Westpac hit the EFT button on $10 million for the online legal services scaleup Lawpath, and plans to entice business customers by offering them subscriptions to the legal compliance platform. The bank’s acting business and wealth boss Peter Herbert, said the exclusive partnership will give startups and small-to-medium sized businesses access to affordable legal services,… Read more »
A health app focused on tracking the menstrual cycle to deal with issues such as endometriosis has raised $1.7 million to launch an artificial intelligence (AI) health assistant for women. The round for Ovum was led by impact VC Giant Leap, supported by Antler, Victoria and Robyn Denholm’s Wollemi Capital, Nakatomi Venture Studio, LaunchVic’s female… Read more »
Venture capital alternative Lighter Capital has extended another $30 million fund offering non-dilutive funding to startups, with the Victorian government and iPartners, The 15-year-old revenue-based financier, originally from New York, launched in Australia in 2021, and was subsequently backed by Invest Victoria, the state government’s investment attraction agency, and iPartners, with an initial $30 million fund.… Read more »
Australian investors poured $4.106 billion into 477 private investments last year according to data analysed in Techboard’s Australian Startup Funding in Review – 2024. Techboard cofounder and CEO Peter van Bruchem said he focused on additional ASIC-sourced data last year, after publishing The Fintech Funding Project 2023 Report: Shedding Light on Investment into Australian Fintechs,… Read more »
An expat Australian scaleup using in-store advertising to bolster retail sales has raised US$25 million ($40m) in a Series B. The raise for 13-year-old Melbourne-founded, Dallas-based Qsic was led by UK investment firm Hedosophia. The platform, cofounded began as a music streaming service in pubs and clubs in 2012, and is now responsible for the… Read more »
New Zealand EV charging startup Kwetta has raised A$15.8 million (NZ$17.5m/US$10.5m) in a Series A to tackle grid optimisation in the European market to power up electric buses and trucks. The round was led by the Kiwi outpost of Sydney fund Blackbird, with support from Clean Energy Finance Corporation-backed Virescent Ventures, Icehouse Ventures, and existing… Read more »
A Sydney startup developing AI ‘co-pilot’ systems to automate medical reports for specialist doctors has raised $2 million from leaders in surgical healthcare. Medow Health AI was cofounded by Joel Freiberg, who has Crohn’s disease, and his brother Josh, inspired by the time their father, a respiratory physician, spent doing admin after work. Clinicians who’ve… Read more »
Main Sequence-backed Levur, a biotech startup looking to create a palm oil alternative from yeast using fermentation, has won $100,000 consulting advice from the KPMG Nature Positive Prize. The Sydney startup, founded Tom Collier and Joanne Barber, was part of the SparkLabs Cultiv8 program last year, and was among five Australian startups selected from among… Read more »
South Australia’s annual startup and innovation festival, SOUTHSTART, has announced the first round of inspirational thinkers and techsperts taking part in the three-day event. This year’s conversations will span everything from regenerative technology and ethical AI, to the future of funding and how technology can be a bastion for good in industries like climate, education… Read more »
Clean tech founder and investor Monique Conheady has added another directorial arrow to her corporate quiver, joining the board of Wollongong hydrogen electrolyser startup Hysata. Conheady was cofounder of the pioneering carshare startup Flexicar, acquired by Hertz Australia, and now chairs companies Energy Safe Victoria and JET Charge, as well as being a Breakthrough Victoria… Read more »
Canberra has a new think tank for tech policy founded by three women to offer advice on the way forward in a digital world. The Tech Policy Design Institute (TPDi) bills itself as Australia’s first non-partisan, independent think tank focused on best practice technology policy. Its cofounders, Johanna Weaver, Zoe Jay Hawkins and Sunita Kumar, said… Read more »
A mining tech startup spun out of Monash University has raised $27.5 million in a Series A. The round for ElectraLith was led by CSIRO-backed deep tech VC Main Sequence, with existing investors Rio Tinto, IP Group and Monash Uni also participating along with Chevron Technology Ventures, Hostplus, Fathom Fund Vista Energy, Marathon Petroleum, CIA-backed US… Read more »
Commiserations – you haven’t been selected for Startmate or Techstars or Y Combinator or Antler, and you’re not sure what to do next with your startup after slogging your guts out. BrandHook founder Pip Stocks knows the feeling and wants to do something about it. So she’s launching the 48 Hour Startup Accelerator, a two-day… Read more »
With a new year, ripe with possibilities, underway, Swinburne entrepreneurship expert Bridgette Engeler is urging small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs to think beyond 2025 to set themselves up for future success. “Everyone is probably thinking about the coming 12 months,” she says. “But what’s on the radar beyond that? Is your business future-fit? You should… Read more »
Jeanette Cheah’s edtech startup HEX has forged a partnership with the Toyota Community Trust to launch Highway to STEM, a free program that demystifies STEM career pathways for female and non-binary students from regional schools. The project will offer free STEM career training to 1000 students across Australia. HEX founder and CEO Jeanette Cheah said the… Read more »
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