Image: Monty founder Ashley Baxter (Business News Australia)
A Brisbane startup described as a “Fitbit for your waste” has raised $1 million to level-up from its consumer-facing offering into industrial operations, following years of research and development (R&D) to overcome the messy, unavoidable challenges of mixing electronics with waste.
Monty Compost founder Ashley Baxter recognises her sustainability tech company has moved slowly since 2019 in a market where entrepreneurs are encouraged to “move fast and break things”, to quote Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, but claims the latest raise validates her patient conviction to get the product right.
“Relative to the amount, this has been the easiest investment round for me to raise,” says Baxter, who only has one other full-time staff member, chief technology officer (CTO) Junior Joyce.
“Everyone says it’s such a hard time, but I think the reason why it was so much easier this time to get amazing new investors and existing investors on board is because what we’re doing is so practical and real, while still being a major commercial opportunity.”
The latest round was led by Skalata with participation from Antler as one of its first investments via a new partnership with the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC), as well as a follow-up investment from early supporter UniQuest and angel investors.
These backers join others such as Brisbane family office ACAC Innovation, Mandalay Ventures Partners and climate angel syndicate EnergyLab.
