Three Australian businesses raised about $13 million between them in the first week of August 2026, led by medical device startup Vexev. Figures are as reported.
The rounds sit well below the nine figure deals that have dominated ANZ funding headlines this year. They are closer to what most early stage founders actually raise: single digit millions, often from existing backers or a small group of private investors, with each company using the money for one specific next step.
Vexev (Sydney)
Vexev raised $8.6 million (US$6 million) to push its autonomous vascular ultrasound platform, VxWave, towards US approval and commercialisation, Startup Daily reported. Existing investors Blackbird, Neotribe, Startmate and Horizon were joined by TreeArc Investment Group, TEN13, Bioshore and Alumni Ventures. The UNSW spinout, founded in Sydney in 2018 by John Carroll and Eamonn Colley, combines robotics, AI and ultrasound to automate scans, starting with dialysis patients. The company reports a 94% scanning success rate in a study with US Renal Care, with scans run by non-specialist clinical staff. VxWave remains an investigational device, and the company is working towards FDA 510(k) clearance. Vexev has now raised $27 million in total.
Rampart
Rampart, the business publication founded by former AFR Rear Window editor Joe Aston, completed a $2.3 million deal with five investors: Ashok Jacob, former Nine chief executive David Gyngell, Doug Tynan, Michael and Elizabeth Morgan, and Sam Brougham, Mediaweek reported. Aston’s stake fell to 92%. Aston said the business was profitable in financial 2025 and 2026, did not need outside money to keep growing, and that the investors came in a personal capacity.
Enrola
Enrola raised a $2.1 million seed round led by Purpose Ventures, with existing backers Antler, AfterWork Ventures and Skalata following on. The company began as an education comparison marketplace and raised an $800,000 pre-seed round in late 2024. While building an AI sales agent to convert its own leads, co-founders Jo Thomas and Yvette Quinby decided the agent was the bigger opportunity and parked the marketplace in September 2025. Startup Daily reported the company has 28 customers and has processed more than 250,000 leads since the pivot.
WA grants
Separately, on 11 August the WA Government announced it had awarded $1,274,686 across 26 startups through round eight of its Innovation Booster Grant, with each recipient eligible for up to $50,000. Recipients included artificial kidney developer OneKidney and orchard bird deterrence company Birdrone.
Jack’s take
The headline numbers in ANZ funding this year are enormous, and they hide what most founders are actually raising. The early stage still runs on $2 million cheques and small grants. Rampart is the one that interests me most: a founder who says he didn’t need the money still sold 8% to five well connected backers, and that says more about the business than the cheque size does.