From tropical beaches to aboriginals, cute koalas, rolling wines, and lush rainforests, there’s nowhere like Australia.
Besides, being a tourist hub, Australia is also where businesses thrive, especially startups.
Brands like Gleam and Canva are first-hand examples. Currently, the numbers look pretty impressive, with more than 1800 neo-age brands making an impact.
The reasons aren’t obscure enough to scan.
A. A rock-solid economy: Australia is the 13th among large economies that haven’t witnessed recession for over a couple of decades. Also, this nation has a pretty low unemployment rate and shows stable growth.
B. Strong and uncompromised VC funding: With more than 100 VC firms investing in Australia, coupled with incubators and accelerators, startups are blessed with early-stage boost-ups. Take 2022, for instance, when Australian startups raised no less than $5.1 Billion. Surprisingly, it’s a drop from 2021. Now, that’s growth right there.
C. Proactive support from the government: Perhaps one of the most compelling reasons why Australian startups stay profitable is the push from the government. Whether it’s small grants or the ambitious Startup Year Program launched in 2022 aimed at bringing more entrepreneurs to the mainstream market, there’s no dearth of motivation.
Here’s a look at 10 promising Australian startups in 2023 that can impact the Aussie lifestyle.
Dovetail
Dovetail is 2017 Australian marketing startup operating out of Sydney. It is a SaaS solution platform that works towards aggregating customer feedback and research under one roof.
In short, Dovetail makes it easy to monitor customer satisfaction and incorporate necessary changes every now and then.
Since they began, Dovetail has been through some high-profile funding, including a $63 Million Series A round led by Accel in 2022. No wonder, Dovetail’s business model has become popular in no time.
The company at a glance
Key People: Benjamin Humphrey, Bradley Ayers
Location: Sydney
Number of employees: 51-100
Area of focus: Customer Research
Similar organizations: POTLOC, Crowd Analyzer, and Tetra Insights
Athena
Another 2017-born Aussie startup, Athena, is headquartered in Sydney and is a rising star in the fintech space.
As a solution provider organization, they help individuals accelerate their home loan repayment and simplify the process of purchasing a home.
By connecting homeowners and prospective homeowners with ethical investors, Athena has been able to successfully address the most pressing demands. The company set a new record for the largest fundraising ever achieved by an Australian company in May 2021 (a whopping $90 million).
The company at a glance
Key People: Michael Starkey, Nathan Walsh, Rex V. Job
Location: Sydney
Number of employees: 101-250
Similar organizations: Lendi, Grapple, Shift
Eucalyptus
Eucalyptus came into existence in 2019.
Headquartered in Haymarket, they operate within the healthcare sector, offering brands a chance to widen their scope of aid to individuals for healthcare services across the country.
Over the years, the company has helped at least 250,000 patients receive improved healthcare support. Eucalyptus has also successfully secured funding through multiple rounds, including a notable $42 Million Series C round in January 2022.
The company at a glance
Key People: Alexey Mitko, Benny Kleist, Charlie Gearside, Tim Doyle
Location: Haymarket
Number of employees: 51-100
Area of focus: Healthcare
Similar organisations: Tendo, Syllable, Pera Labs
OCR Labs
OCR Labs had a humble beginning in 2014. Currently, its headquarters are in Sydney, where the company is emerging in the world of fully automated identity verification.
As a tech-driven company, OCR Labs has made it possible for individuals to access identity verification needs remotely no matter the geographical position. This, in turn, has dramatically reduced the vulnerability to fraudulent activities utilizing biometric data.
OCR Labs has also secured multiple rounds of funding, including a Series B in February 2022 ($30 Million raised).
The company at a glance:
Year Founded: 2014
HQ: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Size: 11-50
Key People: Daniel Aiello, Matthew Adams
Similar companies: Onfido, Jumio
Judo Bank
As a technology-driven lender, Judo is essentially a neobank specializing in financing solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises. Furthermore, it also offers a variety of personal term deposit products to individuals.
As of January 2020, Judo Bank has successfully extended loans worth $1B to Australian small businesses, while also accumulating $1B in digital retail term deposits.
The company at a glance
Year Founded: 2016
HQ: Melbourne
No. of employees: 101-250
Key People: Alex Twigg, Chris Bayliss, David Hornery, Joseph Healy, Kate Keenan, Tim Alexander
Similar companies: Onfido, Jumio
Marketplacer
As a come-of-age SaaS platform, Marketplacer offers a range of tools and functionalities to help create expandable online marketplaces.
Marketplacer has an impressive track record, having played a crucial role in the development and implementation of more than 100 Marketplaces, and successfully connecting over 16,000 businesses globally.
The company at a glance
HQ: Melbourne
Year founded: 2007
Key people: Jason Wyatt, Sam Salter
Number of employees: 101-250
Similar companies: Yo! Kart, Yelo, Logicbroker
Mr Yum
With an innovative menu ordering system, Mr Yum offers versatile options for ordering to meet the preferences of customers. Whether dining at the table, relaxing on the couch or planning a takeaway, food ordering has never looked so innovative.
Mr. Yum’s platform is totally web-based which means you will never have to download an app. Simply scan a QR code, and voila! You have the Mr Yum menu right on your screen.
Further, the menu has filters like vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options. It also offers translation into five different languages, detailed ingredient definitions, and eye-catching photos of each dish.
The company at a glance:
HQ: Collingwood
Year founded: 2018
Key People: Adrian Osman, Andrei Miulescu, Kimberly Teo
Number of employees: 11-50
Similar companies: Onfleet, Open Tables
Relectrify
As a 2015 startup, Relectrify is headquartered in Melbourne and specializes in enhancing batteries and optimizing their performance. Their innovative technology allows for the complete utilization of each cell’s capabilities, resulting in improved efficiency.
Additionally, it also reduces costs by generating AC output without the need for an external reverter.
Relectrify has successfully secured multiple funding rounds, including a significant investment from Energy Innovation Capital, although specific financial details of this latest round remain undisclosed.
The company at a glance:
Year Founded: 2015
HQ: Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
No. of employees: 11-50
Key people: Daniel Crowley, Valentin Muenzel
Similar companies: Octave, Cling Systems
Sendle
As a pioneer in carbon-neutral services in the Australian courier industry, Sendle certainly is a one-of-a-kind startup helping small to medium-sized Australian businesses as well as online retailers.
COVID-19 was certainly a boost for Sendle with their business expanding further across the US.
Sendle also successfully secured financing of $35 million in a 2021 Series C funding led by AP Ventures, backed by Afterpay, along with returning investors like Federation, Full Circle, and NRMA.
The company at a glance:
Year founded: 2014
HQ: Sydney
KeyPeople: Craig Davis, James Moody, Kohei NISHIYAMA, Sean Geoghegan
Number of employees: 1-10
Similar companies: Eddress, Xcelerator.
HealthMatch
As a digital healthcare company, HealthMatch aims to revolutionize the process of connecting patients with clinical trials.
The Aussie startup uses advanced machine learning technology to match patients in real time with trials aligned to specific medical profiles. Alongside, the extensive use of artificial intelligence, it helps analyze clinical data and significantly expedite patient recruitment and recovery.
The company at a glance:
Year founded: 2017
HQ: Sydney
Key people: Manuri Gunawardena
Number of employees: 1-10
Similar companies: Six Physio, RichFeel, Cortica