It’s arguable that 2020 was the hardest year that our emerging fintech sector ever faced. But as we all know, adversity breeds innovation. And nowhere was that more apparent than in the entries for this year’s Finnie Award submissions. We received a record 290 entries across 20 categories. Overall, the calibre of submissions was outstanding.… Read more »
Australian e-bike venture Zoomo has raised $16 million in a fresh round just eight months after a $16 million series A. The new raise, led by AirTree Ventures as a new investor, also saw existing backers the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), Maniv Mobility and Contrarian Ventures. Cleantech-focused US investors Winthrop Square and Wisdom VC… Read more »
US-based venture capital firm Insight Partners has led a US$73 million (A$95m) investment into workplace safety venture that nearly doubles the value of the startup to US$1.6bn (A$2.1bn). The deal comes just a fortnight after Insight was the sole backer of Brisbane software startup Octopus Deploy in a US$172.5 million (A$220m) round. Existing invest Tiger… Read more »
ASX-listed payroll and HR software platform ELMO (ASX:ELO) is using artificial intelligence in a new people analytics product that can predict when people are looking to leave the business. The company said its Predictive People Analytics (PPA) module is the first phase of a suite of new machine learning developments to deliver data-driven insights and… Read more »
Brisbane fintech EML Payments (ASX: EML) has released a white-label digital wallet giving lenders and other fintechs great access to Open Banking as part of the Consumer Data Right. The digital wallet, Nuapay, combines Open Banking with personal finance management and payments in a customisable solution digital solution, in a partnership with fellow fintech Frollo.… Read more »
Australia’s love of reading has seen quarterly sales at ASX-list online retailer Booktopia soar 53% in a year. The company (ASX: BKG) had already upgraded its revenue and EDBITDA forecasts for FY2021 just two months after listing last December and today released its March quarter figures, saying it was on track to meet the upgraded… Read more »
Bill Gates was 21 when he and Paul Allen registered Microsoft. Steve Jobs was 22 when he and Steve Wozniak launched Apple. Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook in his Harvard dormitory. The biographies of these tech billionaires who achieved great success in their twenties has helped cement the perception that entrepreneurship is a young person’s game.… Read more »
Apple users across the globe are adopting the latest operating system update, called iOS 14.5, featuring the now-obligatory new batch of emojis. But there’s another change that’s arguably less fun but much more significant for many users: the introduction of “app tracking transparency”. This feature promises to usher in a new era of user-oriented privacy,… Read more »
The government-owned NBN Co has taken on a fresh $US2 billion (~$A2.6bn) in debt via a bond issue in the US as it seeks to wean itself off federal government funding. The issue was made up of a five-year bond of $US750m and a 10-year bond of $US1.25 billion. The five-year bond will mature in… Read more »
In 2030, the adjudicators of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are sitting in the Geneva headquarters to hear a trade dispute between the Republic of Robata and the Federal Republic of Daemon. Robota, a developed country, is a superpower in artificial intelligence (AI) and takes the lead in designing and manufacturing vehicles equipped with… Read more »
January 2015 was an interesting time for bitcoin and Westpac’s fintech venture capital fund, Reinventure. Simon Cant and Danny Gilligan, co-founded the VC with Westpac the year before. Bitcoin kicked off the year at around US$300, before crashing to $170 within a fortnight. The cryptocurrency would climb to $465 before the year was out and… Read more »
The “significant market power” of the Apple App Store and Google Play in Australia needs to be addressed says Rod Sims, chair of competition regulator the ACCC, to give app developers better terms and conditions, as well as improving the approvals process The second part of the ACCC’s Digital Platform Services Inquiry interim report, which focuses… Read more »
More than nine out of ten parents think digital media and technologies are a negative distraction in their lives. And 83% think their children are also negatively distracted by digital devices. These are some of the findings from our Growing Up Digital Australia study. In 2020 we surveyed nearly 2,500 parents, grandparents and caregivers across… Read more »
A New Zealand agritech startup fitting cows with GPS-enabled solar collars to “guide” cows around pastures using sound and vibrations, creating virtual fences via an app, has raised A$29 million in a series B round. Halter says it is bridging the gap between human and animal understanding to transform farming. The series B round was… Read more »
Adventus.io, a SaaS-based college student recruitment marketplace which has attracted more than 2000 universities globally to the platform, has raised an additional $11 million, led by venture capital firm Our Innovation Fund (OIF), to close a $22.7 million Series A. The funds will be used to bolster the edtech startup’s global footprint, especially in the… Read more »
Daily startup news and insights, delivered to your inbox.
