Melbourne data security engineering platform Redactive AI has been acquired by pan-Pacific data management firm RecordPoint. The startup, cofounded by ex-Atlassians Andrew Pankevicius and Alexander Valente, plus AI Engineer Lucas Sargent, exits after just two years in business. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Their goal was to tackle the missing AI engineering… Read more »
Investment NSW director of innovation Liza Noonan is leaving the government to become Cicada Innovations CEO. Noonan replaces Sally-Ann Williams, who stepped down in mid-2025. Noonan will take the helm of the Sydney-based deep tech incubator on November 3. The move ends a 3.5-year stint in various roles inside the NSW government, during which Investment… Read more »
FinTech Australia has warned that financial and other digital technologies risk being unintentionally excluded from future innovation funding unless explicitly recognised in the federal government’s current Strategic Examination of Research and Development (R&D). The fintech peak body argue its case in a submission to the R&D review’s expert panel, led by Tesla chair Robyn Denholm,… Read more »
A Sydney startup using batteries to replace gas for industrial heat, and cut business energy costs, has raised more than $2 million. Good Heat will deploy large-scale thermal energy storage (TES) systems powered by cheap renewable electricity to provide industrial heat at prices below gas. Plans for Australia’s largest heat battery development, for a significant… Read more »
PredicTx Health, a University of Melbourne spin-out that uses AI to personalise chemo dosing based on body composition analysis, has raised $1.6 million. The funding came from the University’s Genesis Pre-Seed Fund, a government grant and angel investment and will be used to commercialise a world-first AI-powered precision oncology platform. PredicTx was cofounded Professor Justin… Read more »
Rory San Miguel, cofounder and CEO of drone-based site survey company Propeller Aero, has won the 2025 NSW Pearcey Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The Pearcey Foundation, a non-profit named in honour of Australian ICT industry pioneer Dr Trevor Pearcey, recognises leaders in information and communications technology. The Pearcey NSW Entrepreneur Award is presented to… Read more »
Australian-founded AI infrastructure startup Firmus Technologies is heading to mainland Australia with a $73.3 billion plan in partnership with CDC Data Centres and Nvidia to build four more AI data centres in capital cities. The initial deal for Project Southgate – the plan to build an AI data centre in Tasmania – is worth $4.5 billion,… Read more »
Breakthrough Victoria has selected the first three recipients of its new Fellowship program, which hopes to turn academic research into startup reality. The $7.5 million, multi-year program offers each recipient $150,000 to kick off their entrepreneurial efforts, and Breakthrough Victoria is hoping it will result in around 50 startups commercialising research and IP. The trio… Read more »
Carma’s investment banker founders are hoping that investors are hungry to see four-year-old online used car dealership go public with a bookbuild underway today to raise $100 million for a public listing on the ASX next month. The Sydney startup, which already has more than $100 million in venture backing under its belt, is reportedly… Read more »
Spark Festival, Australia’s largest startup festival, has released its initial lineup of free, community events across NSW between October 27 and November 2. The annual Spark Festival has connected founders, investors, universities and innovation hubs since 2016, through hundreds of events, building a network of over 40,000 participants. This year, more than 100 speakers will… Read more »
Veteran impact scaleup Who Gives A Crap has teamed up with education nonprofit Young Change Agents to launch a program that equips teenagers with the skills to become social entrepreneurs. Impact Boss will launch in Australia and the US in 2026 and hopes to reach 20,000 teens in its first two years. The program aims… Read more »
Melbourne air-conditioning startup Conry Tech has raised $3 million in Seed funding as it looks to transform workplace cooling. The round was led by specialist climate tech investor, Audacy. The cash will help complete development of the startup’s revolutionary “BullAnt” air-conditioner, which has the potential to halve energy bills in commercial buildings, as well as… Read more »
Startup funding topped $1 billion in the third quarter of 2025, with investors eager to back data centres and AI with enthusiasm that recalls the mid-pandemic valuation bubble of 2021-2022 Investors threw money at AI startups like fans tossing underwear on stage at a Tom Jones concert in Q3, according to the latest Cut Through… Read more »
An AI-based “cloud waste” startup has raised $3 million in pre-Seed funding to help companies save billions on their cloud costs. The round for Optimaze was led by Arconic and The Innovation Club. The Sydney startup is currently in private beta, with a waitlist for preview access to the software. The funding is to expand… Read more »
Sydney legal practice collaboration and CRM platform Nexl has raised US$23 million (A$35m) in a Series B. The round was led by Dave Yuan’s US growth equity firm Tidemark Capital. Philipp Thurner, former head of innovation at Gilbert and Tobin, and now based in New York, founded Nexl in 2018, pivoting in 2021 to help law… Read more »
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