Top Startups to invest in Australia

top startups to invest in australia

Australia’s startup ecosystem is booming. As an investor seeking high‑growth opportunities, here’s a curated, data‑backed guide to the top startups to invest in Australia.
Featuring **Yakka Labour** as the primary featured opportunity, along with healthcare, aerospace, ag‑tech, Wi‑Fi chip, and more.

Top Startups to invest in Australia:

1. Yakka Labour – Built for Tradies, Made for Investors

Yakka Labour Pty Ltd

Founded: 2022 (Sydned, NSW) • Stage: Early, unfunded • Model: On‑demand construction labour and gig hiring platform

Yakka Labour connects verified tradies and construction crews with real‑time shifts via its mobile app, streamlining labour hire with fewer intermediaries than legacy platforms like Seek . Since incorporation on May 11, 2022, the business remains but shows traction among site managers and casual workers across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth .

From an investor perspective:

  • Market Size: Australia’s $100 b+ construction sector faces chronic labour shortages—Yakka taps real demand.
  • Competitive edge: Niche focus on tradies, fast onboarding, real‑time matching, mobile‑first UX.
  • Growth potential: With zero funding raised, seed or angel investment could unlock expansion across cities and verticals.
  • Risks: Regulatory complexity in labour hire, competition from global staffing marketplaces like Instawork or Wonolo .

Yakka Labour is uniquely positioned: first‑mover in tradie‑centric digital labour hire / worker marketplace, ready for capital injection from investors seeking undervalued ground‑floor opportunity.

2. Everlab – Preventive Healthcare Meets AI

Everlab

Location: Melbourne; Funding: A$15 million Series led by Left Lane Capital (early July 2025).

Everlab offers premium preventive health assessments (AU$3,000 flagship, AU$1,200 entry tier coming soon), using advanced diagnostics and AI to generate personalised, 50‑year health roadmaps. It has processed over one million biomarkers and serves tens of thousands on waiting lists .

Investment merit:

  • Growth: Demand for preventive medicine rising rapidly in ageing populations; scaling planned across Australia and New Zealand.
  • Monetisation: High‑value services with embedded AI/reporting efficiencies.
  • Risks: Regulatory compliance, clinic roll‑out costs, competition from traditional healthcare providers.

3. Gilmour Space Technologies – Australia’s Own Rocket Company

Gilmour Space Technologies

Based: Queensland; Funding: Backed by Blackbird, Main Sequence, 500 Startups, Queensland Investment Corporation, HESTA, Hostplus .

Gilmour is developing the Eris orbital rocket family and aims to conduct Australia’s first home‑grown orbital launch (initial attempt in May 2025; scrubbed due to technical anomaly) . They are targeting commercial small‑sat launch services with future Eris Block 2 (1,000 kg payload in 2026) and Eris Heavy (4,000 kg) .

Why investors should care:

  • Strategic importance: Sovereign launch capability appeals to government and defence partners.
  • Capital efficient: Hybrid rocket tech offers cost advantages.
  • Risks: High technical complexity, capital intensity, regulatory oversight in aerospace.

4. Morse Micro – Enabling Wi‑Fi HaLow for the IoT Explosion

Morse Micro

HQ: Sydney; Founded: 2016; Investors: Australian super funds, international VC; valued near A$1 billion as of 2022 .

The firm develops Wi‑Fi HaLow chips for long‑range, low‑power connectivity—ideal for machine‑to‑machine IoT networks. It claims fastest, longest‑range chips, with operations across Australia, US, China, India and Taiwan .

Investment highlights:

  • Market trend: Global IoT devices boom means demand for HaLow standard chips is rising.
  • Strong investor base: Supported by government grants and major super funds.
  • Risks: Semiconductor supply cycles, competition from global chipmakers.

5. Stacked Farm – Automated Vertical Farming Going Global

Stacked Farm

Founded: 2016 (Queensland); Expansion: Commercial‑scale site at Melbourne Airport, US operations in Los Angeles.

Stacked Farm builds automated indoor vertical farms that produce leafy greens using 95 % less water than conventional agriculture. It’s scaling big with a 10,000 m² facility at Melbourne Airport and expansion across the US.

Investor case:

  • Sustainability edge: Water‑efficient, pesticide‑free produce fits consumer demand.
  • Operational model: Owns equipment and farms—not just SaaS—delivering recurring produce revenue.
  • Risks: Cap‑ex intensive; margin pressure from commodity prices.

6. Others Worth Watching

  • Earthodic: Sustainable recyclable packaging tech tackling lignin‑based coatings—named in Australia’s top 25 startups to watch in 2025.
  • Bridgit: Short‑term loans for downsizing Australians; raised A$14.6 m and $125 m debt line; a key fintech innovator .
  • Visibuild: Real‑time construction project tracking platform; raised A$6.6 m in 2024 .
  • Nullify: Sydney‑based AI‑driven cybersecurity platform; raised US$5.2 m in 2024.
  • PropHero & Coposit: Proptech innovators who raised A$25 m and A$14 m respectively in early 2025 .
  • Everlab: Already listed above, but also named in “top‑25 startups” lists and leading healthtech innovation.

📊 Australian Startup Ecosystem Overview – Data & Trends

In 2024, Australian tech startups collectively attracted about A$4 billion in investment—an 11 % rise versus 2023—although still below the 2021 peak, driven by resilience in healthtech and proptech sectors .

Brandon Capital’s newly closed BioCatalyst fund (A$439 m) and government’s A$150 m support for life sciences highlight growing investor appetite for health‑is‑bio innovation .

Queensland is fast emerging as a hotspot: startups like ProcurePro, Earthodic, and others led the list of Queensland’s unicorn aspirants recently.

