Global Day Zero Weekly – Australia goes quiet, Airwallex hits A$16B, and raises from France, India and Singapore …
Issue 03 – 28 June 2026 – For founders building beyond their own borders.
Welcome back to issue 03, where we feature Heiko Dalichau from HiCoData in our ecosystem profile – based out of Tokyo, Japan. Helping B2B companies, particularly manufacturers and international businesses in Japan, improve their marketing strategy, analytics, and reporting.
We feature bootstrapping story from a little while back – Cliniko
Raises in Aus incl. SavvyWise and Ovum AI, Japan like Rege Nephro Co., Ltd. and Arrowsmith Inc. and across the globe – from the likes of Alan, Mitigata™ – Full-Stack Cyber Resilience and H3 Zoom.
Events from Innovators Campus, GlobalDeal and Business in Japan.
Plus the usual global headlines, thought of the day and upcoming programs …
Not sure where your idea stands globally? Start with the free assessment with Global Day Zero → globaldayzero.com/#assessment
FX note: figures converted at approx A$1 = US$0.70 = ¥114. Rounded for readability.
👤 Ecosystem profile
Give us your 15 second intro and what you’re working on.
I’m Heiko, founder of HiCoData in Tokyo. I help B2B companies, particularly manufacturers and international businesses in Japan, improve their marketing strategy, analytics, and reporting. I’m currently building a fractional marketing leadership practice that combines hands-on execution with data-informed decision-making.
I studied electrical engineering and spent more than 20 years in the electronics industry before moving into digital marketing and analytics. Originally from Germany I serve the German engineer stereotype with focus on quality, logic, use of technology and lack of humor 😉
My northstar is to contribute to a more sustainable business environment and open societies.
Are you avoiding AI, somewhat into AI, or all in on AI?
As a solo entrepreneur I am all in on AI.
Where can people usually find you?
Online on LinkedIn. In person from Monday to Friday between Ningyocho, Nihonbashi and at TIB in Marunouchi
What’s one thing people find surprising about you?
I work as a hobby barista at a coffee shop in Tokyo Asakusabashi on Saturdays.
How can you help others, and what do you need help with?
I can help established companies and scale-ups with:
- Marketing strategy and fractional marketing leadership
- KPI design, analytics, and decision-ready reporting
- Google Analytics, Data Studio, and campaign measurement
- Connecting marketing activities more clearly to commercial outcomes
- Bridging communication between Japanese teams and international stakeholders
What do you currently need help with?
I am actively expanding my client base. If you are a founder or run a company in Japan that is struggling with marketing performance and visibility, I would be glad to hear about it.
🛠️ Bootstrapping spotlight
No term sheets. No board decks. Just revenue.
Cliniko (Melbourne): Bootstrapped practice-management software for allied-health and healthcare clinics. No managers, no investors and, per its founder, no intention of ever taking funding, now used by 65,000+ practitioners worldwide. (Back from 2016 – but even older stories are great to reflect on …) (SmartCompany) ↗
🇯🇵 Japan raises
Yoyogi Animation Group: ¥2.9B / A$25M / US$18M (growth round) Education-anchored entertainment IP group – anime and voice-actor schools plus 2.5D idol and artist management. (PR Times) ↗
Rege Nephro Co., Ltd.: ¥1.22B / A$11M / US$7.5M (warrant raise) Kyoto University iPS-cell startup developing kidney regenerative medicine and drug discovery. (Rege Nephro) ↗
Arrowsmith Inc.: ¥1.05B / A$9M / US$6M (Series A) Tsukuba drug-discovery startup using engineered bacteriophages against antibiotic-resistant infections. (PR Times) ↗
Takeaway: Japan’s biggest cheques this week went to deep science, not apps. Patient capital is alive when the moat is real.
