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Draw Inspiration From These Successful Australian Startups

Updated on September 24, 2021

12 Min Read
Successful Australian Startups

The Australian tech startup sector has the potential to contribute $109 billion or four percent of the country’s GDP to the economy. Considering this statistic, it is safe to say that the country is on track to becoming a new land of opportunities as more and more successful Australian startups contribute to global economic well being.

Many successful Australian startups have received international acclamation owing to their unique value. This gives us a small window into the limitless potential of the future of the Australian startup sector.

For example, a survey puts Sydney on the spotlight for ranking 12th out of 20 cities in the Startup Genome Ecosystem Index. In fact, cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth are quickly emerging as preferred Australian startup hubs.

The top startups in Australia have set the bar high when it comes to innovation and entrepreneurship. Some are pacing up for competition whereas others are on the verge of becoming the next market leaders.

But all these successful startups have two things in common – detailed planning and timely execution. Before we check out the best startups of Australia with respect to their cities, let’s check out the top Australian startups in terms of funding.

Top Australian Startups (funded)

  1. Canva – Total funding: $301.6M Million
  2. Prospa – Total funding: $96.7 Million
  3. Spaceship – Total funding: $41.1M Million
  4. Uno – Total funding: $46.1 Million
  5. 99Designs – Total funding: $45 Million
  6. The Iconic – Total funding: $44 Million
  7. Go1 – Total funding: $83.7 Million
  8. Lendi – Total funding: $40 Million
  9. Power Ledger – Total funding: $35 Million
  10. Assembly – Total funding: $32.3 Million

Best Startups in Sydney

There are only a handful of startups that can grow their sales and customers in thousands within a matter of months. They are on the front pages of popular news websites where they glimmer with an anticipated multimillion-dollar market valuation. Some amongst them include:

1. Canva

Canva needs no introduction. It is one of the leading graphic design platforms designers around the globe love to use. So far, this successful Australian businesses has raised over $40 million (AUD$57.18 million) to earn a business value of USD $345 million. Today, as of January this year, it has grown to USD $1bn market valuation.

“Canva makes great designs more accessible” ~ Forbes

The Co-founder and CEO of Canva, Melanie Perkins, hails from Australia and stands tall as one of the most successful young CEOs in the world. She believes in empowering the modern workforce. This is the reason why Canva currently has over 10 million users. This startup is a popular name in the Silicon Valley and is expected to grow further.

2. Campaign Monitor

A Sydney-based startup, Campaign Monitor made headlines with a seed funding of over $250 million in 2014. It took a decade of persistent effort and hard work to make this email marketing company a massive success. Founded by Ben Richardson and Dave Greiner, the startup now has over 250 employees with offices in Sydney, London and San Francisco.

“Campaign Monitor achieves 98% customer satisfaction with 2 million customers” ~Forbes

The company focuses on small-to-medium sized businesses. This is despite being the priority of web giants such as Buzzfeed and Rolling Stones.

3. ShippIt

Founded in Sydney by William On and Rob Hango-Zada in 2014, Shippit is a cloud-based startup. It powers delivery services for up to 300 merchants and businesses. With a total equity funding of $1.63 million, the startup offers modern-day shipping solutions for carriers and consumers.

“The innovative new shipping service with ideas”~ Shortpress

The startup’s business is continuously on the rise. ShippIt has now partnered with bigwigs of the shipping industry, such as Australia Post, TNT, Mail Call Courier, etc.

4. Afterpay

Launched in 2014, Afterpay is one of the famous Australian startups that has revolutionized the local way of making payments. Founded by Nick Molnar, Afterpay is an easy-to-use payment method that enables anyone to pay in four equal fortnightly installments.

“FineTech Organisation of the year award”~ The Finnies

Promoting a better and convenient way of making payments, this startup has partnered with Australia’s leading stores, including, Marcs, TopShop, Glue, Hype DC, etc.

5. TheIconic

Talking about the fashion industry, TheIconic is one of Australia’s most popular fashion retailer. Founded by Adam Jacobs and Cameron Votan, the startup gathered a seed funding of $26 million backed up by the tech giant, Rocket Internet.

“The Iconic named Australia’s ‘best mobile retailer’”~ Internetretailing

The startup is popular due to a 3-hour delivery policy in Sydney and Melbourne. Another big plus is its 100-day return policy. It also offers free shipping on orders that are up to $47.

