Australia’s climate tech sector faces ‘great reckoning’ as funding stalls out at the Series B stage
Canberra-based agtech startup Goterra collapsed into liquidation earlier this year, and it may not be the last unless more funding is found for the sector.
Australian climate tech is stuck at a funding cliff edge and VCs and founders in the space warn that without an urgent influx of capital more startups will be forced offshore — or even put out of business.
Series B rounds across all sectors now take startups a median of 11 years to reach, more than double the 5.2 years typical at the 2021 peak, according to Cut Through Ventures’ latest report.
Nowhere is that gap more punishing than climate tech, where hardware and infrastructure costs demand patient, deep-pocketed capital Australia’s VC market isn’t built to provide — pushing promising companies offshore, into debt, or into liquidation.
Agtech startup Goterra, which turns food waste into fertiliser with the help of black soldier fly larvae, is one of the latest and most high-profile victims of this funding gap. The company had raised $27 million across its lifetime and entered liquidation earlier this month.
