Synthetic intelligence and automation had been the secret when it got here to startup funding offers this week, with 4 out of the 5 startups with new funding embracing AI in some kind.
Hold studying to search out out extra concerning the 5 native startups that collectively raised greater than $340 million, together with Firmus, which scored one of many largest raises of 2025.
Firmus Applied sciences: $330 million
L-R: Firmus co-founder Tim Rosenfield, Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockcliff and Firmus co-founder Oliver Curtis. Supply: Firmus
Main this week’s funding round-up is synthetic intelligence infrastructure firm Firmus Applied sciences, thanks to an enormous $330 million funding spherical backed by US chip big Nvidia.
As reported by SmartCompany, native investor Ellerston Capital additionally invested within the Singapore-based firm, which was based in 2019 by Australian entrepreneurs Oliver Curtis, Tim Rosenfield and Jonathan Levee and beforehand headquartered in Tasmania.
The funding provides Firmus a valuation of $1.9 billion, and sees it be part of the choose group of personal Australian corporations which might be valued above $1 billion.
Firmus plans to make use of the funding to construct one among its self-described ‘AI factories’ in Launceston, Tasmania. The big-scale information centre campus will home the corporate’s software program and cooling expertise, which is used to coach and function AI techniques.
The involvement of Nvidia, which has a market valuation of US$4.3 trillion and is essentially the most precious firm on the planet, is being seen as a coup for Firmus, which is planning to listing publicly in 2026.
Firmus was additionally backed on this spherical by current traders Phil King’s Regal Funds Administration, Archibald Capital and Tectonic Funding Administration, whereas Alex Waislitz and the Pratt household are additionally shareholders.
Firmus’ Tasmanian facility, named Undertaking Southgate, will kind a part of the state’s AI Manufacturing unit Zone, which was unveiled by the state authorities in June.
“AI Factories are purpose-built to power, train and inference artificial intelligences,” stated co-founder Curtis in June.
“With Tasmania’s clean energy and our AI Factory platform, we believe this will be the most cost-effective, sustainable AI facility in the world.”
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H3D: $5.8 million
H3D cofounder and CTO Dr Philip Kinsella. Supply: Equipped
H3D, an AI-powered 3D printing startup creating {custom} healthcare merchandise, has raised $5.8 million in a Collection A.
H3D emerged from Swinburne College in 2018, its preliminary investor alongside Starfish Ventures.
Co-founder and CTO Dr Philip Kinsella developed the absolutely automated design expertise at Swinburne. It’s made the startup a world chief within the listening to sector, producing listening to aids, noise safety, and custom-fit earphones.
The Collection A was led by Important Ventures, the VC arm of Canberra’s Hindmarsh household, with assist from Swinburne and new investor Co:Act Capital.
H3D now has workplaces in Australia, Denmark and Eire, and pioneered automated CAD (computer-aided design) expertise that permits listening to labs to course of lots of of advanced, custom-fit jobs in minutes.
The brand new funding will speed up the introduction of the tech into dental labs globally and construct on the startup’s business traction in listening to. A brand new, smartphone-based 3D scanning answer for custom-fit ear merchandise has additionally been developed for roll-out.
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Puralink: $2.3 million
L-R: Puralink co-founders CEO Harrison Crowe-Maxwell, CTO Lengthy Tran, and Shyeon Delnawaz. Supply: LinkedIn/ Startmate
Sydney-based startup Puralink has secured $2.3 million in pre-seed funding for its robotic ‘ferrets’ that may journey by means of pipes and detect leaks on their very own.
Based by Harrison Crowe-Maxwell, Shyeon Delnawaz and Lengthy Tran, Puralink is on a mission to rework the way in which companies and different operators conduct pipe inspections.
The pre-seed spherical was led by Peak XV Companions, with participation from Aspect Stage Ventures, Startmate, NZVC and Robyn and Victoria Denholm’s Wollemi Capital Group.
Excessive-profile angel traders have additionally backed the startup, together with Deputy co-founder Ashik Ahmed, 4 Pillars Gin co-founder Matt Jones, and former NBA participant Matthew Dellavedova.
Puralink beforehand raised $150,000 from two angel traders in 2025 and took part in each Cicada’s Quick Begin program and the Startmate Accelerator.
The startup is at the moment taking pre-orders for its robotic ‘ferrets’, which have been designed to journey by means of, and examine, advanced pipe networks utilized in industries equivalent to wastewater, storm water, vitality and mining.
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Escape This: $1.4 million
Escape This. Supply: Equipped.
Escape room operator Escape This has secured $1.4 million from 357 traders by way of an fairness crowdfunding marketing campaign.
The Perth-based enterprise used OnMarket for the marketing campaign, which attracted a mean dedication of greater than $4,000 per investor. This compares to the standard OnMarket common of $1,800.
Escape This operates 4 venues in Perth and Sydney, which have been visited by greater than 370,000 company up to now.
The five-year-old enterprise recorded $6 million in income within the 2025 monetary yr, and round $1 million in web revenue.
In an announcement Escape This stated it plans to make use of its new funding to develop into Melbourne and Brisbane.
Co-founder Bernie Janes stated the extent of curiosity from traders exceeded the group’s expectations.
“It is undoubtedly a tough crowdfunding market right now, but investors have recognised our strong business model and the healthy returns we are achieving, and they have voted with their wallets,” he stated.
Isaacus: $700,000
Isaacus co-founders Umar Butler and Abdur-Rahman Butler. Supply: Isaacus
Australia’s first foundational authorized AI startup Isaacus, which is constructing sovereign authorized AI fashions and instruments for authorized tech corporations, has raised $700,000 in pre-seed funding.
The spherical was co-led by Aura Ventures and Galileo Ventures, and the funding shall be used to convey Isaacus to market with vital buyer traction already underway.
Isaacus has developed an enormous, proprietary Blackstone Corpus (named after 18th-century English jurist), which covers legal guidelines, rules, instances, and different authorized information from the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Eire, the EU, and the United Nations.
Founder Umar Butler is an information scientist and authorized technologist who was beforehand the assistant director of knowledge science on the federal Lawyer-Normal’s Division. He arrange the division’s information science operate and oversaw all national-level AI tasks.
The founding group additionally contains advisor Anthony Butler and engineer Abdur-Rahman Butler.
Butler stated Isaacus is working to resolve each AI and information ache level of the authorized tech trade, from retrieval capabilities past these of general-purpose fashions to offering entry to monumental untapped, extremely proprietary authorized information.
“Our mission is to support the next generation of legal service providers in democratising access to legal services through the delivery of best-in-class, sovereign, affordable foundational legal AI models,” he stated.
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