Blackbird’s come-to-Jesus moment six months ago, when it tipped $60 million from its 2022 follow-on fund into Airwallex, is now being pitched to the VC’s investors as its rising star. Details from the annual Blackbird Ventures investor day were leaked to Capital Brief’s Bronwen Clune, and included details of Canva’s performance, with the VC flagging… Read more »
If you’ve been in the workforce for more than about five minutes, you’ve met them: The boss who thought the title automatically made them brilliant – and would like you to know about it – the same one who called “urgent” meetings that could have been an email, or could have waited until next week. The… Read more »
South Asian Australian founders have raised at least $1.6 billion in investment through to 2025, in fields as varied as artificial intelligence, mental healthcare, and sustainability, according to a new report celebrating the local startup sector. The figure demonstrates the growing influence of South Asian founders, says Sandeep Varma, whose SAARI Collective published a list… Read more »
A $60 million investment fund backing construction tech to tackle housing development in Australia has been launched by Boman Group. The fund, in partnership with JPCX, the investment arm of logistics and building supplies company JPC, has already completed its first investment in an Australian modular housing company to help it scale. Boman Group founder… Read more »
Alex Miller was having rapid success with his subscription management platform Hudled when he spotted a nugget of insight in that startup and launched a second, Rechargly. Like a Marvel movie spinoff, he’s now enjoying even more success, as Alex explains on episode 39 of Startup 360. Listen here Cohosts Simon Thomsen and Majella Campbell… Read more »
Back in the depths of raising funds during Australia’s funding winter, I was given some unexpected but prescient advice by an overseas investor: “Don’t come here.” My co-founder Skye and I were on the outskirts of London and meeting with the General Partner at one of UK’s largest fintech funds, canvassing the idea of expanding… Read more »
It’s not every day you get to pitch for US$1 million in investment. But then again, the Startup World Cup in San Francisco is not your everyday startup pitch comp. Three Australian startups – Adiona, Deeligence and GravityFit – were among 98 finalists from 100 regional competitions across 60+ countries to fly to San Francisco… Read more »
Melbourne software unicorn Culture Amp has shed another 6% of its workforce, with the loss of around 60 jobs. The employee engagement platform cut 9% of its workforce – 90 roles – in 2023, so the latest losses suggest the business grew back to around 1000 employees over the last 2.5 years. Previously 36 roles… Read more »
A Sydney startup founder’s post about “fully adopting” a Silicon Valley-style work culture has sparked a debate about long hours in tech and whether work-life balance clashes with ambition. After arriving in San Francisco two weeks ago, Lyra co-founder and COO Anh Dao posted that he had experienced a “wake-up call” on work culture, and… Read more »
The global investment frenzy around AI has seen companies valued at trillions of dollars and eye-watering projections of how it will boost economic productivity. But in recent weeks the mood has begun to shift. Investors and CEOs are now openly questioning whether the enormous costs of building and running AI systems can really be justified… Read more »
For 60 years, Warren Buffett has written an annual letter to shareholders of the company he’s run since 1965, Berkshire Hathaway. He acquired the small textile company for US$18 a share to fire the CEO. Buffett subsequently described it as “the dumbest stock I ever bought” despite the fact that today, Berkshire Hathaway Class A… Read more »
When I began reading Elaine Castillo’s Moderation, a new American novel about the psychological damage of online moderation, I had to pause. I’d read novels that confronted difficult material before, but this one blurred the line between bearing witness and re-enacting pain. The book follows Girlie, a content moderator for a social media giant whose… Read more »
This week’s Startup 360 kicks off with cohost Simon Thomsen recounting the two days spent in the NSW Supreme Court this week as senior council for the liquidators of failed medtech StrongRoom AI probed cofounder and former CEO Max Mito, and director Divesh Sangvhi, about the potential insolvency of the business. Sangvhi sold his company,… Read more »
Let’s be honest, even just writing this sentence has meant engaging with some very basic artificial intelligence (AI) as the computer checks my spelling and grammar. Ultimately, the quality and integrity of the finished article are a human responsibility. But the questions this raises go well beyond everyday word processing. Powerful AI is now changing… Read more »
This is part three of Christie Jenkins’ five-part series on bravery. It is inspired by her chat with Crista Samaras, the founder of Brave Enterprises. Trampolining was my first sport. For 17 years, I did flips every day. “Does it feel like flying?” people ask me. From their view, I get why. I’m often 10 meters… Read more »
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