Cauldron, the path-finding fermentation biomanufacturer from regional NSW, has appointed David Weiner as Chief Technology Officer as the startup looks to ramp up production globally. Weiner will run the technology R&D pipeline for Cauldron at it looks towards international expansion. He was previously VP and head of R&D at Solugen, where he helped develop the… Read more »
A startup developing cheaper, copper-based solar panels, and backed by Australian tech royalty, has shed jobs and changed its executive leadership as part of a major restructure of the business SunDrive’s investors include Atlassian founder Mike Cannon-Brookes, VCs Blackbird and Main Sequence, the federal government-backed Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and Clean Energy Finance Corporation,… Read more »
Buoyed by the sale of its stake in Employment Hero late last year and with more exits on the horizon, pioneering Sydney VC fund OneVentures says it will return around $100 million more to investors over the next eight months as it looks to raise a new $200 million fund. OneVentures founding partner Dr Michelle… Read more »
Online retail deals marketplace Little Birdie will spring back to life two months after its sudden shuttering after being acquired by cashback sales platform Cashrewards The terms of the deal were not disclosed. But Little Birdie’s resurrection is undoubtedly is a big win for ANZ’s venture team, 1835i, over rival CBA. CommBank was part of… Read more »
Climate startup Goterra is continuing to kick goals in industry collaborations, with the country’s largest hotel, the 878-room Hyatt Regency Sydney, installing the modular food waste management system onsite. It’s the second version of Goterra’s compact unit, which can also be found at Melbourne Airport, where fly larvae munch through more than two tonnes of… Read more »
Neither Canva nor Leonardo.AI or its backers wanted to talk about the dowry paid for their marriage, but documents from key investor Blackbird Ventures suggest the acquisition deal cost is north of $320 million. Details are beginning to emerge about what when down following the surprise announcement this week that the Sydney-based generative AI startup… Read more »
Atlassian has managed to treble its losses in fourth quarter of the 2024 fiscal year, at the same time revenue grew by 20%. The Nasdaq-listed (TEAM) Australian workplace software giant posted a US$196.9 million net loss for the quarter, up from a $59 million loss for the same period last year. Quarterly revenue hit US$1.132… Read more »
Australian government-backed Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has doubled down on rideshare car rental firm Splend, investing another $20 million in the scaleup to increase its electric vehicles (EVs) fleet. The fresh cash comes just 13 months after the initial CEFC investment of $20 million in June 2023, which then saw Splend add 500 EVs… Read more »
ASX-listed defence tech scaleup DroneShield has made hay while its shares shine, raising $120 million from institutional and sophisticated investors at $1.15 a share. Shares in the Sydney-headquartered US tech business (ASX: DRO) have been on tear over the last seven months, climbing from $0.31 cents in mid-December 2023, the $1 April and then a… Read more »
A fintech tackling one of the toughest pain points of going on holidays – having to book so far in advance for cheaper fares, and finding the money at the time to do it – has raised one of 2024’s biggest Seed rounds, taking on its first external capital after six years of bootstrapping. The… Read more »
The federal government’s Boosting Female Founders (BFF) grant program was secretly killed off in the federal budget, with only two-thirds of the $52 million allocated spent. The program’s end with $17 million still in the kitty was reportedly the result of an internal review by the federal Department of Industry, Science, and Resources (DISR) that… Read more »
A little bit of Sydney is heading south with Tank Stream Labs, the coworking tech hub for startups, expanding into Melbourne. Tank Stream Labs CEO Bradley Delamare said that as the Victorian capital continues to go gangbusters with tech innovations and budding unicorn startups, a significant gap has emerged when it comes to CBD commercial… Read more »
The generative AI company many believed would become a tech unicorn is instead being acquired by one, with design platform Canva snapping up content and research startup, Leonardo.AI. The deal price and terms have not been disclosed, so it’s not not how much is cash and/or Canva shares ahead of its IPO plans, but it’s… Read more »
Melbourne marketing startup IntelligenceBank has landed its first M&A deal, acquiring rival AI-powered brand compliance platform Red Marker from global education giant Kaplan. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. IntelligenceBank will acquire Red Marker’s technology stack, IP, and team of 20 based in Sydney, the US and UK. It will give the combined… Read more »
A startup that checks in on how well university students are learning has been accepted into the University of California, Berkley’s SkyDeck accelerator program, banking US$200,000 (A$305k) as part of the deal. Sindy Labs is the brainchild of former University of Melbourne medical student Benjamin Arya, Taha Ansari and Oliver Cucanic. They founded their startup… Read more »
Daily startup news and insights, delivered to your inbox.
