Industry landscapes
The companies, capital and talent shaping retail in Melbourne. Find the leaders. Understand the segments. See where the activity is.
An industry ecosystem,
measured in context.
24 featured companies from the funding, hiring, revenue and team-size leaderboards.
Locked revenue figures are available in Radar; the eight company financial previews stay the same throughout this page. A dash means the figure is outside these featured lists. Revenue years vary by company; the figures are not a like-for-like revenue comparison. Compare annual accounts ↗
No company example met every recorded classification, independence and public-profile gate in this snapshot. The live directory may have newer qualifying companies.
Explore classified startups in Radar ↗A few useful ratios bring the size of this ecosystem into perspective.
12 of 734 tracked companies have open roles.
55 of 734 tracked companies have a recorded round.
Share of disclosed capital received by the three largest recorded recipients.
Midpoint of 63 rounds with a disclosed amount.
Scale is concentrated. Opportunity is broader. The three largest funding recipients hold 71.1% of disclosed capital, while 92.5% of tracked companies have no recorded funding round.
Explore the segments →Recorded company formation and disclosed funding across the complete annual series shown.
Sum of recorded funding rounds · USD
| Year | Funding (USD) | Founded | Raising |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | $49.01M | 48 | 8 |
| 2017 | $18.58M | 48 | 6 |
| 2018 | $35.26M | 51 | 7 |
| 2019 | $144.91M | 37 | 5 |
| 2020 | $394.5M | 68 | 4 |
| 2021 | $77.4M | 46 | 9 |
| 2022 | $68.9M | 31 | 5 |
| 2023 | $5.26M | 29 | 5 |
| 2024 | $43.16M | 26 | 5 |
| 2025 | $1.68M | 5 | 1 |
Share of all disclosed company funding.
76 recorded rounds since 2016
Recorded participation in retail company rounds since 2016.
Backed by .
Participating investors were not recorded in this snapshot.
Backed by Blackbird Ventures and King River and others.
Backed by CommBank.
Backed by Whiteoak and One Ventures and others.
Backed by Blackbird Ventures and AirTree and others.
Backed by AirTree and Insight Partners and others.
Backed by One Ventures and Andrew Walsh and others.
Backed by Aria Growth Partners.
Backed by SecondQuarter Ventures and Salta and others.
Backed by Geoff Tarrant.
The measured Australia identity-to-filing probe did not produce a qualifying designated legal or national-ID join: bare ticker overlaps lack a recorded ASX exchange designation and are not designated legal or national identifiers.
How the Melbourne companies on this page show up online: the sites people visit, the apps they install, and how often those apps ship.
32 of the 734 companies on this page carry a measured traffic record (4.4%); these are the largest of those, by monthly visits. The median among them is 394,648 visits.
| Company | Monthly visits | Authority | Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|
| JB Hi-Fijbhifi.com.au | 21,991,683 | 80 | 64.3% |
| Kogankogan.com | 4,685,062 | 51 | 67.4% |
| Cettirecettire.com | 4,135,386 | 42 | 72.6% |
| Adore Beautyadorebeauty.com.au | 2,057,944 | 52 | 84.4% |
| Abacusabacus.co | 1,410,313 | 38 | 94.4% |
| Flippaflippa.com | 1,270,171 | 49 | 31.3% |
| Platypus Shoesplatypusshoes.com.au | 1,076,443 | 45 | 78% |
| Witcherywitchery.com.au | 917,626 | 49 | 82.1% |
| EQLeql.com | 745,156 | 42 | 74.3% |
| Cool Shirtzshirtz.cool | 744,803 | 41 | 73.8% |
Visits and authority are third-party web estimates, not company-reported figures.
42 of these companies (5.7%) publish at least one Android app — 86 apps in all, carrying 38.5M installs between them.
| App | Installs | Rating | Store category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Afterpay: Pay over timeAfterpay | 14.7M | 4 | Shopping |
| Baby Phone Game for KidsPenguin Apps | 6.4M | 3.9 | Educational |
| Afterpay. Buy now, pay it in 4Afterpay | 5.9M | 4.3 | Shopping |
| Feed Baby - Baby TrackerFeed Baby | 2.3M | 4.3 | Parenting |
| Kogan.com ShoppingKogan | 1.5M | 4.4 | Shopping |
| Spelling Games for Kids & ParePenguin Apps | 1.2M | 4.2 | Educational |
| Story Books For Kids & ParentsPenguin Apps | 1.2M | 3.9 | Educational |
| Puzzle Games for KidsPenguin Apps | 1.1M | 4.3 | Educational |
| Baby FlashCards for KidsPenguin Apps | 782.4K | 3.1 | Educational |
| HomeXplor | 604.5K | 4.7 | Education |
Installs are lifetime totals to date at the June 2026 store reading — a measure of reach, not of people using an app today.
