A new e-commerce venture originally developed by Catch Group founders Gabby and Hezi Leibovich’s has scored a record $30 million from the Commonwealth Bank prior to its launch. CBA’s taken a 23% stake in Little Birdie, valuing the business at $130 million before the online retail deals marketplace has sold a single product. The Melbourne… Read more »
This week the innovators in Australia’s property industry will be celebrating their hard-earned achievements. On Thursday, May 27, the Proptech Association Australia will host the inaugural Proptech Awards, Australia’s first nationally co-ordinated awards for the growing property technology sector. In Sydney, there will be a gala dinner in the Ballroom at Ashurst, the event’s major… Read more »
Airtasker is tapping investors for more funds, seeking an additional $20.7 million just two months after raising $83.7 million during the company’s float on the ASX. The company (ASX: ART) is also spending A$3.4 million (US$2.6m) to acquire 10-year-old US services marketplace Zaarly, which has nearly 600,000 customers and 900-plus service providers, to accelerate its… Read more »
A pioneering project using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict traffic congestion up to three hours before it’s going to happen, and could change the way authorities control traffic in real time, has launched in Melbourne. The University of Melbourne’s Australian Integrated Multimodal EcoSystem (AIMES) has partnered with PeakHour Urban Technologies, the Victorian Department of Transport,… Read more »
White-label payment technology provider, mx51, which last year span out of fintech Assembly Payments, has raised $25 million in its first round, led by Acorn Capital, Artesian, Commencer Capital and Mastercard. The Sydney-based fintech claims to be the first Australian fintech to develop a bank-grade, modern, Payment-as-a-Service platform, offering integrated payment solutions for merchants. Last… Read more »
Shares in online retailer Kogan.com have plunged more than 13% to below $9 in opening trade on Friday after the company slashed its FY2021 earnings below market expectations in its latest trading update. While the business declined to offer forward guidance during its half-yearly results in February, today the business (ASX: KGN) said it expects… Read more »
Antler Australia, the two-year-old Sydney-based startup accelerator and investor, which is expanding into Melbourne, has hired Sam Hilditch, the former Airbnb GM and strategy lead for Airwallex to lead its Victorian operations. As Head of Melbourne, Hilditch has been charged with building the firm’s local presence and leading future cohorts to successful investment outcomes. With… Read more »
Billions of dollars have fled the cryptocurrency market as an historic bitcoin bull run appears to be over. Fresh from an all-time high price of $83,000 per bitcoin in mid-April, the cryptocurrency held its price in the mid $70,000s for much of May before a dramatic 30% fall in the past week. As of Thursday… Read more »
Melbourne proptech startup Rental Heroes has raised $1 million in seed funding for its AI-based tenant request SaaS platform. Seed investment group Investible led the round, with existing investor, Artesian, once again backing the two-year-old startup alongside US-based Hustle Fund and Morten Birk Belling, managing director of Menulog ANZ. Rental Heroes is pioneering the use… Read more »
From personalising stem-celled derived therapies to revolutionising drug discovery and cyber security, Sydney is stepping into the global spotlight with transformative technologies that will reshape our world. This June, you’re invited to meet the entrepreneurs and startups behind these boundary-pushing ideas. Transformative technologies refers to new tech innovations that solve scientific problems in our daily… Read more »
Digital wallets use has jumped 90% in a year, and the amount paid has risen 110%, pushing it towards becoming the most popular contactless way to pay according to new analysis from the Commonwealth Bank. Digital wallet usage is the 12 months spanning the coronavirus pandemic to March 2021 saw transactions rise from 36 million… Read more »
On budget night federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced Australia is getting its own “patent box”. What is a patent box? Despite its odd name, it is a relatively straightforward concept. It means lowering the tax rate on all income derived from patents registered in a nation. About half the members of the European Union, Britain… Read more »
In the second of a three-part series, I explore key areas for innovation in 2021 Digital health came of age in 2020. There really is nothing quite like a global pandemic to drive innovation and modernise Australian healthcare infrastructure. And with growing levels of comfort and an increase in the number of health tech businesses… Read more »
Over the weekend, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk suggested his company could sell off its Bitcoin holdings, sending the cryptocurrency plummeting. It followed Musk’s announcement earlier this month that his company would no longer accept Bitcoin in payment for its electric cars, due to the fossil fuels needed to create the digital currency. Bitcoin is… Read more »
US-based Tiger Global Management’s aggressive global investment strategy has seen it lead a $40 million funding round for Robinhood-like Australian digital broker Stake. The New York investment firm has previously backed local startups Tyro and Safetyculture, alongside the likes of Coinbase, Airbnb and Clubhouse, and was joined in the round by partners of London-based DST… Read more »
Daily startup news and insights, delivered to your inbox.
