This is the list people ask me about most. I first posted it in May, then updated it twice as the rounds came in. This is the latest version. Not advice, just what I’m tracking.
The list
- Firmus (Aus). AI data centres. Raised another A$2.85B in August at a A$15B valuation, with Nvidia and Blackstone in. Started as a bitcoin miner in 2019.
- Cortical Labs (Aus). Biological computers running on living human neurons grown onto silicon. There is a data centre in Melbourne doing it right now.
- Maincode (Aus). Building sovereign AI for Australia. The timing could not be better.
- Advanced Navigation (Aus). AI navigation for places GPS cannot reach, from deep mines to the sea floor to the moon. Raised A$158M with Airtree leading.
- Ivo (NZ). Legal AI for in-house teams. Raised US$55M at a US$355M valuation with Blackbird leading.
- Gridsight (Aus). AI that finds unused capacity already sitting in the power grid. Raised US$26M with Insight Partners leading.
- Emesent (Aus). Autonomous drones mapping mines and tunnels where nothing else can navigate.
- Loam Bio (Aus). Microbiology and AI storing carbon in farm soils. Backed by DCVC and Lowercarbon.
- Harrison.ai (Aus). Medical imaging AI. The kind of vertical depth that compounds for a decade.
- Auror (NZ). AI for retail crime prevention, quietly running inside some of the world’s biggest retailers.
- Leonardo.ai (Aus). Generative AI for images and video, big enough that Canva bought them.
- Apate.AI (Aus). Armies of AI agents that bait scammers and turn the conversation into intelligence.
- Relevance AI (Aus). Multi-agent systems for businesses. The infrastructure layer for the agent economy.
- Lorikeet (Aus). AI customer support built by ex-Stripe and ex-Google founders.
- Tracksuit (NZ). AI brand tracking. 1,000+ customers globally and growing fast, with 130% growth reported at its last raise.
What changed between versions
The first version in May had Baraja, Kimia, Haast and Ideally on it. As the year went on, the infrastructure end got stronger. Firmus went from a quiet story to a A$15B valuation. Advanced Navigation, Neara and Gridsight all raised big. The pattern is clear: the money is going into chips, power, grids and data centres, not just apps.
My read
Most of these are not consumer brands. They sell into hospitals, mines, legal teams, retailers and power grids. That is where ANZ has real depth, and it is where I think the next wave of billion dollar companies comes from.