6. Classbento

It is a startup that helps you bring out your creative side. Classbento empowers local artists from Australia and makes art and creativity accessible, affordable, and appealing for everyone. John and Iain while working together at The Iconic decided to collaborate and create an effective way for Australians to gain access to ART. With more than 500 decent public reviews, Classbento’s average rating is 4.9 out of 5.

All those who are passionate about becoming an entrepreneur can learn from the best in the business. The founders say that you have to be passionate about anything you want to build and it will earn you what others will miss.

7. Sprout Stack

Based in Sydney,  Sprout Stack is an eco-friendly agritech startup that provides communities with fresh produce to help them live healthy lives. Established in 2016, by  Francisco Caffarena, Sprout Stack relies heavily on revolutionary practices of growing fresh produce through cutting-edge urban farming and indoor agriculture methods.

His decades worth of experience in business management gave him the wealth of knowledge required to sow the seeds of his extraordinary startup Sprout Stack. Since its inception in 2016, Sprout Stack has drastically carved out its reputation as a revolutionary agritech food startup company.

By keeping its technology in-house, it’s been able to launch and present more than eight different products through an intelligent, yet cost-effective supply chain. As long as entrepreneurs take the time to validate each stage of their business, the better chance their startups have of sustaining growth and profits in the long run.

8. Inamo

Founded by Peter Colbert, Inamo allows users to easily make payments with its range of wearable payment tech products without having to carry wallets. Embedded with an NFC payment chip, its products can be conveniently attached to your watch, wrist band, or fitness tracker for added ease and flexibility.

Most startups are a result of exhaustive brainstorming sessions. But, in Inamo’s case, its concept and execution was on-spot, owing to the skills and expertise acquired from multiple industries.

In the previous years, Inamo achieved great milestones including raising a whopping $1.5m of seed funding; launched three wearable products: The Classics, The Curl, The Wave; penetrated a profitable niche market; became the first of it’s kind to sell prepaid wearable devices and more.

Inamo has also received wide acclamation from the press. It has been featured in several significant publications including Business Insider, Financial Review, and The Australian.

9. Checkbox

Fintech aims to apply digital innovations to existing financial modes of operations in order to improve the quality of financial development services. It is growing magnificently in popularity, thanks to the efforts of several startup incubators down under.

Checkbox, the brainchild of CEO Evan Wong, is a venture that digitizes complex regulations into automated cloud software without requiring any developer coding. It brings a radically novel concept of digitally transforming long and complex regulations (such as audit, tax, legal documents and government regulations) into a digestible software.

This conversion provides the user several cost-savings for businesses, in addition to bringing up new revenue streams through monetization opportunities.

10. Scouta

Scouta is a collaborative tech recruiting company founded by Stuart Hunter and David Smyth. The Sydney tech startup company began its operations in 2019, and its total funding of $1.2 million comes from seed funding.

The core idea behind this startup is a simple but savvy one – to help fast-growing technology companies find the right candidate for the job. Not only does this help companies pick the right candidate for the job, but it also lets candidates provide more relevant information about themselves than they can fit on their CVs.

Thus, this clever online solution helps companies quickly connect to the right resources in a short time.

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Successful Melbourne Startups

Chiefly known for its events (it is scheduled to host 15 events this year!), Melbourne also has more than 250 startups. In recent news, the startups in this city have had about $2 billion worth of total capital funding so far this year.

11. 99Designs

Founded in 2008 by Matt Mickiewicz, 99designs is the world’s largest marketplace for graphic designers. He is best known for being the co-founder of SitePoint and Flippa. His startup, 99designs connects over 22,000 graphic designers with businesses from more than 190 countries.

“99Designs is American Idol for your creative needs”~ Forbes

The startup originated in Melbourne and its website worth is estimated at USD $58 million. It plays a vital role in helping Australia become the new Silicon Valley for startups.

12. Tribe

Founded by a popular radio and TV host, Jules Lund in 2015, Tribe is a marketplace for content creators that connects them with brands around the globe. It brought commendable waves in the industry with 2,600+ brand campaigns.

“A focus on tech has Aussie social media marketing platform Tribe primed for a global takeover.”~ News.com.au

With a seed funding of $5.35 million and over 13,000 influencers on board, Tribe is climbing up the ladder of success with each passing day.

