Atlassian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes’ $40bn SunCable capital raising frozen out

The software billionaire wants to deliver one of the world’s biggest renewable energy projects. But a maiden $US100m capital raising campaign has failed to convince outside investors to back his decarbonisation dream.

SunCable’s Australia-Asia PowerLink is pictured in this render of Powell Creek, NT.

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Mike Cannon-Brookes’ $40bn SunCable development has failed to secure funding to date in its maiden $US100m ($154m) capital raising as doubts grow that the billionaire is capable of delivering one of the world’s largest renewable energy projects.

A year after kicking off initial talks with fellow billionaires and more than three months after approaching external investors with a formal investment flyer, sources told The Australian that there had been limited interest from outside financiers in stumping up money for the project.

Initial discussions with banks and family offices in March were set to lay the groundwork for a series of bumper capital raisings should Mr Cannon-Brookes’ private Grok vehicle proceed with a final investment decision in 2027.

Grok chief executive Tan Kueh first approached wealthy US families and prospective financiers in July 2024. A formal pitch was delivered to Australian investors in the last three months.

While huge sums continue to flow into green energy and adjacent infrastructure projects across Australia, the scale of investment and risk attached to such developments has led to experts questioning whether the scheme may be slimmed down to better find market traction.

Mega projects including Western Australia’s two giant green hydrogen developments worth a combined $136bn are also under the spotlight amid practical delays and tepid demand from prospective buyers.

Sun Cable could ultimately be cut down to an Australian renewable development in a move that would slash its hefty budget, energy consultancy Rennie Advisory said. Picture: Supplied

SunCable’s advisers claim “discussions are advanced with a couple of parties” regarding stumping up some of the $US100m sought, according to correspondance seen by The Australian.

Other sources were told there is “an opportunity” to take up most or all of the funding package to come in “as a minority partner”. Investors have been told SunCable was targeting raising the $US100m “by mid-2025” and a virtual data room for further in-depth financial information was being prepared.

“The capital raise is going well, and we have had strong interest from multiple investors,” a spokesperson for SunCable told The Australian.

“We are well progressed with several parties, including investors who will bring the capabilities to accelerate the development of the project. More information will be announced in due course, and we continue to work towards our next project milestone.”

Mr Cannon-Brookes has pumped about $7.8m into SunCable Holdings Pty Ltd in three transactions over the past four months, according to filings with the corporate regulator. His Grok is the majority owner of the privately-held company, documents show, with an entity controlled by Xero founder Craig Winkler the only other shareholder with a minority stake.

In its first iteration, SunCable planned to deliver 900MW of green power to industrial customers in Darwin. The project also aims to supply 1.75GW of electricity to Singapore by an undersea cable stretching more than 4000km.

At 4200km, the link to Singapore would be more than five times bigger than the longest submarine link yet proposed – the 767km Viking link between Britain and Denmark – testing engineering capabilities and exposing the project to sovereign risk as it flows near Indonesian territorial waters.

Australian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes.

It could ultimately be cut down to an Australian renewable development in a move that would slash its hefty budget, energy consultancy Rennie Advisory said.

“Any new greenfield cable is difficult because it never begins on day one fully utilised. That creates problems with average costs and the like. There’s also no regulatory authority that’s going to guarantee your rate of return,” said Rennie’s executive director for capital advisory, Matt Rennie.

“If it was to proceed, the Northern Territory domestic component alone would probably be the most likely outcome.”

SunCable advisors Moelis Australia and Align Capital Partners said the $US100m fund raising target would be used to complete early engineering and design work along with securing land access, finalising permits, completing the subsea cable route survey and securing offtake deals with buyers.

Prospective shareholders “will target liquidity through development service fees paid at a final investment decision/commercial operation date or sale of project”, the 16-page flyer, seen by The Australian, noted.

Moelis was previously tapped in 2023 as adviser for SunCable after it collapsed following a rift between Mr Cannon-Brookes and fellow billionaire and Fortescue chair Andrew Forrest.

Singapore last year also granted licences to electricity export ventures in Indonesia, adding an extra source of competition for an Australian project.

Andrew Forrest and Cannon-Brookes fell out over SunCable. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The scale of the international project has been questioned, with critics tentative around the rationale for sending renewable energy to Singapore.

“Does Singapore need additional power? And is the right place for that power to come from in Australia? I think it’s the latter that investors have probably struggled to conceptually get their head around,” Mr Rennie said.

“If you were to write down the things that investors would need to believe, it’s far more likely that they would believe the Northern Territory renewable generation story than this is the lowest cost, most effective way of delivering energy to Singapore.”

Despite the funding challenge, the external environment for clean energy remains strong.

The Clean Energy Council found investment commitments for renewable energy generation jumped by 500 per cent to $9bn in 2024 from $1.5bn in 2023.

Batteries also boomed in the first quarter of 2025 with six projects worth $2.4bn reaching the commitment stage, delivering an extra 1.5GW in storage capacity and 5GWh in energy output.

Anthony Albanese’s centrepiece renewable energy policy, the capacity investment scheme, is also expected to deliver a big bump in momentum for the clean energy industry in the next few years.