Melbourne scaleup Heidi Health has raised US$65 million (A$98m) in a series B, just seven months after banking nearly $27m in a Series A top up. The round was led by New York hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen’s VC arm, Point72 Private Investments, supported by exiting backers including local VC Blackbird, and US funds… Read more »
Christine Holgate has been called many things in her career, a trailblazer, turnaround queen, even troublemaker. But if you ask her, the most important label she’s carried is survivor. From building Blackmores into a global powerhouse, to shaking up Australia Post, to now leading the transformation of Team Global Express, Holgate has lived the rollercoaster… Read more »
British risk management firm Ideagen has acquired WorkSafe Guardian, a smartphone safety app for lone workers. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the acquisition delivers an exit for South Australian VC Eastend Ventures just three years after investing in the decade-old Adelaide startup. WorkSafe Guardian was founded by Greg Lindner and Adam… Read more »
Australian-born, US-based OpenSolar has banked US$20 million (A$30m) in a fresh raise as it looks to expand its AI implementation in the renawables design and sales platform. The raise was backed by existing investors Titanium Ventures – the former Telstra VC fund – and London- and Copenhagen-based 2150 Sustainability Fund, as well as Google, and… Read more »
Australian creatives should be properly compensated when their copyrighted works are used to train artificial intelligence models, prominent musicians, writers, and industry groups told a Senate committee hearing last Tuesday. Artists fronted the inquiry as Australia’s Productivity Commission consults on whether a new “fair dealing” exception should be introduced to allow local companies to use Australians’ copyrighted… Read more »
The new $5 billion Net Zero Fund, announced last week as part of the Federal government’s plan to meet a 61% -70% emissions reduction target, could be the most important lever Australia has to accelerate our transition to net zero. But unless it is designed to take risks and back first-of-a-kind climate innovations, we risk… Read more »
Brace for puns with week as Startup 360 talks to Saara Jamieson, founder of Cool Beans Underwear, about how her revolutionary way of taking care of man bits came about. Saara was a finalist in the Best New Founder category of Startup Daily Best in Tech awards (the winner was Rebecca Keeley from Yarn Speech),… Read more »
Startup funding activity has continued to hold steady this week, with nearly $53.5 million announced across sectors including agtech, energy, AI, health and fintech. Oh, and Limoncello. Leading the pack is Queensland-based SwarmFarm Robotics, which has banked $30 million to ramp up production of its autonomous farm robots and expand overseas. SwarmFarm Robotics: $30 million The… Read more »
I’ve never worked so hard to earn a t-shirt. The plan was simple: Arrive at PAX as a group as early as possible on Sunday, its quietest day. Make a beeline when the doors open at 10am for the Final Fantasy XIV stall. Get to the front of the queue. Beat the boss, win a… Read more »
Fintech Zeller is taking its business banking platform to the UK in its first international expansion. The fast-growing Melbourne unicorn has appointed former ByteDance executive Lars Weber as UK country manager and is looking to put 40 pairs of boots on the ground there over the next three years, with team members already recruited from… Read more »
Last week Disney, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros Discovery jointly sued MiniMax, a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company, over alleged copyright infringement. The three Hollywood media giants allege MiniMax (which operates Hailuo AI and is reportedly valued at US$4 billion) engaged in mass copyright infringement of characters such as Darth Vader and Mickey Mouse by… Read more »
What is bravery? Are there different types of courage? And how does your age, gender, race, and leadership style impact your bravery score? I first met Crista Samaras on a summery NY afternoon, in The Post clubhouse – a community for athletes in business. I’d spent the afternoon with Christian, the founder. She’d spent it… Read more »
On Thursday, 13 November, four trailblazing women-led brands will take centre stage at F5’s first-ever La Femme Activation – a bold new retail experience where commerce meets creativity and women-owned businesses are brought to life. These aren’t side hustles or “passion projects.” They’re commercial powerhouses built by women who are reshaping fashion, art, and identity.… Read more »
Queensland agtech startup SwarmFarm Robotics has secured $30 million in Series B funding to ramp up production of its autonomous SwarmBots and expand into North America. The round was led by European agtech investor Edaphon, with participation from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), QIC and Artesian Capital. The CEFC contributed $7 million through its… Read more »
Cloud-based insurance software-as-a-service scaleup Javln has raised A$6 million for its Australian expansion. The round was led by boutique fund manager Microequities Asset Management and alongside crossing The Ditch, will be used for R&D and entry into other markets New Zealand entrepreneur Dale Smith founded Javln in 2011. It simplifies clients, policies, claims, and document management… Read more »
Daily startup news and insights, delivered to your inbox.
