FinTech Australia has released its formal position on the RBA’s review of merchant card payment costs and surcharging, advocating for an approach which keeps competition high but does not place an outright ban on surcharging. The view was formed after months of consulting with the peak body’s member base of over 400 companies and commissioning… Read more »
Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci, who departed the grocery retailer in February with a $24 million golden handshake, not long after vacating the chair during a notorious Four Corners interview about grocery prices, has put some of that windfall to use backing a $2 million Seed round for a startup taking on Salesforce’s Slack and Meta’s… Read more »
A nine-year-old startup creating no code software platforms for the construction sector has raised $27.5 million in a Series A. The round for Sitemate was led by Blackbird, supported by fellow existed investors Shearwater Capital and Marbruck. The cash will go to product and engineering as well as expanding its go-to-market presence and customer base… Read more »
A Brisbane startup developing wearables to monitor hydration in people has raised $8 million from a range of sports stars and others. The round for WearOptimo was backed by healthcare providor Aspen Medical and former F1 driver Mark Webber, existing investors, as well as 1990s Newcastle Knights star Adam ‘Mad Dog’ MacDougall, who went on… Read more »
Victorian startup agency LaunchVic has added four new directors to its board as it gears up for 2025 with a revised focus. They are: Charlie Day: CEO of Monash University spinout Jupiter Ionics and former CEO of Innovation & Science Australia . Chaman Sidhu: Former Chief Legal and Company Secretary roles at Xero, Envato, and… Read more »
Schools-focused digital skills e-learning platform in Grok Academy has survived a near-death experience following allegations of inappropriate behaviour by its founder and former CEO, is rebuilding under the ownership and management of Adelaide’s KIK Innovation. KIK, which delivers the tuition-free coding school 42 Adelaide, stuck a deal to acquire Grok Academy last month. It came… Read more »
Startup builder Beanstalk Ventures recently harvested the first crop of agtech startups from its latest program, the Drought Venture Studio, a 12-week program backed by the federal government’s Future Drought Fund. Eight startups and their leaders were selected for the recent Innovation Showcase, whittled down from 24 chosen for the inaugural program from among 200… Read more »
Twelve-year-old Melbourne EV charging business Jet Charge has raised $72 million after a year-long funding hunt, securing Mirova, an affiliate of global asset manager Natixis, as its lead investor. Existing backers the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), RACV (the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria) and Kilara Capital also hit the EFT button once again. Mirova’s… Read more »
Sydney marketing technology startup Upflowy is about to release an AI-enabled marketing copilot, called ‘Psyke’, to help agencies, marketing teams, and companies create content that’s on-brand in hours, not weeks. Cofounder and CEO Guillaume Ang said Upflowy’s focus is delivering trust in AI at scale. “We help companies do the marketing functions that take up a… Read more »
UNSW Sydney will be the first Asia-Pacific university collaborating with the US-based OpenAI to deploy ChatGPT Edu. The deal will allow UNSW researchers, educators and students to use OpenAI’s artificial intelligence tools on a secure platform, which means academics can protect their intellectual property and keep their prompt questions private while using the generative AI… Read more »
Geospatial tech startup Terria has spun out of science agency CSIRO, after raising $3 million in a Seed round backed by deep tech VC Main Sequence. Terria organises and visualises spatial data in digital twin formats to make data accessible It simplifies the complex process of creating digital twins, and online virtual replicas of buildings,… Read more »
A Brisbane startup bootstrapped for six years by its father and son cofounders has raised $22 million in its first venture round backed by several startup unicorn startup founders. The raise for Askable, which values the market research software company at $100 million, was led by Sydney VC AirTree with support from Kim Jackson’s Skip… Read more »
The best in the Australian climate tech ecosystem was honoured last week with eight awards honouring the startups and supporters who helped make it happen. The Australian Climate Tech Connect & Awards 2024 were hosted by Climate Salad, with the theme of connection. Climate Salad cofounder and CEO Mick Liubinskas said the day “delivered in spades”… Read more »
Industry group FinTech Australia has two new board members following its AGM, with Tiimely chief risk and compliance officer Jodi Ross and Tractor Ventures CEO and cofounder Jodie Imam signing on as directors. Chair Sarah Gorman said the candidates nominated this year were all women 2024. “Both Jodi and Jodie bring a wealth of experience… Read more »
An eight-year-old health tech startup helping elderly people live safely at home has scored $2 million in funding, led by Breakthrough Victoria. Umps Health is developing sensors and AI for proactive aged care at home. Breakthrough Victoria invested alongside Intervalley Ventures, with follow-on funding from existing investors Sprint Ventures, the Cerebral Palsy Alliance, the 5Point… Read more »
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