This week’s funding round-up looks a little different. While it includes startups building AI, solar and medtech solutions, it also includes a bakery with a cult following and a rapidly growing retailer that caters to parents.
Keep reading to learn more about 19 Australian and Kiwi companies that have raised more than $59.6 million in funding this week.
Brooki Bakehouse: $25 million
Brooki founder Brooke Bellamy. Source: Instagram/Brooki Bakehouse
Australian bakery brand Brooki Bakehouse is gearing up for a period of rapid expansion, after securing a $25 million investment from UAE lifestyle developer Arada.
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As reported by SmartCompany, the new funding will allow Brooki Bakehouse to open flagship bakeries in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in December, ahead of additional global markets in 2026.
The company, which was founded by Brooke Bellamy in Brisbane in 2022, is opening its first Sydney store this week.
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As well as its flagship store in Fortitude Valley, Brooki Bakehouse also has permanent locations in Chermside, Mount Gravatt, Pacific Fair and Brisbane Airport.
The business has built a cult following for its oversized New York-style cookies and Bellamy’s social media videos showing a day in her life as a bakery owner.
The investment from Arada will take the “Australian story to a global stage”, said Bellamy.
“We built Brooki from scratch — no shortcuts, no compromises — and now, with Arada, we have the platform and resources to share our creativity, quality and community with the world,” she said in a statement.
Read more.
The Memo: $20 million
The Memo co-founders Phoebe Simmonds and Kate Casey. Source: The Memo
Parenting retailer The Memo also revealed details of a new investment this week, after securing $20 million to open more stores across the country.
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The investment was led by Pier 12 Capital, as first reported by The Australian Financial Review.
The Memo, which was founded in 2019 by Kate Casey and Phoebe Simmonds, brings a sophisticated and premium approach to the parenting sector, and offers a more personalised shopping experience compared to larger, established big-box rivals.
The Memo operates an online storefront, as well as four stores in Sydney and Melbourne. It plans to expand this network with another Sydney location and new stores in Perth and Brisbane.
In a statement introducing The Memo to Pier 12 Capital’s investment portfolio, Pier 12 Capital executive director Laz Siapantas said The Memo holds a unique position in the local retail landscape.
“We recognised The Memo’s ability to redefine parenting and baby retail in Australia through its unique combination of curated products and exceptional in-store experience,” he said.
Read more.
Medow Health: $3 million
L-R: Medow Health co-founders and siblings Josh and Joel Freiberg. Source: Supplied
Sydney startup Medow Health AI, which is using artificial intelligence to automate medical reports for specialist doctors, has raised $3 million in new funding from the clinicians who backed its first raise earlier this year.
Medow Health was co-founded by Joel Freiberg, who has Crohn’s disease, and his brother Josh Freiberg, inspired by the time their father, a respiratory physician, spent doing admin after work.
The medtech startup previously raised $2 million in January from the likes of Chris O’Brien Lifehouse CEO Dr Michael Boyer, orthopaedic surgeon Dr Michael Solomon, and eye surgeon Dr Johnny Wu.
Meanwhile, revenue has grown by 300% in 2025, and the platform’s AI is already processing more than 100,000 specialist consults a month, alongside a successful pilot at a leading Australian hospital.
Medow Health has also expanded to New Zealand and Southeast Asia, and Joel says the startup has had a strong pick-up in both regions.
“The capital raise will enable us to launch new AI products to specialist medical communities across the country, increase integrations into key healthcare systems, and see us through to profitability within 12 months,” he said.
HOPR: $3 million
HOPR founder Jose Ramirez. Source: Supplied
Sydney-based functional drinks brand HOPR has raised more than $3 million in fresh funding from individual international investors, professional athletes and finance professionals, after being knocked back by VC firms.
While consumer brands often turn to crowdfunding for capital, founder Jose Ramirez turned to boutique advisory firm TWIYO to build its cap table, which includes New Zealand exec John Bromley, former Matildas player Sue Read, and ex-Morgans broker and fintech commentator Chris Titley.
HOPR has developed a range of non-alcoholic sparkling waters that include hops, adaptogens and nootropics.
The business was founded in 2020 by Ramirez, who, according to a video on HOPR’s Instagram account, took out a personal loan to initially fund the business. He says he later received multiple rejections from VC firms when seeking investment.
“Every VC said no. Banks wouldn’t even lend. So I bet on myself and built HOPR from nothing,” he said in the video.
