Simon Thomsen

Simon has been editor of Startup Daily since 2019.

He hosted the Startup Daily show on streaming service ausbiz.com.au from 2020 to 2023.

He was previously associate editor of Business Insider Australia, a national restaurant critic, editor of The Good Food Guide, and newspaper proprietor during a 30-year career in journalism and publishing.

He's also an investor in early stage startups.

Simon chaired the environment committee of industry lobby group Australian Business Ltd's (now NSW Business Chamber) during the Kyoto agreement era, debating cow farts with mining execs.

Mark Swinnerton
Climate Tech

Green Gravity, which is turning old mineshafts into energy storage, raises $9 million

- October 16, 2024 2 MIN READ

A Wollongong startup converting disused mining shafts into long-duration energy storage has raised $9 million to turn the idea into reality. Green Gravity was backed by HMC Capital, BlueScopeX, New Zealand’s Pacific Channel and SCAP H, a subsidiary of Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation. BlueScopeX’s hosts Green Gravity’s demonstration plant at BlueScope’s Port Kembla Steelworks facility in… Read more »

Funding

7 Melbourne Uni startups share in $11.7 million in VC funding

- October 14, 2024 2 MIN READ

Seven University of Melbourne-linked startups are sharing in $11.7 million worth of early-stage venture capital from two funds. The investments for research commercialisation come from the $15m University of Melbourne Genesis Pre-Seed Fund, backed by Breakthrough Victoria, and $125m Tin Alley Ventures fund, a joint venture deep tech VC with Tanarra Capital. Tin Alley backed… Read more »

Dr Margaret Matanda & Tando Matanda
Business

Mother-daughter cofounders launch Musa to end traditional pitch decks for funding

- October 11, 2024 2 MIN READ

Mother-daughter duo Tandadzo (Tando) Matanda and Dr Margaret Matanda will step on stage founder at SXSW Sydney this Tuesday as the founders of fintech platform Musa.  Musa is the world’s first intelligent venture assessment platform, tackling the funding process for startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Musa Ventures equips founders with the digital tools… Read more »

Funding

Bailador drops another $5 million into fintech Dash for acquisition ambitions

- October 10, 2024 2 MIN READ

ASX-listed venture fund Bailador is having a busy week investing, ploughing an additional $5 million into financial advice software and investment platform Dash Technology Group to fund its acquisition plans. Alongside the $5m equity investment, Bailador is also stumping up $5m in a repayable debt facility for Dash to acquire Integrated Portfolio Solutions (IPS), a… Read more »

Jessica Baird-Walsh
Events

If you want to back women in startups and female founders, then Capital X is the network you need to join

- October 10, 2024 2 MIN READ

Jessica Baird-Walsh has founded two startups, and is an angel investor and advisor, so she knows the path ahead for women founders all too well. And that’s why she decided to to something about it, launching Capital X – a free, community-driven network of startup and tech professionals committed to supporting women founders to fund… Read more »

Rosterfy cofounders, Shannan Gove, Bennett Merriman and Chris Grant
Funding

Bailador tops up volunteer management startup Rosterfy with $3 million

- October 9, 2024 2 MIN READ

ASX-listed venture capital fund Bailador Technology Investments Limited (ASX:BTI) has increased its stake in people management software platform Rosterfy, investing an additional $3 million. Rosterfy provides volunteer and workforce management software to not-for-profit (NFP) organisations, government volunteering bodies and mass-scale events.The SaaS platform allows organisations to recruit, screen, train, and schedule their volunteers better engage… Read more »

Climate Tech

Westpac & CEFC underpin new $200 million climate tech VC fund

- October 8, 2024 2 MIN READ

Specialist climate tech investor Virescent Ventures is halfway towards its goal of creating a new $200 million fund thanks to backing from  Westpac and the government-backed Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC). Virescent Ventures hit the $100 million first close of its second climate technology investment fund (Fund II), following on from the first portfolio, managed… Read more »

Other

Brisbane recycling social enterprise Circonomy placed in voluntary liquidation

- October 7, 2024 2 MIN READ

Pioneering Brisbane recycling venture Circonomy was placed in voluntary liquidation on Friday with founder Yas Grigaliunas saying the 11-year-old business was no longer financially viable. Liquidators James Taplin and Stefan Dopking of BRI Ferrier were handed the books to review the company’s operations for a possible sale. Circonomy began in life in 2013 as the… Read more »

Eric Gao
Business

Australian startup investor Boman Group grabs a $10 million slice of OpenAI

- October 7, 2024 2 MIN READ

OpenAI’s gobsmacking US$6.6 billion (A$9.5 billion) raise, announced last week at a US$157bn (A$230bn) valuation, has a small slice of Australia on the cap table, with Melbourne fund manager Boman Group chipping in A$10 million. The record raise for the San Francisco-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup was led by Josh KuschUS VC Thrive Capital with… Read more »

Jamie Hall and Steve Hind
Funding

Bird Seed: AI customer support platform Lorikeet flies high with $7.3 million raise

- October 4, 2024 2 MIN READ

An Australian-US startup that’s developed an AI-based customer support agent used by the likes of Chemist2U and Eucalyptus to solve complex problems has raised  US$5 million ($7.3m) in Seed funding. Lorikeet, named after the colourful and garrulous Australian parrot, was founded in mid-2023 (originally as Optech) by US-based former Stripe executive Steve Hind and former Google… Read more »