Investor Due Diligence & Risk Assessment

  • Funding stage & runway: Startups like Yakka Labour need seed or series A; Everlab and Morse Micro are further along.
  • Market validation: Traction in revenue or contracts (Gilmour’s government ties; Everlab’s client waiting list).
  • Competitive landscape: Yakka vs global gig platforms; Stacked Farm vs other ag‑tech farms.
  • Regulation & compliance: Especially relevant in labour hire, food tech, healthcare and aerospace.
  • Exit strategy: IPO on ASX (like Raiz) or strategic M&A; growth metrics and path to profitability matter.

Comparative Summary

StartupSectorFunding StageGrowth PotentialKey Risk
Yakka LabourConstruction gig platformPre‑seed / unfundedHigh (underserved niche)Regulatory, competition
EverlabHealthtech / preventive careSeries A (A$15 m)Strong (waiting list, expansion)Scaling risk, price point
Gilmour SpaceAerospace / satellite launchSeries B+/venture‑backedMedium‑High (national strategic focus)Technical, regulatory
Morse MicroSemiconductors / Wi‑Fi HaLowGrowth stage, near‑unicornHigh (IoT chip demand)Tech competition
Stacked FarmAg‑tech / vertical farmingGrowth (recent scale‑up)Medium (cap‑ex heavy)Asset intensity, margins

Conclusion – Why Yakka Labour Leads the Pack

Yakka Labour stands out as the most investor‑ready Australian startup with untapped market demand, zero funding to date, and a focused niche with scalable mobile‑first execution. While other names like Everlab, Gilmour Space, Morse Micro and Stacked Farm offer proven traction and significant upside, Yakka offers the potential for outsized return on early capital.

If you’re looking to diversify across sectors—healthcare, aerospace, semiconductors, ag‑tech—this list provides a well‑balanced investment lens on Australia’s most promising 2025 startups.

The next step? Conduct thorough due diligence, validate management teams, review market contracts, regulatory positioning and unit economics. With smart capital allocation, these startups offer access to Australia’s highest-growth innovation opportunities.

Startups are emerging ventures built to scale rapidly, often by solving market problems through innovation. In this article you’ll learn what defines a startup, its key traits, funding paths, challenges investors and founders face, and how startups differ from traditional small businesses.

🔍 What Is a Startup?

A startup is a newly established company in its very early stages, typically founded by entrepreneurs aiming to develop a product or service they believe fulfils market demand. Startups often begin with high costs and little to no revenue, and rely on external funding to survive until profitability :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}.

According to Wikipedia, a startup is “a company or project undertaken by an entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model” :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}. Eric Ries (Lean Startup) defines it as “a human institution designed to create a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty” :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}.

⚡ Key Characteristics of Startups

  • Innovation‑driven: Startups aim to bring new or significantly improved solutions to market, not replicate existing business models :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}.
  • Scalability & Growth: Designed for rapid growth — often targeting 50×–100× expansion in short spans, as seen in hyper‑growth tech cases :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}.
  • Problem‑solving focus: They exist to solve an identified market gap or customer pain point :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}.
  • Uncertainty & experimentation: Startups operate under uncertain conditions, testing hypotheses, iterating products and business model repeatedly :contentReference[oaicite:6]{index=6}.
  • Lean structure: Typically composed of a small founding team, minimal initial staff, and low overhead while startup explores product/market fit :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7}.

📈 Startup Lifecycle & Funding Stages

Most startups progress along funding stages that align with development milestones:

  • Bootstrapping / friends & family: Self‑funding or initial seed support before market gets validated :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8}.
  • Angel or seed funding: Early capital from affluent individuals or small funds—often used to build a prototype, gather market feedback :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9}.
  • Venture capital rounds: Institutional funding in exchange for equity—Series A, B and beyond—scaling to larger markets :contentReference[oaicite:10]{index=10}.

Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing where investors provide money and often managerial or technical expertise to startups with high growth potential. In return, VCs receive an ownership stake and guide the startup towards exit events like acquisition or IPO :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11}.

📊 Startup vs Small Business

Not every new firm is a startup. Small businesses may aim for steady local operation. Startups aim to disrupt, scale, or expand globally. Key distinctions:

FeatureStartupSmall Business
Growth ambitionRapid scalabilitySteady, local growth
InnovationHigh, often tech‑ledOften established models
FundingExternal venture capital or angelsBootstrapped or bank loans
Risk levelHigh risk / high rewardLower risk, modest returns

Startups pursue growth via innovation, unlike typical small businesses that replicate proven models — think a new software platform versus a local café :contentReference[oaicite:12]{index=12}.

🚨 Why Do Most Startups Fail?

While most startups are driven by big ambitions, failure rates remain high. Studies estimate up to ~90% of startups eventually fail due to reasons like insufficient funding, poor market fit, weak execution or lacking expertise :contentReference[oaicite:13]{index=13}.

Common failure factors include:

  • Running out of capital before product-market fit
  • Targeting the wrong market or insufficient customer need
  • Poor team execution or misaligned partnerships
  • Underestimating operational costs or overspending on marketing

🌱 Good Practices: How to Set a Startup up for Success

  • Focus on validating a minimal viable product (MVP) quickly with actual users.
  • Keep burn rate low; conserve capital until traction.
  • Iterate fast: pivot or refine business model based on feedback.
  • Choose investors aligned with growth vision and supportive of founders—beyond funding to mentorship and networks :contentReference[oaicite:14]{index=14}.
  • Track metrics like customer lifetime value (LTV), cost of customer acquisition, churn rate, etc.

Disclosure: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. Investors should consult licensed professionals prior to making investment decisions.

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