With 12 more sleeps to Christmas, Melbourne-born Airwallex wins the 2025 Australian capital raising stakes with a massive $498 million Series G that values the fintech at $12 billion.
Meanwhile, cybersecurity startup Kasada and sole trader accounting platform Hnry also booked $30 million and $26 million raises, respectively.
Keep reading to learn more about six Australian and New Zealand startups that collectively raised more than $568 million in new funding this week.
Airwallex: $498 million
Melbourne-born fintech Airwallex has seen its valuation increase by 30% in just six months following a $498 million (US$330 million) Series G raise — its second for 2025.
The round was led by a new US VC investor Addition, supported by T. Rowe Price, Activant, Lingotto, TIAA Ventures, and Robinhood Ventures. Local VCs Square Peg – its eighth investment – and Airtree also emptied their pockets, but not newcomer Blackbird, which tipped in $60 million as part of a $232 million Series F in May.
The new round sees Airwallex’s valuation leapfrog from $9.36 billion (US$6.2 billion) then, to $12 billion (US$8 billion) now.
After opening offices in Singapore in January 2022, then relocating its HQ there 12 months later, the global payments platform, which is officially domiciled in the tax haven of the Cayman Islands, says it will now make San Francisco its dual global headquarters for continued US expansion and AI development.
Airwallex also pledged to spend more than $1.5 billion over 2026-29 to scale its US operations, and increase its local headcount to more than 400 employees over the next 12 months.
The fintech currently has 2,000 staff and plans to add another 1,000 by the end of 2026.
Kasada: $30 million
Sydney-based cybersecurity startup Kasada has secured $30 million (US$20 million) in new funding, in a round led by Swedish private equity giant EQT.
As reported by Startup Daily, Kasada is now valued at more than $300 million.
A number of existing investors also participated in the round, including Ten Eleven Ventures, Main Sequence Ventures, Reinventure, OIF Ventures, the StepStone Group and Malcolm Turnbull’s investment vehicle Turnbull & Partners.
Kasada last raised in late 2021, when it booked $23 million in Series C funding. This followed a $14 million Series B raise in mid-2020 and $13.5 million in two separate investments in 2019.
Founded in 2015 by Sam Crowther, Kasada specialises in cybersecurity services, protecting websites from bots attempting user account takeovers, fraud, data scraping and other disruptive attacks.
While 10 years old, the startup is experiencing an uptick in demand for its technology due to the advent of artificial intelligence-powered bots that are increasingly scraping websites across all industries.
Hnry: $26.1 million
New Zealand-founded sole trader accounting platform Hnry has secured $26.1 million (NZ$30 million) in a Series C funding round to help it expand its pay-as-you-go platform across Australia and into the UK.
Movac’s Growth Fund led the funding round, which also included participation from existing investor Icehouse Ventures.
Founded in 2018 by husband-and-wife team James and Claire Fuller, Hnry offers a full-stack accounting solution that is designed specifically for sole traders.
Hnry handles income tax, GST and Medicare levies at the point of payment for sole traders, before transferring the remainder of the funds into the user’s personal bank account.
Business owners can also lodge tax returns using data collected through the Hnry platform, as well as issue invoices, allocate personal superannuation contributions, and track work travel through a standalone app.
CEO James Fuller told SmartCompany this week that the platform is designed to be accessible and simple to use for sole traders.
“People are tired of being marginalised, and they want a service that takes care of everything for them, that allows them to actually get on with doing the things that they really want to do, without having to worry about doing admin, interpreting accounting jargon,” he said.
All G: $10 million
A Sydney-based alternative proteins startup fermenting “cow-free dairy” alternatives has raised $10 million in a convertible note.
The round for All G was supported by LSE-listed clean food investor Agronomics, an existing investor, as well as the VC arm of German tech-driven ingredients manufacturer Doehler and Singapore’s ID Capital. The company is now pondering a Series B.
The cash for the five-year-old Sydney startup comes alongside a joint venture deal with French functional and nutritional dairy ingredients manufacturer Armor Protéines for its global ambitions.
All G was founded in 2020 by serial entrepreneur Jan Pacas, whose previous ventures include ASX-listed pet care marketplace Mad Paws and HR software venture Flare.
The startup first raised $16 million in a seed round in 2021 from the Clean Energy Innovation Fund, Ellerston Capital, and Andrews Meats CEO Peter Andrews. Then in early 2022, the Woolies VC fund, W23, tipped in “a further multi-million injection of capital” and six months later, Agronomics signed on with $25 million.
CommBank boss Matt Comyn and Virescent Ventures are also on the cap table. While the company flagged but didn’t disclose a Series A, it now says it raised $40 million.
In late 2023, All G Foods, as it was known then, spun out Love Buds, its plant-based mince, burgers, sausages and nuggets business, in a partnership with fellow traveller Fenn Foods.
Bless Payments: $3.75 million
Perth fintech Bless Payments raised $3.75 million in seed funding in mid-2025.
The round, completed in July, was backed by billionaire Khalil (Charlie) Shahin and London’s Forte Securities, and was finally revealed as the global payments platform, which is hoping to take on incumbents such as Airwallex, Wise, Revolut and Monzo, looks to raise a Series A for its global ambitions.
Founded in 2022 by Affy Bhatti, technologist Mo Zaatar and Omair Chodhry, Bless is chaired by Peter Khoury, the former BDO South Australia managing partner, and a three-decade veteran in financial services, governance, and scaling businesses.
“My focus is ensuring we have the right capital, compliance, and partnerships to scale across Canada, the UK, and the US while maintaining our low-cost model,” Khoury said.
The payments app now has more than 1,500 active users, and hopes to hit 8,000 by the end of 2026. Its remittance product now reaches 60 countries, and the fintech obtained regulatory licenses to open in Canada next month. The upcoming Series A will underpin plans for licences and launches in the UK in 2027 and the US in 2028.
This month, Bless launched a travel card with no transaction fees for overseas or online spending, promising better exchange rates than traditional banks.
Emanda: $300,000
Melbourne-based valuation startup Emanda has raised $300,000 in pre-seed funding. The round was backed by M8 Ventures, Torus Ventures, Melbourne Angels and angel investors.
Founded by former M&A advisors Peter Gatt and Emily Grinton, alongside technical co-founder Ben Ashby, Emanda says it is building a platform that gives business owners a faster way to understand what their company is worth.
Instead of relying on static reports or lengthy advisory processes, the tool generates valuations using financial data and industry benchmarks, and maintains an AI-powered data room that automatically sorts, labels and interprets key documents. The platform also includes guided assessments to help founders identify risks and opportunities during due diligence.
The startup has already moved from prototype to public launch, with almost 180 customers and more than 50 referral partners.
Emanda is also rolling out a reseller program targeting more than 50 partners in 2026.
- Editor’s note: Digital food safety app Squizify also announced a $10m Series A this week, but given the raise happened some months ago, with the startup declining to say when, we decided to leave it off this week’s list.
