Mega round boosts quarterly venture capital investment
15 Oct 2025 - News
The third quarter of 2025 saw just over $1 billion of announced venture capital investment in Australias. The capital was raised across 116 rounds, making the quarter the busiest of the year so far by deal count, according to Cut Through Venture.
The increase in the number of capital raising rounds was primarily driven by a rise in accelerator activity. There were few large investment rounds with the higher volume largely accounted for one mega round, Firmus Technologies raising $300 million d(APE&VCJ, Oct 2025). Other large rounds were Morse Micro, $88 million; Lorikeet $54 million; Vaxxas $49 million and Skutopia $38 million. Excluding the Firmus raising, fundraising was broadly in line with recent quarters.
Valuations continued to rise across all stages but particularly at earlier stages. Early-stage tech businesses with clear artificial intelligence (AI) applications attracted most of the larger rounds, brought in investment most quickly, and were primarily responsible for increasing valuations.
Hardware and biotech start-ups were the leading sectors for the first time, supported by sustained interest in climate tech. Deal activity was otherwise widely spread across sectors.
Women-led start-ups recorded their strongest quarter since early 2023 but total capital raised by all female and mixed gender teams fell to 11% of overall funding. Accelerator programs again played a major role in maintaining female representation. In total, just 16 start-ups led by women announced venture capital raises across the quarter.
Analysis of companies progressing from Series A to Series B capital raising rounds highlighted how the 2021-2022 venture investment boom is continuing to affect the market. Many start-ups that raised during that period remain constrained by the high valuations on which they raised then. Businesses that raised in 2024 are typically showing stronger fundamentals but early signs of renewed pricing pressure are emerging.
The survey data was collected from 112 participants across venture capital firms, angel syndicate leads and family offices.
Image: The “AI factory” data centre Firmus is developing in Launceston, Tasmania.