Sometimes a great idea all comes down to design. There are plenty of smartphones in the market, but plenty of people are drawn to the iPhone and pay a premium, because of great design. And so it is for sustainable office furniture startup Recess. The Sydney-based venture launched its new ergonomic office furniture line six… Read more »
Over the next month, NASA will launch three rockets from the Arnhem Space Centre in the Northern Territory on the Dhupuma Plateau, near Nhulunbuy. The rockets are 13 metre “sounding” rockets that will not reach orbit but will take scientific observations. The launches represent a number of firsts for the Australian space industry. They also… Read more »
Tech focused co-working space, Tank Stream Labs, has opened its third Sydney site, a new hub for scale-up companies in the Tech Central precinct in Haymarket. The Scale-up hub has officially kicked off with 4,000 sqm of office space, with up to 7,000 sqm coming online by the end of the year. The hub is… Read more »
The Reserve Bank of Australia has hiked the official cash interest rate by 0.25% to 0.35%. It’s the first increase in 11 years, in response to an accelerated annual inflation rate of 5.1%. RBA Governor Philip Lowe flagged more rate rises in response to ongoing inflation pressures over the next two years. Markets are now… Read more »
Every week on the Startup Daily TV show, we talk to more than two dozen founders, CEOs, investors and experts about what’s happening in tech. Now you can catch the best of the show with the weekly podcast, SUDS. Perhaps the best reaction amid a million takes on Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover this week was employee… Read more »
The first thing you need to know about New Zealand is that sheep are not its biggest export. Or Hobbit movies. It’s dairy, worth around NZ$16 billion – nearly 30% of the nation’s export income. The second thing you should know is that the tech sector is no 2 after dairy as a source of… Read more »
It’s not every day you can buy at Australian politician, but digital assets fan and NSW Senator Andrew Bragg is offering someone that chance for good cause. Senator Bragg, who chaired the Senate Select Committee on Australia as a Technology and Financial Centre, advocating that Australia could be a cryptocurrency epicentre and world leader in… Read more »
ASX-listed buy now, pay later (BNPL) fintech Zip plans to acquire rival Sezzle in a $491 million all-scrip merger. The offer, now under a definitive agreement, will see Sezzle (ASX: SZL) investors swap their holding for 0.98 Zip (ASX: Z1P) shares, with Sezzle priced at $1.78 and Zip, $2.21. The transaction offers 22% premium on… Read more »
Enterprise risk management software company announced Protecht Group Holdings has raised $42 million in a Series A. California growth equity firm Arrowroot Capital backed the SaaS company. The cash injection will be used to accelerate new features in Protecht’s products, maintain and expand customer service and continued global expansion. Based in Sydney, and founded in… Read more »
Accounting practice management software company Karbon has raised $US66 million (A$93m) from US investor Tidemark Capital. The seven-year-old US-based Australian venture now operates in more than 20 countries offering cloud-based business management software for SMB accounting firms. It is now the preeminent independent practice management solution in the accounting industry globally. The latest round comes… Read more »
Sydney investing fintech INDX.GURU is acquiring US crowd-sourced markets insights platform ClosingBell to bridge the gap between American and Australian trades. The deal adds 50,000 users to the INDX.GURU platform. The cost of the deal was not disclosed. ClosingBell offers users quick insights into the financial markets by crowdsourcing stock recommendations from thousands of traders. It… Read more »
The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has backed US cryptocurrency exchange Gemini in a US$400 million (A$500m) capital raise. It was Gemini’s first outside financing, and values the business, founded in 2015 by twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, at US$7.1 billion. The round was led by Morgan Creek Digital with CBA taking a minority stake alongside 10T,… Read more »
A Sydney client engagement platform for professional services companies has raised $US50 million ($A69m) in a Series C round. The raise for Practice Ignition was led by US-based JMI Equity, making its first Australian investment. Existing investors Tiger Global and EVP also backed the raise along with several strategic angel investors and family office groups.… Read more »
That Startup Show, the Melbourne-based webseries and podcast, returns for a new six-part season this Thursday, November 18. Series 3 is exploring the metaverse with the theme “reboot the world” from a virtual spaceship vibe for hosts tech journalist Rae Johnston and cultural commentator Benjamin Law. They’ll be talking to US businesswoman Randi Zuckerberg; UN Global… Read more »
Spark Festival – Australia’s biggest event for founders, business owners and anyone looking to hustle their way out of Covid, hits its third and final week this week. The full program is massive, so to help you out we asked Spark Festival director Maxine Sherrin to pick out 5 things worth putting in the diary for the week ahead.… Read more »
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