Seed-stage funding for Australian AI startups has hit its highest quarterly total on record, as local and offshore venture funds compete for a shrinking pool of experienced machine learning founders.
Sydney and Melbourne-based funds have led rounds in applied AI ventures spanning legal automation, agricultural analytics and enterprise data tooling, with several deals closing at valuations founders describe as “pre-revenue but pre-empted.”
Industry watchers caution that the enthusiasm echoes the froth of 2021, though this cycle is more narrowly concentrated in teams with genuine technical depth rather than broad consumer plays.
“The difference this time is customers are actually paying,” said one Melbourne venture partner. “That's giving investors more confidence to move quickly.”