GonGlobal lands A$1M investment to build needle-free IVF treatment
What's the deal? Melbourne startup GonGlobalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has secured a A$1 million investment to develop Ovulair, an IVF drug delivery system that lets patients inhale medicines rather than inject them. Innovation VictoriaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and RMIT University are each contributing A$500,000, with the funding announced in September 2026.
Why now? The grant flows through Innovation Victoria's A$100 million University Innovation Platform. It pairs RMIT's engineering expertise with GonGlobal, which was co-founded by Dr Igor Gonda and his daughter Ellen after her IVF experience left her feeling like "a human pin cushion."
What's the endgame? IVF is physically and emotionally demanding, requiring many patients to endure hundreds of self-administered injections across multiple treatment cycles. GonGlobal aims to remove the needle from that process entirely.
Why it matters: Australia has one of the world's highest rates of IVF use, with more than 100,000 cycles performed each year. A needle-free alternative could reshape patient care in a large and growing market.
The signal: The round sits in roughly the 35th percentile by amount, modest even for early-stage grant funding. But it reflects Victoria's push to commercialise university research — a state now home to more than 4,400 startups valued at A$139 billion, with Melbourne ranked third globally for startup creation.
Read more: tlnews.com.au
Image credit: nenad53
