Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, recently announced his company had bought US$1.5 billion (almost A$2 billion) of Bitcoin. The announcement led to a flurry of enthusiasm and a quick surge in price for the controversial cryptocurrency. This price bump has been good news for Musk in the short term. At one point, Tesla’s… Read more »
Melbourne-based NextGen Funds Management has launched the country’s first Artificial Intelligence (AI) Fund. The fund, for sophisticated investors, will invest in a mixture of debt and equity in ventures ranging from startup to pre-IPO. NextGen Funds Management Head of Distribution Samuel Mullavey said the fund will take a sector-neutral approach in areas are where AI… Read more »
FY20 startup funding nearly $7 billion Private investment almost doubled to $4.48bn Blackbird led Australian VC investors with 14 deals worth $490m More than 700 Australian startups have received nearly 900 rounds of funding from around 400 investors during the 2020 financial year according to the latest annual funding report by data analysis company Techboard.… Read more »
Impact Investment Group (IIG) is on the hunt for $70 million from wholesale investors for a new fund targeting sustainable and socially conscious startup investments. IIG CEO and co-fund manager Daniel Madhavan said the Impact Alternatives Fund will be a mix of investments, including renewable energy infrastructure such as solar farms, impact private equity, venture… Read more »
Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says Australia’s startup sector has an “exponential benefit” and “spillover effect” for the economy that other industries can’t match, and governments need to do more to support startups. Speaking to the Startup Daily show on ausbiz, the tech entrepreneur turned politician and now tech investor and Kasada board member said industry… Read more »
Startup investment in Australia hit new highs in the first six months of 2020, according to KPMG’s Venture Pulse report, but what does the reality of the raw numbers look like on the ground? KPMG’s Venture Pulse report found a jump of nearly 50% in venture capital investment compared to 12 months ago, reaching US$944.7 million… Read more »
The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) is using venture capital firms Square Peg Capital and Zetta Venture Partners to invest in startups, putting US$10 million (A$14m) each into the latest funds from the two VCs. Zetta is a US-based fund investing in artificial intelligence. In an update on the bank’s innovation program this week, CBA CEO Matt… Read more »
Sydney Angels, the 100-plus member investment group backing early stage startups, has sent a strong signal to founders with good ideas, announcing $2.4 million in total investment across three tech startups. The three ventures are: Trendspek, a Sydney software ventures that converts drone footage of critical infrastructure that’s difficult to inspect for maintenance, such as… Read more »
If we want the best bang for our economic stimulus buck, we need young workers in startups As we crawl towards our new definition of ‘normal’, one thing that’s become clear is that ‘recovery’ from COVID-19 isn’t a single goal; it’s a thousand small wins we will need to reach at different speeds. Despite the… Read more »
Yohan Ramasundara is an entrepreneur – the co-founder of Beta Launch and ISKOLE – and the Immediate Past President of ACS, the professional association for Australia’s technology sector. After two years helming ACS through one of the most productive eras for the local tech industry, Startup Daily asked him for his views on the… Read more »
Coffee break shout app Appreci, which lets colleagues buy each other cafe beverages, has a new backer, with Sydney-based Lakeba Group, which specialises in commercialising technology startups, taking a 35% stake in the gratitude platform to help it scale globally. The $430,000 investment is timely for the Queensland-based startup, which has 59 corporate customers,… Read more »
FinTech Australia managing director Rebecca Schot-Guppy appeared before the Senate Select Committee on Financial Technology and Regulatory Technology last week. The committee is investigating the potential and opportunities in FinTech and RegTech for Australian business and consumers and initiatives to promote startups in the sectors. The committee is due to hand down its final report in… Read more »
Overseas investors are playing an increasingly important role in Australia’s venture capital support for startups according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). While the latest figures, which date to the end of the 2019 financial year, show a 1% fall in the value of commitments – the capital pledged by investors… Read more »
Raising capital for most people is made to feel like there is a mysterious art to the process. The truth is, it is nothing more than a marketing and sales exercise. Marketing is the interest attraction, and sales is the conversion to an investor. The only difference, people are a lot more passionate about… Read more »
When founders are pitching for venture capital investment, the topic of exit strategies is often raised as founders are eager to provide reassurance that they have their sights on a liquidity event that will deliver a return to their investors. But VCs are much less interested in the end goal than founders might think.… Read more »
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