A bank or its venture fund was in 5.1% of Australian startup deals from 2016 to 2020 and 0.6% from 2024 to October 2026, a fall of 89%. Corporate investors overall fell from 12.8% of deals to 5.8%.
The banks used to be in 1 in 20 deals
From 2016 to 2020, a bank or its venture fund was in 5.1% of Australian startup deals, according to our data. That is Westpac and the Reinventure fund it backs, Commonwealth Bank and its x15ventures arm, NAB Ventures, and ANZ.
They backed some names you know. Westpac put money into Zip in 2017. ANZ’s venture arm co-led Airwallex’s Series D in 2020. Commonwealth Bank’s x15ventures led Valiant Finance’s Series B in 2019, with Reinventure alongside. And in 2021, receipts startup Slyp got all four big banks into one round.
Reinventure was the busiest of them. It backed early rounds for Hyper Anna, Kasada and Curious Thing. Its last two rounds were in 2024.
Australian Startup Funding DatabaseRounds with Westpac-backed Reinventure, by year
| Year | Deals |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 6 |
| 2017 | 3 |
| 2018 | 4 |
| 2019 | 5 |
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2021 | 0 |
| 2022 | 1 |
| 2023 | 0 |
| 2024 | 2 |
| 2025 | 0 |
| 2026 (YTD) | 0 |
Reinventure was in a round most years until 2024. We have none since.
The last three bank deals were all in 2024
From 2021 to 2023 the bank share fell to 2.9%. Since 2024 it is 0.6%. That is three deals: NAB Ventures in Archistar.ai in March 2024, Reinventure in InDebted’s Series C in September, and Reinventure again as co-lead of Safewill’s Series B in November. Since then, nothing.
Australian Startup Funding DatabaseRounds with NAB Ventures, newest first
5 of 9 deals, newest first
| Date | Company | Round | Sector | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2024 | Archistar.ai | Stage not stated | Tech | A$5.0M | linkedin.com |
| Greener | Seed | Tech | A$4.0M | greener.com.au | |
| Geora | Seed | Tech | A$1.5M | onimpact.com.au | |
| Earnd | Stage not stated | Fintech | A$2.5M | finextra.com | |
| Slyp | Stage not stated | Fintech | A$2.0M | globalventuring.com |
NAB Ventures' last announced startup round is Archistar.ai, in March 2024.
Commonwealth Bank’s x15ventures went quiet even earlier. Its last announced round was Payble’s seed round, in December 2023.
Other big companies halved too, and the busiest backs just one startup
The banks dropped furthest, but other big companies backed fewer startups too. Count every big company on our list, from Rio Tinto and Telstra to Salesforce and Airbus, and a corporate investor was in 12.8% of deals from 2016 to 2020. Since 2024 it is 5.8%, according to our data.
The corporates that are left invest where they have a direct stake. The most common corporate name since 2024 is Nvidia, and every Nvidia deal in our data is Firmus, the company building an AI data centre in Tasmania planned to house 36,000 Nvidia GPUs. Next is Airbus, which backed Wildfire Energy with Qantas. The Brisbane startup turns household waste into fuels, including sustainable aviation fuel. Airbus and Qantas also appear together in HAMR Energy’s 2026 Series A.
Australian Startup Funding DatabaseRounds with Nvidia as an investor, newest first
5 of 8 deals, newest first
| Date | Company | Round | Sector | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firmus Technologies | Stage not stated | Tech | A$330M | facebook.com | |
| Firmus | Growth | Tech | A$725M | instagram.com | |
| Firmus | Growth | Tech | A$505M | theaiworld.org | |
| Apr 2026 | Firmus | Growth | Tech | A$1000M | overnightsuccess.vc |
| Firmus | Growth | Tech | A$330M | startupdaily.net |
Since 2024, Nvidia is the most common corporate investor in Australian startups. Every one of its rounds here is Firmus.
Why the banks stepped back: our view
Our data shows who was in each round, not why they left. Two things fit what we see.
First, the banks found other ways to get the technology they wanted. Commonwealth Bank built its own home loan business, Unloan, through x15ventures in 2022, instead of buying a stake in someone else’s. In July 2024, Capital Brief wrote that the big banks “have a mixed record with their VC funds” and that x15 “has more the attributes of an accelerator”. The same piece said NAB was still committed to NAB Ventures and looking for deals. We have not seen one announced since March 2024.
Second, big companies pulled back in the US too. Crunchbase reported in September 2024 that corporate venture deals had fallen for two years, despite the big AI headlines. Nvidia was the one top corporate investor doing more deals. Australia looks the same: fewer corporate names, and the one growing name is Nvidia.
Our guess at a third reason: when interest rates rose from 2022, fintech valuations fell, and a small stake in a fintech became a hard thing to defend to a bank board that could earn more from lending.
What it means for your raise: your numbers have to do the convincing
A bank or big company on your cap table did more than add money. It told other investors that someone who knew the market had checked you out. Without that name, venture capital investors lean harder on the one thing left to judge: your financial case.
And they are sceptical of it. When I asked five startup finance specialists what kills founder credibility in due diligence, the same answer came back every time. As I wrote on LinkedIn in July:
“Investors don’t believe your revenue projections, because nobody can predict 3 years into the future at seed.”
