A diamond-on-silicon quantum sensing startup cofounded by two University of Sydney professors has raised $750,000 in pre-Seed funding. The raise for DeteQt was backed by deep tech CSIRO-backed Main Sequence Ventures and US deep tech investor ATP Fund. DeteQt was founded by Adjunct Professor Jim Rabeau and Professor Omid Kavehei from the University of Sydney Nano… Read more »
PsiQuantum, the US quantum computing startup backed by $940 million in Australian and Queensland government funding, is reportedly looking to raise at least US$750 million (A$1.19 billion). Reuters reports that the raise is underway at a US$6 billion (A$9.5bn) pre-money valuation, according to sources, with US investor BlackRock leading the fundraising effort The California startup founded… Read more »
There was next to nothing for the tech and startup sector in the 2025 federal budget as the Labor government prepares to call an election and seek a second term. For the second year in a row, the government has delivered little for the startup sector and it does not feature specifically in the budget.… Read more »
* No, SFA is not an acronym of Startup Funding Announcements. As we said last year. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Again. You won’t find the word startup in the 2025 federal budget papers. Innovation is mentioned seven times in Budget Paper 1 and an eighth time in Paper No. 2 – referencing “the 2024–25 Budget measure… Read more »
This year marks 20 years since Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook, having kicked it off as The Facebook in 2004. He was already notorious for Facemash, the “hot or not” site that ranked Harvard students by their attractiveness, which he created in late 2003. Zuckerberg hacked into house face book websites at the university to get… Read more »
Sydney venture capital fund EVP has reportedly contacted police and is seeking to recoup the investment it made in StrongRoom AI, less than a fortnight after it announced leading a $17 million round into the Melbourne software startup. The AFR reported that EVP had called in legal and forensic accounting experts and was warning investors… Read more »
Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has been ordered by a US court to provide details on how scammers use the social media platform to create scams ads as part of legal action by Dr Andrew Forrest. The WA mining billionaire has been doing battle with Facebook both here and in California for the last three years… Read more »
Some of America’s most profitable tech companies have seized on their chance to join US president Donald Trump’s global trade war arguing that laws and taxes in other nations are costing them money. Industry lobby group the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), which represents Amazon, Apple, Meta, Google and Elon Musk’s X, among others,… Read more »
While Canva investors will probably tuck into hot cross buns from Baker Bleu (6 for $30), Bourke Street Bakery (6 for $20) or the Sonoma Not cross buns (6 for $20) this Easter, you don’t have to have bagged a 50x exit to enjoy some tasty baking over the long weekend. Consumer advocacy group Choice… Read more »
Victorian climate tech startup Phnxx has raised $1.8 million in Seed funding to scale its modular energy system for the construction, mining and agriculture sectors. The round was supported by ASX-listed engineering company Synertec, ENGIE Factory, deep tech VC Pacific Channel, LaunchVic’s Hugh Victor McKay Fund and several angel investors. Synertec has partnered with the… Read more »
A defence technology startup that helps analyse visual surveillance systems from drones and other optical systems has raised $5 million in new funds from its existing backers. Main Sequence, Salus and Beaten Zone Venture Partners wrote fresh cheques following on from a $4.5 million Seed round in December 2023. Defence expert Simon Olsen cofounded Arkeus… Read more »
WiseTech Global’s founder and newly appointed board chair Richard White “made inaccurate and incomplete disclosures concerning the nature and duration of his relationship” involving two employees, but has pledged to do better, an ongoing report into his behaviour as the former CEO has found. Releasing a 9-page update to the ASX, WiseTech said the board… Read more »
US-based former Australian transport management scaleup BetterFleet has raised US$15 million (A$23.7m) in a Series A. The round was led by US funds Aligned Climate Capital, Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF), and Remarkable Ventures Climate (RVC). BetterFleet was cofounded in Sydney by CEO Daniel and Nick Butlin as EVenergi in 2016. The software startup kicked off… Read more »
UNSW chancellor David Gonski and Simon Sheikh’s impact investment fintech Future Super are among the investors in a new US$100 million fund to back artificial intelligence (AI) startups. King River Capital said it’s nearing the final close of its latest A$157 million fund, which continues its ongoing strategic focus on AI-driven software startups both here… Read more »
Lee Hickin, Microsoft’s artificial intelligence policy lead for Asia, has departed the tech giant after more than six years to become the new director of the National AI Centre (NAIC). The NAIC was established in 2021 to support and accelerate Australia’s AI industry. Its inaugural director, Stela Solar, herself a former Microsoft executive, stepped down… Read more »
Daily startup news and insights, delivered to your inbox.
