Michael Batko on Hourglass AI and why AI startups may not need VC.

Michael Batko is the founder of Hourglass AI, which helps Australian companies find, build and run the AI their whole team uses, so every hour goes on the work that actually matters. Before Hourglass he led the Startmate accelerator as CEO until December 2025, investing in 250 companies over eight years.

In this episode of Fintech Chatter, Michael breaks down how Australian VC funds deploy their money, why AI-native startups may not need funding, and what that does to valuations.

What we discuss.

• Why Australian venture capital is only about 13 years old.
• How a $1 billion fund splits into $200 million for first cheques and $800 million for follow-ons.
• Why Australian companies still raise Series B and beyond from US investors.
• How the tech stock crash froze Startmate’s $15 million continuity fund overnight.
• Why AI-native startups may never need a funding round.
• What $50 million to $100 million seed valuations do to a fund’s returns.
• How startups give people more responsibility and a steeper learning curve than a 20,000-person bank.
• Why each startup stage, from ten to a hundred to a thousand people, needs a different kind of leader.
• How CEO and board backing speeds up AI adoption across a company.

About Michael Batko.

Michael moved to Australia from Europe 12 years ago and worked at two Australian startups, one of which listed on the ASX.

Chapters.

• 00:00 Introduction
• 00:38 Meet Michael Batko
• 01:57 The Startmate model
• 04:50 Why VC missed fintech
• 07:34 Three stages of Australian VC
• 10:59 Rate rises and the funding freeze
• 13:40 AI and the VC model
• 16:33 Bootstrapping and valuations
• 18:49 What VC optimises for
• 26:00 Why talent joins startups
• 27:20 Startup stage and fit
• 31:06 Hourglass AI
• 33:34 Giving Australia its agency back
• 39:02 Don’t wait for government
• 40:00 Where to find Michael

Links from this episode.

• Michael Batko on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/batkomichael/
• Hourglass AI: https://thehourglass.ai
• Tier One People: https://tieronepeople.com

This show is brought to you by Tier One People, where we work with fintech companies to find the 1% who redefine what’s possible. If you’re scaling your leadership team, start at tieronepeople.com.