Logistics scheduling software startup Veyor Digital has raised $2.75 million in a pre-Series A with its eyes on US market expansion. The round was led by Sydney VC Investible via its Early Stage Fund 2 alongside members of its Club Investible syndicate and other angel investors, as well as Aconex cofounders Leigh Jasper and Rob… Read more »
Melbourne startup WorkRex has raised $220,000 from early stage VC Skalata for its all-in-one customer marketing platform for small business. Cofounders Jing Chen, Lance Qian, and Myron Liu – an optometrist, ex-McKinsey consultant, and software engineer respectively – developed the platform after a deep dive into how small-to-medium-sized are struggling to keep up with growing… Read more »
FinTech Australia has announced the finalists for Australia’s most prestigious annual fintech business awards, The Finnies. This year’s awards attracted more than 322 entries across 19 categories, resulting in shortlist of 154 finalists. The Finnies are judged over two rounds by more than 70 experts from the fintech ecosystem. The first round saw around 30 judges… Read more »
One way South by Southwest (SXSW) Sydney is different to most tech and startup festivals is how it chooses its panels in a Survivor-meets-Eurovision way, with people asked to vote on the 1,100-odd submissions received to choose their favourite. The fortnight of voting in Session Select leads to LinkedIn being flooded with “please like me”posts… Read more »
Food distribution startup Prep has raised $200,000 from Melbourne VC Skalata to connect major food retailers, corporates and restaurants with emerging food brands. Prep enables food producers and brands to efficiently scale B2B distribution – anywhere – for a low margin. The platform integrates with a producer’s existing ordering systems, and is five times more… Read more »
One of Australia’s most-loved startup festivals _SOUTHSTART has forged a strategic partnership with the Adelaide Economic Development Agency to launch a new accelerator program. MASTERM!ND is a 5-month accelerator for up to 10 startups based in the South Australian capital. _SOUTHSTART co-director Danielle Seymour said the accelerator builds on the organisation’s commitment to catalysing innovation and… Read more »
Sydney startup Heatseeker, which uses AI to simplify business idea validation and market research, has launched the alpha version of its testing platform to help founders speed up the time to product launch. Heatseeker.ai was cofounded in 2023 by serial entrepreneurs Kate O’Keeffe and Fiona Triaca. They set out to develop a way to understand… Read more »
US climate tech investor Sophie Purdom has made her first international investment via her New York VC fund Planeteer Capital, leading a $5.3 million Seed round. Purdom visited Sydney late last year as a keynote speaker at Climate Salad‘s Climate Tech Festival, which featured more than 50 Australian climate tech startups. The one she’s picked… Read more »
A startup turning agricultural waste into activated carbon, which is used to filter environmental toxins, has raised $2.6 million in a Series A. Government-backed investment fund Breakthrough Victoria chipped in $1 million, joined by VCs Alberts Impact Ventures, Investible, Artesian and Startmate. The funds will support the testing and establishment of Bygen’s large-scale production plant,… Read more »
Western Australian self-manage care platform PlanCare has topped up its Seed round to $2.5 million from existing backer Purpose Ventures. The new Perth VC originally backed PlanCare in July 2023, and the additional funding is the first follow-on investment from Purpose. PlanCare founder Dave Newman previously ran Morning Startup for more than a decade and… Read more »
Victorian startup Diversity Atlas, a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) data analytics platform, has raised $6 million in a bridge round. The capital came via Canadian impact investment platform Gener8 VC. The Melbourne-based startup is looking to double the size of its current team of 35 as it expands into new markets in the EU and… Read more »
China’s Qitian Dasheng Network Technology is expanding its 72 Byte AI System for smart hotels and commercial buildings into Australia, with the help of a local AI expert. Launched in 2014 by entrepreneur Qi Wu (Allen), the Beijing and Shanghai-based company’s AI-powered IoT services are used by some of China’s leading hotel and real estate… Read more »
FinTech Australia is calling on the Federal government to address the challenging capital raising environment for startups and renew its support for Austrade’s effort to promote our local sector abroad. In its pre-budget submission tabled ahead of federal treasurer Jim Chalmers announcing his 2024 Budget on May 14, FinTech Australia CEO Rehan D’Almeida said the… Read more »
Startups in Western Australia looking to address biodiversity and the environment will get a helping hand thanks to a $7.2 million grant from the state government. The global tech investor and accelerator Founders Factory is setting up shop in Perth, as its first Australian base, with the funding. The WA government’s investment of $2.4 million… Read more »
StartSomeGood, the pioneering platform helping social entrepreneurs succeed, has been acquired by social innovation business General Good, founded by media entrepreneur Piers Grove. StartSomeGood CEO and cofounder Tom Dawkins said the strategic move will continue the commitment he started 13 years ago to building a social entrepreneurship movement, partnering with circular economy accelerator Boomerang Labs under… Read more »
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