Australian internet startup bags $530k fundraising boost

Australian online event venue sourcing platform startup Venuemob today announced it has secured AU$530,000 in its second round of capital raising, bringing its total fundraising capital to date up to AU$980,000.

The second round of funding was led by local investment group Sydney Angels and complements the AU$450,000 the startup raised during its initial November 2012 round, which was led by the Optus Innov8 seed program.

Venuemob is an online platform that allows users to search and filter available event, function and meeting venues. The platform serves as a two-way portal, with profiled venues able to promote their offerings to Venuemob's user base.

Venuemob said it would use the funding to fuel its growth in the corporate events sector along with further advancements to its technology platform.

Sydney Angels members and the Sydney Angels Sidecar Fund provided the majority investment for this round. Angel investor Adrian Bunter said that Venuemob’s model was of interest to Sydney Angels due to its positioning in an unsaturated marketplace.

"The digital space for venue sourcing is relatively untapped, leaving the door wide open for a brand such as Venuemob to structure an industry-defining platform," said Bunter. "Bringing such convenience to the often tedious task of venue research will be welcomed by the corporate and consumer community."

"Sydney Angels exists to provide funding and investor expertise to exciting Australian startups. It is clear that a number of our members strongly believe in the future prospects of Venuemob, who have already documented solid results from the first round of investment and are poised for rapid growth," he said.

A new version of Venuemob's technology platform launched this month, based on extensive feedback from the events community. The upgrade incorporates a new algorithm designed to improving the 'matching' mechanisms of the site.