Investment in Australia’s fintech sector in the first six months of 2019 was half the level of 12 months ago, but the second half of the year looks set for a dramatic improvement according to a new report from KPMG. Investors poured US$101.1 million into fintech in Australia in H1 2019, down from US$223m… Read more »
London’s Insurtech Gateway is launching its first international program in Australia Former Insurtech Australia CEO Simon O’Dell will run the incubator The program aims to support 4-6 startups over the next 2 years London’s Insurtech Gateway incubator is launching its first international program: Insurtech Gateway Australia. The venture will be based at Sydney’s Stone and… Read more »
A roundtable discussing funding for startups, featuring leading VC investors, will be held in Sydney next week. The roundtable series, presented by Techboard and RSM, will be held at Freelancer’s HQ at World Square, next Tuesday, August 6, 5-8pm. Techboard co-founder Peter van Bruchem said he designed the roundtables to be a twist on a panel… Read more »
Soho CEO Jonathan Lui. Photo: supplied Property tech startup Soho has signed more than 400 PRDnationwide real estate agents and 80 offices across Australia to its app, which founder Jonathan Lui describes as “LinkedIn for real estate”. The free social networking app has more than 30,000 users and has featured more than 350,000… Read more »
Judo Bank just smashed records for the largest individual private funding round by an Australian startup The $400 million includes international funds from Bain Capital The bank is focused on lending to SMEs and was granted its full banking license in April Judo is on track to lend $1 billion to small business by… Read more »
Payright co-founders Piers Redward and Myles Redward. Photo: supplied Melbourne-based payment instalments startup Payright has raised $27 million Series D funding in a mix of debt and equity as it pushes to grab a bigger slice of the buy now, pay later retail market. The three-year-old venture has now raised more than $55 million… Read more »
Atlassian’s market capitalisation has topped A$50 billion after revealing its latest quarterly earnings. Despite increased losses on last financial year, the Sydney-based tech giant impressed market analysts with its accelerated push into cloud computing to shift its revenue base from licensing fees to subscriptions. Total revenue hit US$1.21 billion for financial year 2019, beating… Read more »
Record amounts of capital are flowing into the Australian startup sector, but competition between venture capital (VC) firms keen to back a winner are pushing valuations beyond potential returns at an exit, the boss of Telstra Ventures believes. Matthew Koertge, co-managing director of the $735 million fund, told the AFR Telstra Ventures had walked away… Read more »
Hobart, Tasmania, where the economy is booming. Source: AdobeStock Victoria has the nation’s best performing economy, with NSW slipping from equal top spot in CommSec’s latest quarterly State of the States report. For the first time in three surveys, Victoria is number one, a position previously shared with its northern rival, while Tasmania, boosted by… Read more »
Australia’s consumer watchdog wants to lift the carpet on some of the world’s biggest and most powerful tech companies, especially Facebook and Google, to see how their greatest trade secrets work in sweeping changes to check their power in the nation’s digital economy. The final report of the landmark Australian Competition and Consumer Commission… Read more »
Here’s an astonishing number about Australia’s $2 trillion sharemarket: just 4% of people trade online annually, despite the fact that it’s 22 years since the CBA launched CommSec, now the country’s largest online stockbroking firm. So the Commonwealth’s broking arm has taken matters into its own hands try make online trading easier and also… Read more »
Telehealth startup Coviu has Swinburne’s National eTherapy Centre has added text chat to its video functions to help people with mental health issues feel more comfortable when they consult with clinicians. A recent spinout of CSIRO’s digital innovation arm, Data61, Coviu has partnered with Swinburne University’s National eTherapy Centre to offer real-time text chat… Read more »
US startup accelerator Techstars is coming to Melbourne with a focus on sport thanks to LaunchVic, Tennis Australia and Victoria University. The Techstars SportsTech Melbourne Accelerator will be based at Tennis Australia’s Melbourne Park HQ at its media centre. The mentorship-driven accelerator will run for 13 weeks programs, taking in 10 startups annually. Founded in… Read more »
Seriously, what reasons could any company see for setting up around here? Photo: AdobeStock There’s a joke almost as old as the endless Melbourne v Sydney debate that goes like this: Melbourne says: “We’re better than Sydney”. Sydney says: “What’s a Melbourne?” And while this Sydney-born Sydneysider loves his hometown – #goSwans! – Melbourne is… Read more »
The CSIRO’s ON accelerator program, in partnership with the Menzies Foundation, has launched a $90,000 12-month fellowship to help scientific entrepreneurs commercialise their ideas. Three Menzies Science Entrepreneur Fellowships will be offered this year. David Burt, executive manager of CSIRO’s ON program, said the no-strings-attached fellowship is about supporting the nation’s talented science entrepreneurs in… Read more »
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