13. Tablo

Tablo is an online book publishing platform that is set to take the ebook market to the next level. Founded in 2013 and developed by Ash Davies, a 21-year old millennial, the startup has managed to rake in funds of $400,000 to make a name for itself and become a successful startup. Because of its revolutionizing idea, the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper also featured them.

“Founder of publishing start-up Tablo wants to change the way books are created”~ The Sydney Morning Herald

The aim is to make it as big as Amazon Books. Tablo’s cloud-based platform already has over 10,000 authors on board from over 100 countries. The platform’s user-friendly interface is what sets it apart from its competitors.

14. Speedlancer

Online freelancing business is not a new field. But the startup, Speedlancer offers unique value to this industry. Founded by Adam Stone, Speedlancer is one of the few successful startups based in Sydney that is making quite a name for itself. It provides a marketplace of over 450 freelancers with a unique value: Delivery of all tasks within four hours.

With a total equity funding of AUD 75,000, the startup’s team is spread across US, Australia, and Brazil. It hopes to turn its local venture into a global freelancing powerhouse.

15. CliniCloud

CliniCloud is an Australian startup founded by Dr. Andrew Lin and Dr. Hon Weng Chong. It is a revolutionary startup that offers cloud-based medical products. Its founders aim to fuse healthcare with technology.

The startup’s product StethoCloud has received coverage from famous publications including, Techcrunch, Bloomberg, and Wired. With a seed funding of over $5million, this startup is on its way to disrupt Australia’s healthcare sector.

16. EatClub

EatClub is an app that was founded by Chef Marco Pierre White in 2017 to show restaurants with vacant tables near the user. Additionally, it also shows deals and discounts for users to avail.

The Australian startup is in its early-stage with a total funding of $4.2million. EatClub is currently located in Melbourne and Sydney, with goals of expansion all over Australia.

17. ShareRing

Created by Nevile Christie and Tim Bos – ShareRing is a decentralized marketplace where users can access, connect, and pay for a variety of services globally. 

This exciting early-stage venture has a total funding amount of $3.8million so far. The app currently has more than 2.6 million accommodation options, with over 250K cars and activities to book.

Successful Perth Startups

Despite Perth’s reputation for being relatively remote, there’s a growing demand for creative and technical aptitude here. Small wonder that the city provides great prospects for investors and startup ventures.

18. Appbot  

A Perth based startup, Appbot established in 2013, is a software startup, which helps in managing app reviews. This startup became a sensation for the world’s best app developers to understand the needs of their customers from the analysis of app reviews.

The product managers, developers, and customer support teams benefit largely from this startup. The reviews in Appbot are classified by emotions, topic, sentiments, depending upon the words used in reviews, which help the teams to surface bugs and understand the feedback of customers to the new updates. Appbot is user-friendly and makes it easier to reply to Google Play reviewers quickly.

19. Touchgram  

This startup was a pleasant surprise for the Australian parents because it became easier to communicate with their children in real-time. A Perth based Australian startup, founded in June 2015.

Touchgram allows parents to interact with their children through the games they love or usually play. Right after its inception, this startup got good recognition from the potential users in their market.

Most of the people who use this startup are the parents of young children or couples who are trying to enhance their relationship when they are away from each other. Touchgram makes it easier for them to send delightful messages and continue to build a healthy relationship.

20. HealthEngine  

HealthEngine is a startup which helps in enhancing relationships between patients and their health care professionals. The practitioners can provide continuous care to patients with this startup through a suite of connected digital health products.

HealthEngine is the best health care app in Australia. The app has more than 11,000 health care professionals onboard, including doctors, chiropractors, dentists, physiotherapists, radiologists, urologists, and gynecologists, etc.

The patients can easily connect to their respective health care practitioner when they need them the most. More than 15 million people use this app annually.

Successful Startups from Adelaide

Adelaide is one of the fastest-growing cities for startups, nearing 143 in the ranking (2019) compared to its ranking of 227 in 2017. As this city continues to grow, so do its institutes like Flinders University’s New Venture Institute, which gears up for a startup-focused visa to invite entrepreneurs.

