.
Sydney travel-tech startup Visaible.ai closed $1 million seed (Blacksheep Capital) to help hotels track and fix how they appear in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI search tools. Founder Sam Rich is running sales solo with a team under 10 people. The play: protect hotel direct bookings as travelers shift from Google to AI assistants.
The Sydney-founded design platform slashed its revenue growth target by a third as AI feature costs blew out. The company pulled back on some AI launches when unit economics did not work at scale. Worth noting: Canva has since cut those costs by 90%, but the growth hit matters more than the margin fix.
Databricks crossed $7 billion run-rate in Q2, growing 80% year-over-year. That is a 30-point acceleration from 50% growth four quarters ago. Companies at this scale are supposed to slow down. Databricks went the other way.
ASX-listed VC Bailador Technology Investments delivered 2.8% post-tax portfolio return for FY26, down from 7.8% prior year. Portfolio revenue grew 32% to $735m across expansion-stage SaaS and tech companies. Property investment platform PropHero led portfolio gains with 69% uplift.
Farmbot closed a $22M Series B led by Lewis & Clark Partners. Seven other ANZ startups raised capital this week, spanning agtech, medtech, and robotics. The full cohort: Farmbot, Atmo Biosciences, Alloy Robotics, Vexev, Fabulate, Kantoko, Sterling, and Enrola.
Auckland-based Sterling closed an oversubscribed seed round led by Blackbird to build AI workflow automation for finance teams. Founded in 2025 by ex-Deliveroo and Vend engineers Nik Wakelin and Ludwig Wendzich, the startup has early customers but no public headcount or sales org details yet.
The Australian Business Growth Fund lifted its initial investment cap from $15M to $30M and total investment ceiling to $50M. The government-backed fund can now take majority stakes, marking a shift upmarket from its original $5M-$15M sweet spot.
Sydney creator marketing platform Fabulate closed an oversubscribed $4.5 million round at $84.5 million post-money valuation, 90% from existing backers including Centerstone Capital and Nightingale Partners. The company is profitable and operates across 10 APAC markets with more than 100 employees.
Independent MP Allegra Spender says Labor's proposed $10 million lifetime cap on startup CGT concessions could discourage successful founders and investors from backing new ventures. The cap applies to gains under the existing 50% discount, potentially hitting serial investors and exited founders who reinvest.
Sydney semiconductor startup Millibeam shipped Rakurai, a portable drone jammer built on proprietary mmWave chips. The company pulled $4.6 million in federal grants: $2.6m from Industry Growth Program, $2m from Supply Chain Resilience Initiative. Worth noting: this is prototype stage (TRL5), not field-ready product.