The Australian startup funding landscape has grown increasingly complex in recent years, with traditional equity raises now often intertwined with debt facilities and secondary sales.
Of course, the rise of secondaries and the emergence of venture debt are both good developments for the ecosystem. But the shifting funding mix has made deciphering capital raises an increasingly challenging task for investors and industry watchers in the media — sparking a vigorous debate about the need for more transparency and standardisation in the sector.
The issue has risen to the fore in recent weeks after it emerged large raises by prominent startups including SafetyCulture and Employment Hero were more complex than they were made out to be in their press releases.
Chris Gillings, who oversees Australian startup funding analysis through Cut Through Venture, notes the growing difficulties of accurately reporting funding rounds in Australia. “More than half of the raw deal data we review for Series B and later rounds includes a mix of primary equity, secondary capital, and debt,” he says.
