A B2B platform enabling financial advisers to securely access, trade, and manage digital assets on behalf of their clients has raised $2.3 Million in a pre-Series A. Digital currency exchange BetterX provides institutional-grade infrastructure for tokenisation, trading, and portfolio management, and the round was supported by existing backers Aura Group and Tibra cofounder Kinsey Cotton,… Read more »
Nobody really understands the torment of being a billionaire, especially those very mean people at the AFR. After luxury jet-shaming Mike Cannon-Brookes and outing him as the owner of a Bombardier 7500 – you can pick one up for around $100 million on Facebook marketplace – the Atlassian CEO felt compelled to defend himself on… Read more »
Airwallex put the pedal to the metal for its ‘Shifted Perspectives’ campaign at the launch of the Formula 1 season in Melbourne this week, handing out startup grants and chatting to homegrown McLaren driver Oscar Piastri. The fintech sponsors the UK F1 team McLaren, originally founded in 1965 by Kiwi engineer, innovator, entrepreneur and driver… Read more »
US Shark Tank investor and cybersecurity startup founder Robert Herjavec is joining Melbourne scaleup Zetaris as executive director of global strategy. He was so impressed, he’s also invested in the company, although that figure was not disclosed. Herjavec believes Zetaris has unicorn (worth more than $1bn) potential. Zetaris was founded in 2013 by Vinay Samuel and… Read more »
Robyn Denholm, chair of beleaguered car manufacturer Tesla, is stepping down as inaugural chair of industry lobby group The Tech Council of Australia (TCA), after 3.5 years in the role. She will be replaced by Atlassian cofounder Scott Farquhar, who stepped away from his day job as co-CEO last year, and has also been on… Read more »
ASX-listed startup accelerator and investor Scalare Partners (ASX: SCP) has made its third acquisition, snapping up VC matching marketplace Inhouse Ventures in a deal worth up to $1.73 million. Scalare initially invested in the marketplace in November 2023, taking a 20.7% stake. Venture studio Shadowboxer also backed Inhouse, which was founded by CEO Elliot Spiegel in… Read more »
Sydney investment firm Quadrant Private Equity has made another foray into startups, with plans to take an equity stake in Legal Vision. The size of the investment was not disclosed, but it’s the first from the Sydney PE firm’s latest and 10th fund, the $660m Quadrant Growth Fund 3, which looks to invest between $50… Read more »
An AI-driven eCommerce software platform with the same name as one of the country’s best known Australian financial services companies has raised $20 million. Amp, founded in 2022, has been backed by existing investor, Singapore’s Openspace Ventures, with Sydney’s One Ventures also hitting the EFT button. TradeGecko founder Cameron Priest and Advocately founder Patrick Barnes,… Read more »
Australian deep tech inventors have given the world wifi, Google Maps, cochlear implants and the goon bag, but a new report into the state of play for the sector suggests that while there’s no shortage of ideas, that potential is being stifled by limited support from venture capital, industry, and government. Pioneering deep tech incubator… Read more »
While the Tesla CEO is busy rage-tweeting, Roman saluting, dialling into far-right German political rallies, cutting aid funding and sacking US government workers, sales of his car brand in Australia, as well as the rest of the world have gone over a cliff, with January’s poor results continuing in February. The plunge for Nasdaq-listed EV… Read more »
The Greens party, which received one in every eight primary votes (12.25%) at the last federal election, want a slice of the fortunes of Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, proposing a “big tech tax” as Australia gears up to head to the polls in the coming months. Greens communications spokesperson senator Sarah Hanson-Young… Read more »
The federal government will adopt all 11 recommendations of the 2024 Diversity in STEM review, industry and science minister Ed Husic has confirmed. Husic surprised the crowd at Southstart in South Australia in announcing the government’s long-awaited response to the Pathway to Diversity in STEM Review, chaired by Cicada Innovations CEO Sally-Ann Williams, who was… Read more »
Keith Pitt, the cofounder and CEO of software startup Buildkite, has left the business. Company chair Barry Crist portrayed Pitt’s sudden departure without a replacement as “part of the normal lifecycle of a technology company”. US-based Crist, a 20-year veteran of developer tools, including leading Chef Software, will be acting CEO as the company hunts… Read more »
Total revenue increased 115% to $1.296 million Gross profit rose 173% to $524,719 Underlying EBITDA at -$307,186 before $986,731 in costs for ASX listing. Cash on hand is $3.8 million. The nearly $1 million cost of a backdoor listing on the ASX last year has seen Scalare Partners (ASX: SCP) post a statutory EBITDA loss… Read more »
OG Australian startup community Fishburners is changing its guard, with CEO Martin Karafilis stepping down tomorrow after 26 months in the role, and chief operating officer Majella Campbell taking on the top job. Campbell has been central to Fishburners‘ success as it rebuilt post covid, developing a range of programs and events from its home… Read more »
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