Amber and HEO headline a big Aussie startup funding week

Australian startup funding just had a loud week.

Secondary accounts from Startup Daily and SmartCompany report that seven Australian startups raised a combined $274.7 million in a single week.

Amber said in a company blog post published on September 21, 2026, that it had closed a $78.5 million Series E round. The company said the round was led by 1GT, Morgan Stanley’s climate tech fund, with participation from Environmental Technologies Fund, Innovation Victoria and E.ON.

The pitch is battery automation, and Amber is pushing it hard.

Amber says its technology gives customers access to real-time wholesale electricity prices and automates home batteries and electric vehicles. The idea is simple enough: charge when cheap renewable energy is available, and discharge when prices spike.

The company also claims it has become the largest residential battery automation product in Australia, orchestrating more than half of automated home batteries in the country. That claim comes from Amber itself, not independent validation.

The fresh money is earmarked for scaling in Australia, expanding across European markets, and investing in products and infrastructure. Amber said its technology already underpins Next Optimise, E.ON Next’s smart energy tariff and home battery and EV automation product, which launched in March 2026 and is live for battery and solar households across the UK.

Amber also said it is releasing the next generation of its technology, including vehicle-to-grid functionality. It said early customers are using that capability to earn money by selling energy from their EV back to the grid when needed. No customer earnings figures were supplied.

Then there is HEO, a Sydney space intelligence company aiming cameras at space itself.

In a company announcement dated September 21, 2026, HEO said it had raised US$25 million in Series B funding to expand its non-Earth imaging network into geostationary orbit. The round was led by Beaten Zone Venture Partners, with participation from Australia’s National Reconstruction Fund, Dcode Capital, Wunala Capital, and existing investors Airtree and Salus Ventures.

HEO says it uses satellites to photograph and analyse other objects in space. It also says it operates the world’s largest commercial non-Earth imaging network, with access to more than 50 sensors in orbit. Again, that is a company claim.

The new money is set to fund new sensor deployments, more satellite operator partnerships, and further development of software and AI models that turn orbital imagery into intelligence.

HEO said it has booked its first two geostationary orbit launches, beginning later in 2026, and plans to establish repeatable GEO imaging coverage in 2027.

Taken together, the week shows how broad Australia’s tech funding scene has become. Not just another software-as-a-service round. Batteries, grids, satellites and AI-heavy infrastructure are all in the mix.