Capital raise: Mining, learning, decarbonisation start-ups land $8m to grow
A mining start-up based in Perth, a decarbonisation start-up and a tech learning platform which has built a three-week pathway to a $100,000 salary, have all raised new capital.
A Perth start-up plugging a gap in the mining and drilling industry, which has landed it BHP, Fortescue and AngloGold as customers, has raised $4m. Meanwhile, a decarbonisation platform and a tech learning platform have raised a collective $4m.
CorePlan, a drilling platform which aims to remove outdated paper-based processes and provide regulatory and planning support, has raised a $4m round led by EVP.
The platform, founded by former mining consultant Alex Goulios, allows mining companies and drilling contractors to connect in a single place to log drilling activity, monitor workflows and view regulatory information.
“Early on we had ambitions to solve every problem in mining but eventually we settled on the big problem of managing the drilling and drill programs,” he said.
Mr Goulios, from Perth, studied geographic information systems at Curtin University before joining CSA Global as a mining consultant.
The start-up has big plans to double its headcount – which today sits at 25 – with the new capital and pick up ground in North America, Mr Goulios said.
“We’ve run out of space in the Perth headquarters and we’ve only been here a year,” he said. “We don’t have much room left so in the new year we’ll need a new office.”
EVP investment principal Mark Velik said the start-up was a leader in mining collaboration and the venture capital firm had seen a lot of customers vouch for that.
“The CorePlan team have done an exceptional job in building a first-class product, servicing tier-one global clients and building a top team, all without outside capital,” he said.
“CorePlan is leading the software space in the sector on how people in mining collaborate more effectively. Customer advocacy for the product is as strong as we’ve ever seen.”
CorePlan said it had about 77 customers across Australia, New Zealand, North America, South America, South East Asia, Africa and Europe.
The platform has recorded more than 400,000 drill holes which have an cumulative depth of over 10 million metres.
Another Australian business to land new funding is Avarni, a decarbonisation start-up which analyses a business’ current carbon footprint.
It was co-founded by Misha Cajic and Anuj Paudel, who today both serve as co-chief executives.
Avarni’s $2.5m round was led by Main Sequence with participation by Sprint Ventures and AfterWork Ventures.
Mr Cajic said he believed Avarni’s use of artificial intelligence to measure a company’s carbon footprint would help generate real change.
“As scrutiny on emissions reporting rises from both a policy and investment perspective, companies will need to actively address their supply chains by collaborating with partners to make serious decarbonisation inroads,” he said.
Main Sequence Investment Manager Alezeia Brown said many companies relied on third-party data to measure their carbon footprint and new solutions were not only necessary but crucial.
“In the race towards net zero, accurately measuring emissions – especially Scope 3 – remains a major challenge. Companies rely on third-party data or unverified numbers from suppliers, leaving them with imprecise carbon accounting,” she said. “Avarni is pioneering new ways to tackle this problem head-on.”
Meanwhile, a learning platform which has developed a three week path to a $100,000 tech sales career has also landed funding to grow and expand its offering.
Earlywork, founded by Marina Wu, Jono Herman and Dan Brockwell, has raised $1.5m in a seed round led by No Brand, a private investment firm with a focus on tech.
The round also received funding from Jelix Ventures, Archangel Ventures, Ultraviolet Ventures, Dave Shein, Jay Simons, Paul Robson, Dave O’Mahony, Sam Rahmanian and Dave Shepherd.
Mr Brockwell said there was a major interest in sales from overseas companies wanting to expand into Australia, and the role was often one of the first those firms hired for when entering a new market.
This week Alta Global Group also announced it had acquired The Underground and mixedmartialarts.com, with its chief executive Nick Langton adding the two brands would help the company reshape the MMA community.
“This strategic expansion aligns perfectly with Alta’s vision of uniting the industry’s best resources and communities. Together, we’re poised to reshape the martial arts and combat sports industry, with increased participation driving growth and revenue for gyms and coaches globally,” he said.
In other tech news, Hisense Australia and New Zealand has appointment Chris Kotis sales and marketing vice president and Cory Foster to sales general manager.
The key appointments arrive just months for global consumer tech trade show CES in Las Vegas where the brand will highlight its latest technology developments.
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