🇦🇺 Australia raises
Airwallex: A$460M / US$322M / ¥52B (Series H) Melbourne-born global payments and financial-infrastructure fintech, now valued at A$16B after a 37% jump. (SmartCompany) ↗
Ovum AI: A$4M / US$2.8M / ¥456M (seed) AI-powered women’s health platform building a longitudinal dataset designed around women’s health. (SmartCompany) ↗
SavvyWise: A$1.56M / US$1.1M / ¥178M (equity crowdfunding) Perth AI tax-research platform for accountants; raised via OnMarket from 469 investors at a A$27.5M valuation. (Business News Australia) ↗
Takeaway: when home capital tightens, the globally-positioned players still raise. Airwallex didn’t wait for Australia to be ready.
🌏 Around the world
Alan (France): US$520M / A$740M / ¥85B (Series G) Digital health insurer turned AI-led healthcare platform combining insurance, care and prevention. (Sifted) ↗
Orange Health Labs (India): US$30M / A$43M / ¥4.9B (Series C) Full-stack diagnostics platform offering on-demand at-home blood-test sample collection. (Entrackr) ↗
Mitigata™ – Full-Stack Cyber Resilience (India): US$15M / A$21M / ¥2.4B (Series B) AI cyber-resilience platform and India’s first IRDAI-regulated broker focused on cyber insurance. (Business Standard) ↗
H3 Zoom (Singapore): US$3.6M / A$5M / ¥586M (Series A) Deep-tech firm using AI and computer vision for infrastructure inspection and asset management. (PR Newswire) ↗
Takeaway: the money printed everywhere but the Valley this week. France, India, Singapore. Your next customer or investor may not share your timezone.
🌐 Global headlines
Beyond the raises, the week that mattered.
Meta x CRED: Meta named CRED founder Kunal Shah global head of WhatsApp, the first Indian to run the 3-billion-user app, alongside a US$900M investment in his startup. (TechCrunch) ↗
Australia’s search age-check rules: From 27 June, Google, Bing and others must age-verify signed-in Australian users and filter results for under-18s, with fines up to A$50M per breach. (The Conversation) ↗
Qualcomm buys Modular (~US$3.9B): Qualcomm is acquiring Chris Lattner’s AI-software startup to build a CUDA alternative and strengthen its edge-to-cloud AI stack. (CNBC) ↗
Nvidia’s near-zero-water cooling: At London Climate Week, Nvidia published a warm-liquid cooling design for AI data centers, claiming up to 100% water-use reduction. (Tom’s Hardware) ↗
Thought of the week
Validate in your home market first.
Obviously – that’s where you prove the thing works. But don’t let it become the only market you think about.
If someone across the ocean finds you and wants to buy, of course you do business with them. Borders are a starting point, not a fence.
Programs open for application
The Global Day Zero Sprint – an 8-week cohort, built to run around a full-time job, that takes the idea you can’t shake and makes it clear, validated, and designed to travel from day zero. 8 founders, starts 22 July, applications close 17 July (only two spots include 1:1 access).
Not sure where your idea stands globally? Start with the free assessment → globaldayzero.com/#assessment
Upcoming sessions & events
World-Ready Pitch Night – 1 July, 7pm JST / 8pm AEST. Pitch in English, 3 minutes, live feedback from guest judge Ryan Ahamer on whether your positioning lands beyond home. Register on Luma
Build Global From Day One – 10 July, 6pm JST / 7pm AEST. Part 1 of our webinar series on designing your product, team and entity to travel from day one, with Karen Onuma (GlobalDeal) and me. Register on Luma
BlendTokyo #008: Bridging Cultures and Expanding Networks – 10 July, 6:00-9:00pm JST, SThree (Kabukiza Tower, Ginza). A relaxed, Business in Japan bilingual-friendly networking evening blending Japanese professionals and internationals living in Japan; ¥3,000 includes all-you-can-eat food and drinks. Register on Doorkeeper
That’s it from me and another global newsletter – hope it provided some updates and value.
Know a founder eyeing a second market? Send this their way.
And tell me in the comments: what market are you thinking about next?
Catch ya in the next one – cheers – Matt ☕️