It is harder again for smaller rounds. A few big raises make the market look healthy, but as I wrote in May, “If you’re raising a sub-$5M round right now, this market feels very different to what that number suggests.”
So here is what we would do:
- Don’t build your round around a bank or a corporate. Plan for venture capital investors, and treat a strategic investor as a bonus.
- If you do pitch a corporate, give it a business reason. Firmus is building around Nvidia’s chips. Wildfire Energy is working on fuel for airlines. A stake has to help the investor’s own business.
- Get someone to own the numbers before diligence starts. You need a model that ties to your pitch, and a person who can answer the hard questions in the room.
A Series A is usually when startups make their first finance hire, and a Series B when they hire a CFO. Our study of when Australian startups hire finance has the evidence.
Raising without a big-name backer? Investors will judge you on your numbers. We’ll find you the finance lead who gets them right.
Tom calls you back, usually within one business day. Or call 02 9099 7619.
Not raising yet? Explore the funding database and look up any investor, stage or year.
The investor that grew while the banks left: read why government is now one of Australia’s busiest startup investors.
Sources and notes
- Data: the Story Recruitment Australian Startup Funding Database, 2,548 announced Australian startup rounds from January 2016 to early October 2026.
- Every share on this page uses deals with at least one named investor as the base: 623 deals from 2016 to 2020, 613 from 2021 to 2023 and 517 from 2024 to early October 2026. The last period ends in early October 2026.
- A deal is bank-backed if any named investor contains westpac, reinventure (the fund Westpac backs), commonwealth bank, x15, nab ventures or anz. That gives 32 of 623 deals (5.1%), 18 of 613 (2.9%) and 3 of 517 (0.6%). The 89% fall is (5.14 minus 0.58) divided by 5.14, before rounding. By year: 9 in 2021, 3 in 2024, none in 2025 or 2026 so far.
- The “anz” match also catches one 2021 round backed by Anzu Partners, a US firm with no link to ANZ. It sits in the 2021 to 2023 count. Counts are database rows, and a few rounds appear twice where two outlets reported them.
- A deal is corporate if a named investor matches our list of 36 names, including the banks, Rio Tinto, Amazon Web Services, SEEK, Telstra, Salesforce, Microsoft’s M12, Nvidia, Airbus, Tencent and Atlassian. Founder and super fund names that contain these words are excluded. That gives 80 of 623 (12.8%), 53 of 613 (8.6%) and 30 of 517 (5.8%).
- Nvidia appears in 8 deals from 2024 to 2026 (recorded as Nvidia or NVIDIA), more than any other corporate. All 8 rows are Firmus or Firmus Technologies, counted from the deal rows. Some are tranches or repeat reports of the same raise.
- The database filters one investor name at a time, so the combined bank and corporate figures are not one view. Each snapshot shows one investor; search the others by name in the database.
- Bank counts after 2020 are under 30 deals, so read the trend as direction, not precision. A deal only counts when the investor is named in the coverage, so a bank in an unannounced round does not show up.
- Coverage is about two thirds of the market: 247 deals in 2025 here against 390 in Cut Through Venture and Folklore Ventures’ 2025 State of Australian Startup Funding. It is likely weighted to rounds that got press coverage. Dates come from announcement coverage, and about 1 in 7 spot-checked rows sat in a neighbouring month or year.
- The reasons for the banks’ retreat are our view, built on the outside sources linked above. The interest rate explanation is our guess.
- The full method is in the explainer on how we built the database.
How to cite this: Source: Story Recruitment Australian Startup Funding Database (2016 to 2026), storyrecruitment.com.au/insights/australian-startup-funding, CC BY 4.0.
Common questions
Do Australian banks still invest in startups?
Rarely. A bank or its venture fund (Westpac and Reinventure, Commonwealth Bank and x15ventures, NAB Ventures, ANZ) was in 5.1% of Australian startup deals from 2016 to 2020 and 0.6% from 2024 to October 2026, according to the Story Recruitment Australian Startup Funding Database. The last three were Archistar.ai, InDebted and Safewill, all in 2024. We have none in 2025 or 2026.
Why did the banks stop backing startups?
The data shows the drop, not the reason. Our view: the banks switched from buying small stakes in other people's startups to building their own, as Commonwealth Bank did with Unloan through x15ventures. Corporate venture investing also fell in the US after 2022, according to Crunchbase.
Which corporates invest in Australian startups now?
Fewer of them. A corporate investor was in 5.8% of deals since 2024, down from 12.8% from 2016 to 2020. The most common name since 2024 is Nvidia, and every Nvidia deal in our data is one company, the Tasmanian AI data-centre builder Firmus. Airbus is next, backing Wildfire Energy, a waste-to-fuel startup, with Qantas.
Should I pitch a bank or corporate for my round?
Only if you have a business reason they would want a stake, such as being a supplier, customer or partner they need. Don't plan a round around one. Plan for venture capital investors, and expect them to test your numbers hard.
These guides set out how we see it, drawn from the searches we run and the finance leaders we work with. They are general information about the market, not financial, accounting or legal advice, and they are no substitute for advice on your own circumstances.