Startups From Adelaide

21. Peepable  

A video searching startup established in Adelaide uses powerful search technology for searching and sharing videos. Peepable helps in searching and finding the exact thing which you are looking for.

Once the app installed on a device, Peepable automatically enters and indexes the video contents of publishers. It helps its users to search for videos from all over the internet and to take a peep into the peepable searched video for the exact point which the user is searching for. The user can then use the clipping tool to create a short clip or a peep from the video and can share it on social media.

22. HappyCo  

HappyCo, a SaaS business of Adelaide helps in developing a suite of software for improving the efficiency of operations and requirements in the field. HappyCo charges its customers on a monthly based subscription for access.

With this app, customers can reduce their workload by replacing workflows with a custom mobile app and powerful web software where data can be stored.

The collected data on software helps the customers to view, and analyze their operations, which was very difficult before. Many residential and commercial real estate, multifamily, vacation rentals, student housing, government and home services use HappyCo for managing their data easily.

23. PayHero  

Another Adelaide based startup is PayHero, which helps the business owners in fast payments. This startup basically targets commercial as well as household cleaners, mechanics, fire and safety inspectors, co-work spaces, yoga instructors, professional service providers, real estate agents, digital product subscribers, and personal trainers.

The system accepts card payments and allows automatic billing, hence reducing the number of paper invoices. One of the major benefits of PayHero is that it does not require any technical skill for usage. It’s a local service in Adelaide and the users can also sell anything online using this service. PayHero only charges a minimal amount per customer transaction, there is no monthly or annual subscription fees.

Successful Startups from Brisbane

24. BenchOn  

BenchOn is a Brisbane based startup that aims to pair non-working employees with short-term contracts from well-known tech companies and agencies. It helps in boosting economic and business growth through greater job stability.

Since its launch in 2016, by Tim Walmsley, BenchOn has managed to achieve huge growth. Its unique industry positioning has helped expand its clientele and spearhead sales figures substantially.

BenchOn has so far processed over $50m contracts through the platform, acquired around 300 corporate clients, increased the size of one of their clients by double numbers within one month, and has created 30 new full-time jobs in the market through the 1000 Job Pledge.

Entrepreneurs should never settle down for a one-size-fits-all hiring policy. Instead, they must approach the one that is the best for their organizational needs. Tim now has a team of people who see their careers linked to the success of BenchOn. His company provides the freedom to workers to build something that they can be proud of.

25. CitrusAd

The Australian startup CitrusAd is a retail media platform focused on providing native sponsored product ads, display ads and email adverts.

Launched in 2016, founders Brad Moran and Nick Paech effectively turned online retail websites into highly targeted advertising platforms. After the first year of their launch, the platform was adopted by 36 global retailers, 22 countries and has more than 300 customers.

Another early-stage venture, CitrusAd has raised a total of $12.5 million in funding.

Other Successful Australian Startups

26.  Hivery

Franki Chamakii came up with Hivery – an artificial intelligence startup located in Liverpool. It helps companies generate great profits on Retail Space Investment with AI-backed solutions in product recommendations, price learning, space rationalization, and promotions.

Its first accelerator was a network of entrepreneurs working in the most innovative cities around the world to build the next generation of a billion-dollar startup company with the support of Coca-Cola.

After a successful stint with Coca-Cola, they engineered the AI platform. Within three years, the team grew from five to 29, in offices across the United States and Japan. Furthermore, Hivery’s AI solutions such as Vending Analytics provide a magnificent profit of $600 per vending machine, on an average.

To Sum Up

With new and recent developments in the technology sector such as machine learning, blockchain, and Ai applications, there has never been a better time to be inventive and start your very own enterprise. Launching an online platform has never been easier with Cloudways’ cloud-based managed hosting services.

Australia presents all the signs of a thriving startup economy. Cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth have sprung to become a promising hub of tech innovation. This has spawned several successful Australian startups to become established global brands.

With the above list of Australian tech companies, there is a huge inspiration to go around for every entrepreneur. We’d love to know which startup has inspired you the most? Do let us know in the comments section below.

Share your opinion in the comment section. COMMENT NOW

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Owais Khan

Owais works as a Marketing Manager at Cloudways (managed hosting platform) where he focuses on growth, demand generation, and strategic partnerships. With more than a decade of experience in digital marketing and B2B, Owais prefers to build systems that help teams achieve their full potential.

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