If you’re a founder who sends monthly or quarterly investor updates, I have some uncomfortable news. They probably aren’t being read in depth, and your investors don’t care deeply about them. I don’t mean they’re skimming them while checking email. I mean they’re genuinely not retaining anything of value from the carefully curated bullet points… Read more »
Touch Ventures (ASX: TVL), which invested more than $36 million into Sendle over several years, wrote down the value of its stake to nil in the weeks before the logistics startup’s abrupt closure. The downgrade, revealed publicly on Wednesday, sheds light on how one of Sendle’s major financial backers responded to worrying claims about its… Read more »
In celebration of TechStars Sydney’s ‘Demo the Future’ event, Startup Daily is profiling the 12 startups and their founders in the 2025 cohort. Next up: Our Leg Up – helping Australian homeowners turn their equity into income – while also giving buyers a boost onto the property ladder. Our Leg Up Founder: Michael Ragavan One… Read more »
Australia’s climate tech sector now employs more than 7,000 people across more than 730 startups and scaleups, which attracted $680 million in venture funding in 2025. The analysis of local sector and its momentum and growth feature in the 2025 Australian Climate Tech Industry Report, released today by Climate Salad founder Mick Liubinskas. “This report… Read more »
Here we go again. Private school fee letters for 2026 are arriving, and for many families the numbers are confronting. Many schools appear to be lifting fees by something between 5 – 7%. For financial advisers, these costs have shifted from being background noise to a central conversation in financial planning. As fees rise faster… Read more »
Blackbird’s come-to-Jesus moment six months ago, when it tipped $60 million from its 2022 follow-on fund into Airwallex, is now being pitched to the VC’s investors as its rising star. Details from the annual Blackbird Ventures investor day were leaked to Capital Brief’s Bronwen Clune, and included details of Canva’s performance, with the VC flagging… Read more »
A $60 million investment fund backing construction tech to tackle housing development in Australia has been launched by Boman Group. The fund, in partnership with JPCX, the investment arm of logistics and building supplies company JPC, has already completed its first investment in an Australian modular housing company to help it scale. Boman Group founder… Read more »
The global investment frenzy around AI has seen companies valued at trillions of dollars and eye-watering projections of how it will boost economic productivity. But in recent weeks the mood has begun to shift. Investors and CEOs are now openly questioning whether the enormous costs of building and running AI systems can really be justified… Read more »
The Victorian government’s flagship tech investment fund, Breakthrough Victoria, ended up in the red for a second year in a row after just four years in operation. The fund, which cut costs while ramping up investment, and increasing returns on cash deposits, posted a $5.7 million loss, according to its 2025 annual report, attributing it… Read more »
Startups are raising capital later. Often with more traction. All of which is lowering the risk to investors, thanks to AI-enabled product development. Welcome to the shifting Australian startup ecosystem. Investments in AI have dominated the headlines of late. Globally record sums are being poured into the space, with forecasts suggesting AI could add $600 billion to… Read more »
The Victorian government is investing $75 million across five specialist venture capital firms. The funding, via Breakthrough Victoria, will go to VCs backing climate-tech, life sciences, and female founders, as well as a cornerstone investment in an unnamed US specialist healthcare fund manager as they launch their first Australian fund. All five have committed to… 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 »
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 »
Fintech entrepreneur and investor Dom Pym and his fintech-focused venture fund Triple Bubble have forged a strategic partnership Commonwealth Bank’s venture-scaling arm x15ventures to support and scale Australia’s financial technology ecosystem. The partnership includes an investment, exploration of new fintech opportunities using x15’s bank-safe venture stack, and the development of a mutual mentorship and talent exchange program… Read more »
Blackbird’s disclosed portfolio value has climbed to $9.9b (AUD), capping a rebound led by Canva and fresh deep-tech momentum, and pushing performance to a 36.09% net IRR.
Daily startup news and insights, delivered to your inbox.