“The VC scene here is built for software, fintech, AI – not fizzy drinks. Investors want high margins, low ops. But building a beverage brand means logistics, manufacturing, distribution – real product stuff.”
HOPR plans to use the new funding to scale up its production and distribution and continue to grow the brand’s presence across Australia.
Teacher’s Buddy: $1.85 million
L-R: Ben Sze and Matt Abraham of Teacher’s Buddy. Source: Supplied
Melbourne AI-based education startup Teacher’s Buddy has raised $1.85 million in seed funding to tackle teacher burnout.
The round was led by Giant Leap, supported by Flying Fox Ventures, Co Ventures, Exhort Ventures, Saniel Ventures and Soul Capital.
Teacher’s Buddy was founded in 2024 by Matt Abraham and Ben Sze, co-founder of school content and resources edtech Edrolo, the potential unicorn that raised a $40 million Series B in 2022.
Sze’s new startup lightens the administrative load and supports ongoing professional development for teachers, as well as analysing data to improve student outcomes.
“Teachers are working more than 50 hours a week, with up to a third of that time lost to planning and admin,” he said.
“Teacher’s Buddy aims to reverse these trends by delivering an all-in-one, AI-enhanced workspace designed to lighten the load, foster growth, and unlock every student’s potential.”
Read more on Startup Daily.
MetroElectro: $1 million
L-R: Ecotone Partners’ Nicole Kleid Small with MetroElectro founder Lloyd Heinrich. Source: Supplied
Solar power startup MetroElectro has raised $1 million from its existing investor, Singapore climate tech VC Wavemaker Impact.
Alongside the equity raise, the Melbourne startup, founded in 2024 by Lloyd Heinrich, also secured a $4 million debt facility from Ecotone Partners.
Wavemaker previously backed MetroElectro’s $1.03 million pre-seed round in May 2024. Heinrich said the startup will raise an additional $3 million in early 2026.
MetroElectro designs, installs, and maintains solar rooftop systems – panels and batteries for industrial and commercial buildings without upfront costs for tenants or the landlords, generating revenue from the sale of the power.
Heinrich, who was Redbubble’s GM of strategy and growth when it listed on the ASX, had the revelation of the potential for deploying solar on commercial buildings while running The Wine Collective (previously The Wine Society).
“This round of funding is the result of a significant amount of hard work by the team in deploying early projects, building a strong pipeline and partnering with industry leaders in knitting together technology that is ready to scale right now,” Heinrich said.
Read more on Startup Daily.
Dispute Buddy: $765,000
Dispute Buddy founder Jenny Rudd. Source: Supplied.
New Zealand-based Dispute Buddy has raised $765,000 in an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round, which saw participation from Techstars, Epic Angels, and Dame Theresa Gattung.
Founded in 2022 by Jenny Rudd, the legal tech startup aims to help individuals involved in legal disputes extract relevant communications from text messages and emails into a PDF, so they can be used as documents fit to present in a court of law.
The idea for the startup came from Rudd’s own challenging experience of extracting messages for a legal proceeding.
“I remember what it was like to screenshot and email hundreds of messages and send them to my lawyer for an emergency application to Family Court. It was so stressful; I had no idea which messages were important for my case. And I needed to do a good job so that my kids were safe,” Rudd writes on the startup’s website.
“It was so scary and confusing.”
Dispute Buddy says its platform has been “designed to remove stress, and help you resolve your dispute successfully and quickly so you can move on with your life”.
12 medtech startup ideas: $5 million
Nearly $5 million in funding has been awarded to 12 Western Australian innovators and startups working on local health and medical innovation projects.
The ideas, many from academics and WA’s universities, span tests for liver cancer to heart monitoring, endometriosis diagnosis, asthma treatment and more, were funded from the Innovation Seed Fund 2024-25 Program.
The state government’s Future Health Research and Innovation Fund regularly awards grants to individual researchers and companies. Its Innovation Seed Fund backs WA innovators to develop and commercialise their innovations that could improve the health of West Australians, create high-level health sector jobs and enhance the production/manufacturing capacity of the state. Funding in the latest round ranged between $90,000 and $500,000.
The Innovation Seed Fund 2024-25 recipients are:
DermR Health Research WA
Curtin University
Respirion Pharmaceuticals
Murdoch University
ProGenis Pharmaceuticals
University of Western Australia
The Kids Research Institute Australia, on behalf of the Centre for Child Health Research, The University of Western Australia
ArthoLase
Proteomics International
Biotome
Pretect Devices
Materia Health.
Read more on Startup Daily.