The busiest app inside each of this page’s own segments, with the quarterly release trend behind it (2023Q1–2026Q2).
| Segment | Apps | Installs | Leading app | Release trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| In Store Retail Tech | 36 | 20.7M | Afterpay: Pay over time 14.7M | |
| Payments | 6 | 20.6M | Afterpay. Buy now, pay it in 4 5.9M | |
| E-Commerce Enablers | 4 | 20.6M | VaocherApp 235 | |
| Mom & Baby Care | 11 | 14.1M | Baby Phone Game for Kids 6.4M | |
| Pre-K Edtech | 9 | 11.7M | Spelling Games for Kids & Pare 1.2M | |
| Mobile Gaming | 8 | 11.6M | Story Books For Kids & Parents 1.2M | |
| Disease Self Management | 3 | 2.4M | Feed Baby - Baby Tracker 2.3M | |
| Horizontal E-Commerce | 7 | 1.8M | Kogan.com Shopping 1.5M |
A company can carry several segment tags, so these rows overlap and should not be added together. Trend lines are zero-based and share one quarter grid, so a flat line is a quiet segment, not a missing one.
New apps published, beside apps whose most recent update landed in that quarter — the second bar is how much of the shelf is still being maintained.
Darker bars are new releases, lighter bars apps updated. 56 of 86 apps carry a release date. The series ends at 2025Q4, the last quarter that closed before the June 2026 reading.
Explore the segments behind the headline numbers.
Rank segments by scale, hiring or disclosed funding.
Companies can sit in several segments. Counts and funding overlap.
The largest measured segment in this report snapshot.
5 companies hiring · $204.95M disclosed funding
Explore in RadarCommon revenue models; a company can use more than one.
Recorded corporate activity linked to companies in this landscape.
Nick Molnar and Anthony Eisen listed their buy-now-pay-later business Afterpay on the ASX in 2016 with a modest $25 million public offering.
Frasers Group plc has acquired a 14.65 per cent stake in Accent Group Limited
Cuatrecasas has advised Cleon Capital, the Italian-Spanish advisor specializing in European companies, in the purchase of Lexer, a technological and comprehensive leader in legal services and recovery for companies.
Just Group plc (“Just”) shareholders voted in favor of Brookfield Wealth Solutions’ (“BWS”) acquisition of the company at the Court Meeting and General Meetings held on September 19, 2025.
Dollarama Inc. has signed a deal to buy Australian discount retailer The Reject Shop for $233 million.
Heinemann bought out James Richardson Group’s shares in the JV partnership, leading JR/Duty Free Israel and its businesses to become a 100% subsidiary of the Hamburg-headquartered travel retailer
Just a while back, we also reported about how Fresho secured $17M to empower fresh food wholesale with AI-enabled ordering.
Zitcha has secured $15 million Series A funding, led by US investment firm VMG Partners, to accelerate growth in the North American retail media market.
Cettire founder Dean Mintz has emerged as the buyer of almost $16 million of the company’s stock in the last two days, purchases that have propped up the share price despite the failure of auditors to sign off on the luxury fashion retailer’s accounts.
JB Hi-Fi sales up almost 7% to $1.94 billion the six months to December 31, as appliances demand booms. HY14 net profit also soaring 10% to $90.3 m.
Top 10 categories among 151 recorded events in the 24-month window.
1 companies with recorded IPO activity
IPO · ASX1 reports
10 tracked people moves
Appointment Independent Non-Executive Director
Retirement Previously Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee
Appointment Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee
Appointment APAC Commercial Director
Appointment Chief Commercial Officer
Resignation Previously Group CEO
Appointment Group CEO
Resignation
Products, platforms and features in the recorded window
Electronics
Product
2 recorded customer wins
Customer: frasers groupRetail
Customer: australian venue coRetail media
1 companies with reported reductions
Scale not stated rolescost reduction
7 recorded events
Subject to investigation for possible insider tradingAustralian Securities and Investments Commission
Investigation ongoingAustralian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic)
pending approval
fined for failing to lodge audited financial reportsAustralian Securities and Investments Commission
2 tracked suits
suspected Corporations Act breaches involving trades in Accent Group\'s securitiesRegulatory · Ongoing
Regulatory probe into BNPL practicesRegulatory ·
Reported company results in the recorded window.
Median across 50 reported growth observations; companies may contribute multiple periods.
Company-linked deal reports; status is preserved as recorded.
| Acquirer → target | Status | Date | Value / context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brookfield Wealth Solutions (BWS)→The Just Group ↗ | Announced | 2026-01-20 | Not stated in snapshot |
| cleon capital→Lexer ↗ | 2025-10-31 | Not stated in snapshot | |
| bidco→The Just Group ↗ | Announced | 2025-07-31 | Not stated in snapshot |
| dollarama→The Reject Shop ↗ | Completed | 2025-07-22 | Not stated in snapshot |
| square→Afterpay ↗ | Announced | 2025-01-22 | $29.0B |
| gebr. heinemann→James Richardson ↗ | 2024-12-11 | Not stated in snapshot |
A discussion or rumour is not a completed transaction. An unstated value is not zero.
Recorded hiring and workforce signals from the available source snapshot.
No repeated job title is supported by this snapshot.
