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Active investors backing this sector, from the Cut Through Venture investor database.
This page lists investors from the Cut Through Venture investor database that back Australian space, aviation and defence companies, including specialist funds and generalist VCs with a sovereign capability thesis.
Space and defence writes some of the largest early rounds in the market. In Q2 2026 the sector raised $64M, with two $25M Series A rounds and the highest median deal size of any sector at $25M. Investors flagged strong interest in space, aviation and defence alongside cybersecurity and deep tech in the State of Australian Startup Funding 2024. Rounds are few, but cheque sizes reflect the capital intensity of the category.
Filter by stage, and read the latest quarterly report for the largest deals in the sector.
UNSW Founders is an accelerator based in Sydney, backing companies at the angel, pre-seed, seed and accelerator stages. Founded in 2018 and based at the Michael Crouch Innovation Centre, it has supported more than 140 companies across hardware and robotics, life sciences and biotech, climate and energy and AI infrastructure. Recent investments include VOQO AI and GonGlobal.
View profileUniversity of New South Wales is a university-linked investor based in Sydney, backing companies from seed through accelerator, Series A and Series B+ stages via its Barker Street Ventures platform. Over the past decade, UNSW-linked ventures have attracted a cumulative $5.6 billion in capital, with deals spanning marketplaces, vertical and horizontal business software and hardware and robotics. Recent investments include High Earth Orbit Robotics and JumpStart Fertility.
View profileTechstars is an accelerator based in Boulder, Colorado, running seed and pre-seed programs through to Series A across its global cohorts. Founded in 2006 by David Cohen, its portfolio spans AI infrastructure, hardware and robotics, horizontal business software and healthtech, and includes 29 unicorns such as Uber, Twilio and DigitalOcean. Recent investments include Manifest and VetNotes.
View profileSignificant Capital Ventures is a venture capital fund based in Canberra, investing since 2000 at seed through Series B+ stages. It focuses on critical and applied technologies spanning climate and energy, healthtech, space and defence and hardware, robotics and sensors, with 32 investments across 3 funds and 21 SPV syndicates. Recent investments include Liquid Instruments and Visionary Machines.
View profileMoonshot is an Adelaide-based accelerator backing companies at accelerator and seed stage. Its recent deals span space and defence and hardware and robotics, and it is led by founder Troy McCann as a global alliance of 40 space pioneers investing time, money and connections rather than a traditional fund. Recent investments include Arlula and Swoop Aero.
View profileGrok Ventures is the family office of Mike and Annie Cannon-Brookes, based in Sydney and investing from seed through to Series B and beyond. It focuses on fintech, climate and energy, consumer brands and life sciences, and pivoted to a climate technology investment mandate around 2021. Recent investments include Fleet and Spriggy.
View profileBlack Nova VC is a Sydney-based venture capital fund that invests from pre-seed through to Series A. It focuses on B2B SaaS with a minimum cheque size of $100,000, and its recent deals span cybersecurity, healthtech, vertical business software and marketplaces across a portfolio of more than 40 companies. Recent investments include Refresh and Zabidou.
View profileTEN13 is a venture syndicate based in Brisbane, investing from angel and pre-seed through seed, Series A and Series B+ rounds. Founded by Steve Baxter and Stew Glynn, it has deployed more than $125 million since 2019 across deals spanning vertical business software, education, marketplaces and consumer brands. Recent investments include Bower and AutoGrab.
View profileWunala Capital is a growth and private equity firm based in Sydney, providing late-stage capital at Series B and beyond. It manages the Wunala Capital Emerging Opportunities Fund, offering bridge and pre-IPO financing across horizontal business software, fintech, life sciences and biotech and space and defence. Recent investments include Send Payments and Marketplacer.
View profileStartmate is an accelerator based in Sydney, founded in 2010 by Niki Scevak, investing from pre-seed through Series B+. It runs cohort-based programs across marketplace, vertical business software, horizontal business software and climate and energy, with a portfolio of over 350 companies valued at a combined $4.5 billion. Recent investments include EstiMate AI and GlowBack.
View profileSalus Ventures is a venture capital fund based in Sydney, investing from pre-seed through Series B+. It runs a $40 million fund focused on sovereign and national-security capabilities, with deals spanning vertical business software, space and defence, hardware, robotics and sensors and healthtech. Recent investments include High Earth Orbit Robotics and Arkeus.
View profilePossible Ventures is a Sydney-based venture capital fund backing pre-seed, seed and Series A companies. Its recent deals span climate and energy, life sciences and biotech, space and defence and healthtech, and it rebranded from Inventures Collective around June 2024. Recent investments include Heidi Health and Arlula.
View profileOIF Ventures is a Sydney-based venture capital fund investing across the full range from pre-seed and seed through to growth stage. Its recent deals span marketplaces, vertical business software, education and fintech, and it manages over $500 million in assets through a network of 150 investors. Recent investments include Advanced Navigation and Mary Technology.
View profileMain Sequence is a Sydney-based venture capital fund, founded in 2017, investing from pre-seed and seed through to Series A and Series B and beyond. Its recent deals span climate and energy, hardware and robotics, space and defence and AI infrastructure, and it spun out of CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, raising a $450 million third fund in 2022. Recent investments include Kinoxis Therapeutics and Avarni.
View profileInvestible is a venture capital fund based in Sydney, founded in 2018 and investing from pre-seed through Series A with capacity to follow on. It backs marketplace, vertical and horizontal business software and fintech companies from offices in Sydney and Singapore, and runs Club Investible, a syndicate of more than 250 co-investors. Recent investments include Apate AI and PlasmaLeap Technologies.
View profileIAG Firemark Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of IAG, based in Sydney and backing seed through growth-stage strategic investments. It focuses on cybersecurity, space and defence, vertical business software and fintech, and launched a second $75 million fund as part of the Firemark Collective. Recent investments include Sonder and Myriota.
View profileFolklore is a venture capital fund based in Sydney, backing pre-seed through Series B companies. It invests across healthtech, vertical and horizontal business software and fintech, and follows a long-term partnership model supporting Australian and New Zealand founders from first cheque onward. Recent investments include Arkeus and Hullbot.
View profileFive V Capital is a growth and private equity investor based in Sydney, investing from seed through to growth rounds. It backs horizontal business software, fintech, cybersecurity and space and defence companies, with its venture arm writing $1 million to $10 million cheques into Series A and B software companies. Recent investments include Ordermentum and Lyrebird Health.
View profileAirTree Ventures is a Sydney-based venture capital fund that invests from pre-seed through to growth-stage rounds. Its recent deals span fintech, healthtech, education and vertical software, and it announced a $250 million seed fund alongside a $400 million growth fund in 2025. Recent investments include High Earth Orbit Robotics and Gridsight.
View profileArtesian is a Sydney-based venture capital fund, founded in 2004, that invests from pre-seed through to growth rounds. It manages roughly $1.5 billion across debt and venture platforms, with recent deals spanning life sciences and biotech, cybersecurity, space and defence, and healthtech, and has backed more than 600 ventures under founders Jeremy Colless and Matt Clunies-Ross. Recent investments include Elita and Strong Room AI.
View profileBlackbird is a Sydney-based venture capital fund that invests from pre-seed through to growth-stage rounds. It backs companies across Australia and New Zealand, with a portfolio valued at more than $10 billion across 100+ companies, and recent deals spanning hardware and robotics, consumer brands, healthtech and vertical software. Recent investments include OpenDebt and Heidi Health.
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