Four ‘Unicorn’ start-ups to look out for this year

Four ‘Unicorn’ start-ups to look out for during 2022

Words: David Swan Producer: Bianca Farmakis

2021 was a banner year for Australia’s start-ups, with the nation generating a record number of unicorns – privately owned billion dollar tech companies – and 2022 already looks even more fruitful.

With money still cheap and venture capital investors looking to place lucrative big bets on the next Atlassian and Canva, here are the most likely local, high-growth, tech start-ups set to crack ‘unicorn’ status over the next 12 months. Video: Instagram | Canva

Seer Medical

Capitalising on rampant interest in MedTech, and health more broadly, the Melbourne-based start-up has doubled its growth every year since it launched in 2017. Now in its fifth year, Seer generates more than $10m annually. Image: Instagram | Seer Medical

Seer currently delivers home-based epilepsy monitoring, but its technology can be leveraged for broader applications in brain, heart, and respiratory monitoring. The technology reduces diagnosis waiting times from to a few weeks, saving medical costs and freeing up hospital beds in the process.

Brighte

Dubbed the ‘Afterpay for solar’ – Brighte has helped more than 80,000 homeowners access solar energy sooner, with a buy now, pay later plan. The company raised $375m in public debt and $145m in equity since its launch in 2015, under former Macquarie banker Katherine McConnell. Image: LinkedIn | Katherine McConnell

Targeting the electric vehicle market, in 2011 Brighte hit $1bn worth of applications. McConnell called the impact a “re-imagining of the great Aussie dream”. “It’s not just the house on a block with the Hills hoist and a barbecue in the backyard. It’s an electrified house with solar on the roof — a house run by the sun,” she said. Video: Instagram | Brighte

Employment Hero

Among the hottest software start-ups to emerge from Sydney, Employment Hero tripled its valuation to $800m in 2021 and is set to crack $1bn in 2022. The company offers a cloud-based HR platform for small and medium-sized businesses, and has processed over $14bn worth of wages for businesses globally.

CEO Ben Thompson said that Employment Hero adopted a remote-first model very early on in the pandemic, which held it in good stead over the past year. “We encourage and empower our people to work where and when it best suits them,” he said.

Linktree

Growing its user base from 8 million in November 2020 to over 19 million today, Linktree is propelling forward with a bold global vision. Profitable from day one, Linktree has landed $US55.57m in funding to date.

Linktree started life as a simple tool for Instagram users to keep their links in one place, and the Melbourne-based company has continually added new functions. Now, creators and influencers can sell through e-commerce stores and grow their online audiences with the platform. Video: Instagram | Linktree

“There’s never been a better time than now to be a creator — whether you’re an entrepreneur, or you’ve created a dinner, or you wrote an email. In the future everyone is going to be seen as a creator and using some kind of platform that enables the work they do in a more simple way.”

Alex and Anthony Zaccaria Linktree co-founders