0 tracked postings mention remote work.
| Company | Open roles |
|---|---|
| Bevilles ↗ | 3 |
| Saint Clair ↗ | 3 |
| The Sheet Society ↗ | 2 |
| Hairhouse ↗ | 2 |
| Accent Group ↗ | 1 |
| Flippa ↗ | 1 |
| SkinBRO ↗ | 1 |
| Alpaka Gear ↗ | 1 |
| Company | Employees |
|---|---|
| JB Hi-Fi ↗ | 12,564 |
| Accent Group ↗ | 2,180 |
| Hairhouse ↗ | 655 |
| Bevilles ↗ | 300 |
| GRBA ↗ | 282 |
| Kogan ↗ | 270 |
| Shaver Shop ↗ | 201 |
| Fresho ↗ | 68 |
257 founders and chief executives across 202 companies.
Block, ex-Founder BeShop. University of Sydney BCom 2011
Ex-CEO Clamms Seafood, Yabby Blue. Monash University 2000
Ex-Co-Founder & CEO Bluesky, UniSquare, Melbourne University Zero Emissions Vehicle Group. University of Melbourne MEng 2013
Ex-Melbourne Health. University of Melbourne MBBS 2009, PhD 2019
Lexer, ex-Experian Marketing Services, ex-Experian Footfall, University of Technology Sydney, 2004
Edith Cowan University
Eql, ex-Google, ex-Clemenger Bbdo, University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School, 2014
Zitcha, ex-Tiger Pistol, ex-Geotoko, Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance, 2008
ex- Rationale Skincare, MECCA Brands, Napoleon Perdis Cosmetics, Evyn Block Communications. University of Technology Sydney BA 2007…
Co-Founder SitePoint.com, Unstoppable Domains, ex-Co-Founder Hired, 99designs.
TBG Diagnostics, Ex-Lanka Graphite, OYOB Property Group, CEO Newsnet. Curtin University Perth 1988
Co-Founder Supernova.xyz, bellabox, ex- Fox Interactive Media, Jamba . University of Melbourne BA 2001, University of Amsterdam MA 2005
21 profiles with education records.
5 profiles with prior-work records.
Profiles cover recorded founders and leaders; contact details remain in Radar.
38,212 articles in the measured 12-month window.
Retail coverage tagged Melbourne · articles per complete quarter
| Quarter | Articles |
|---|---|
| 2021Q2 | 10,329 |
| 2021Q3 | 11,199 |
| 2021Q4 | 9,981 |
| 2022Q1 | 14,732 |
| 2022Q2 | 9,550 |
| 2022Q3 | 10,773 |
| 2022Q4 | 18,729 |
| 2023Q1 | 22,761 |
| 2023Q2 | 9,919 |
| 2023Q3 | 11,789 |
| 2023Q4 | 11,071 |
| 2024Q1 | 13,142 |
| 2024Q2 | 11,989 |
| 2024Q3 | 10,222 |
| 2024Q4 | 14,210 |
| 2025Q1 | 16,892 |
| 2025Q2 | 8,014 |
| 2025Q3 | 11,295 |
| 2025Q4 | 8,822 |
| 2026Q1 | 11,191 |
Article volume measures coverage, not market sales.
246 recorded company events across 16 companies; percentages use that event total.
Retail coverage tagged Melbourne · ranked by full-period article count.
Recent and prior counts use the source comparison windows.
Australia comparison coverage
| Keyword | Recent | Prior | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| countries | 4,005 | 1,939 | 107% |
| domestic robots | 3,107 | 41 | 7478% |
| toy robots | 3,084 | 27 | 11322% |
| ashes moments | 1,190 | 770 | 55% |
| angel investors | 1,016 | 367 | 177% |
| conceptual rock albums | 990 | 26 | 3708% |
| overseas study | 970 | 686 | 41% |
| ashes urn | 896 | 392 | 129% |
| ashes records | 856 | 403 | 112% |
| semester abroad | 816 | 523 | 56% |
| test cricket | 5,973 | 11,557 | -48% |
| test innings | 4,544 | 8,872 | -49% |
| 5-day cricket | 3,720 | 7,777 | -52% |
| odi cricket | 2,934 | 6,204 | -53% |
| limited overs cricket | 2,803 | 6,183 | -55% |
Australia comparison coverage
territories, disputed islands, test cricket
27.0% critical · 19.2% positivetest cricket, test innings, odi world cup
30.4% critical · 42.5% positivecore inflation rate, inflation outlook, league expansion news
30.9% critical · 46.7% positiveRetail coverage tagged Melbourne. Topic labels describe recorded classifications and can include broad context.
Clear definitions for making better comparisons.
It measures the tracked company ecosystem, recorded funding, hiring and other available evidence. It is not a market-size estimate.
No. A company can belong to several segments, so segment counts and funding can overlap.
A dash or unavailable panel means the current reviewed source snapshot does not support that figure.
Company ecosystem snapshot: 1 September 2026. Funding is recorded in USD; filed accounts retain their stated currency and reporting basis. Each section identifies its own coverage. The news and research behind these sections is explorable in Prism.
Canonical landscape ↗