# Michael Batko

> Michael Batko is a seed investor in Sydney backing SaaS, Health Care and Manufacturing. See 13 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Location: Sydney, Australia
- Total investments: 13
- Last investment: Aug 2026
- Lead investor: 8%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/batkomichael/
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MichaelBatko1
- Website: https://mbwhatsnew.com/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michibatko

Michael Batko is a seed investor in Sydney focused on SaaS and Health Care. 2x founder (both acquired). Former CEO of Startmate (2019-2025), Australia and New Zealand's largest community-driven seed fund and accelerator.Led Startmate from $200k to $3m+ in annual revenue as a profitable business. Backed 228+ companies across 16 Accelerator cohorts with first cheques, raised $50M+ in VC funds, and built a portfolioworth $4.5B+. Fund returns include 9x DPI (2012 fund), 6x DPI (2013 fund) - Top 5% of global VC funds.Previously grew Expert360 from a team of 10 to 50+ including a $13M AUD Series B from AirTree Ventures. Early team at Mad Paws (now ASX-listed).Founded Startup Striders (1,300+ members across 10+ cities, acquired by Currents in Nov 2025) and Puddle Pod (500+ customers, acquired by Founder Foundry in Dec 2024).Currently an executive coach for startup CEOs and a committee member on the Australian Government's Industry Growth Program, approving $392M in startup grants.Originally from Poland, grew up in Austria, now based in Sydney, Australia. First Class Honours in Economics and Management (Aston University, UK), CEMS Master's in International Management (WU Vienna / Stockholm School of Economics).

## Round sizes

| Stage | Round size |
| --- | --- |
| Seed | $1.1M–$1.5M |

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| SaaS | 3 | 23% |
| Health Care | 3 | 23% |
| Manufacturing | 3 | 23% |
| Artificial Intelligence | 3 | 23% |
| B2B | 2 | 15% |

32 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 5 | 38% |
| Pre-Seed | 5 | 38% |
| Venture - Series Unknown | 2 | 15% |
| Funding Round | 1 | 8% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Australia | 7 | 54% |
| New Zealand | 3 | 23% |
| United States | 3 | 23% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Vexev | Vexev is on a mission to introduce innovative imaging diagnostic tools. | $6M | Venture - Series Unknown | Aug 06, 2026 |  |
| VXT | VXT is a telecommunications and software firm that provides telephone systems and contact management solutions. Customers utilize VXT applications for making phone calls, conducting video conferences, and facilitating internal communication with their teams. Additionally, VXT enhances these services with industry-specific automation through the useof integrations and artificial intelligence tools. | $1.1M | Seed | Apr 12, 2024 |  |
| Critical | Critical is a social enterprise that provides recycled furniture and homewares made from plastic waste. | $1.5M | Seed | Apr 01, 2023 |  |
| Andromeda Robotics | Andromeda Robotics is a Melbourne-based startup that designs and builds AI-powered companion robots, with the goal of improving well-being and reducing loneliness, particularly among the elderly and children in hospitals and care centers. |  | Pre-Seed | Jan 01, 2021 |  |
| ZeroJet | ZeroJet is an electric jet propulsion systems developing company for boats. They develop jet propulsion for the marine industry's transition to sustainable energy with electric jet propulsion systems. |  | Seed | Sep 10, 2020 |  |
| SmartrMail | SmartrMail is an email marketing app designed to get more sales and make email easier for e-commerce stores. They offer automated product recommendation e-mails, quicker e-mail newsletters, and advanced abandoned cart recovery. |  | Venture - Series Unknown | Jul 31, 2020 |  |
| DDLoop | DDLoop is creating the cutting-edge data platform that lawyers require for due diligence. DDLoop's legal data analysis platform delivers information in a straightforward, easy-to-understand style and identifies prevalent concerns sought by lawyers. | $81K | Pre-Seed |  |  |
| 5B | 5B specializes in the deployment of large-scale solar with prefabricated and pre-wired ground mount technology. |  | Seed |  |  |
| Workyard | Workyard is a staffing platform that makes growing and managing the construction workforce easy. Workyard is a game-changing staffing solution that helps construction companies source and manages labor for any project. They're combining industry experience in construction, technology, and financial services to re-invent the hiring and payrollexperience for everyone involved — meaning more construction projects completed and more workers with great jobs.It was founded by Nic De Bonis and Alexandra De Bonis in 2015 and is headquartered in San Mateo, California. |  |  |  |  |
| JustFund | JustFund is a grantmaking platform that helps grantmakers by removing barriers from moving resources and distributes funds to grant-seekers. |  | Pre-Seed |  |  |

10 of 13 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Soul Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/soul-capital) — VC Fund, 4 deals together
- [Clare Foundation](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/clare-foundation-3562) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [K1W1](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/k1w1) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Anglican Care Waiapu](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/anglican-care-waiapu) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [Artesian VC](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/artesian-capital-management) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

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## Featured in investor lists
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## FAQ

### What does Michael Batko invest in?

Michael Batko invests primarily in SaaS, Health Care and Manufacturing startups, most often at Seed and Pre-Seed stage. Most of the 13 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Australia. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### What is Michael Batko's check size?

Michael Batko typically joins rounds of $1.1M–$1.5M at Seed. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds Michael Batko participates in.

### When did Michael Batko last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Michael Batko closed in Aug 2026. Shizune tracks 13 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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