Three startups from Australia and New Zealand added close to $40 million in new capital in the week to 21 August 2026, led by an A$27 million Series A for Auckland electric ferry builder Vessev. Figures are as reported.
The three have little in common beyond timing. One builds boats, one breeds cattle and one makes wearables for laboratories, and they span every stage from pre-seed to Series A. What links them is hardware and biology: all three are building physical products in categories where software alone does not solve the problem.
Vessev (Auckland)
Vessev raised A$27 million in a Series A led by Blackbird, with new investors GD1 and Rypples and existing backers K1W1, Icehouse Ventures, Shasta Ventures and NZVC, Startup Daily reported. The company builds fully electric passenger ferries that ride on carbon fibre hydrofoils, lifting the hull out of the water to cut drag. Its VS-9 carries 10 passengers and the VS-12, still in development, will carry up to 30. Australian demand is building: Vessev has a deal to supply VS-12 vessels for a future Sydney Harbour water transport network, VS-9 vessels are expected on Perth’s Swan River in 2027, and Hobart customer Fly Derwent has doubled its order to 10 vessels. Vessev employs 58 people in Auckland.
Nbryo (Queensland)
Queensland livestock reproduction biotech Nbryo has doubled its seed round from $10 million to $20 million, Startup Daily reported. The top-up includes $2 million from the Queensland government’s Sowing the Seeds of Farming Innovation Fund, managed by QIC Ventures, the fund’s first investment. Existing backers include the Gates Foundation, AgriZero and Tenacious Ventures. Nbryo has commercialised its embryo multiplication technology, which aims to spread the genetics of elite animals across more of a herd, and has paying customers among Australian beef producers, according to QIC.
Bower (Gold Coast)
Gold Coast startup Bower raised a $2 million pre-seed round led by TEN13, with Admiralty Capital Group, Edale Capital and a group of angel investors, as first reported by Startup Daily. Founded by chief executive Michelle MacRae and chief science officer Renaud Joannes-Boyau, Bower is building a wearable AI system for scientific research: smart glasses that capture observations and experimental data at the lab bench so the knowledge is not lost.
Jack’s take
Not a bad week. Three very different businesses, two countries and three funding stages, and none of them is chasing the same customer. Vessev is the one I’ll be watching most closely, because a ferry startup with orders lined up in Sydney, Perth and Hobart is selling into Australian cities, not just raising on a prototype.