Cell-based meat production startup Vow Foods has raised $7.7m (US$6m) in a seed round led by Square Peg Capital, alongside Blackbird Ventures, Grok Ventures and new investor Tenacious Ventures. James Tynan from Square Peg will join Vow’s board. The cellular agtech startup, based in Western Sydney, began with lab-grown meat from pork and kangaroo cells… Read more »
Two areas that could soon dominate the Australian finance space are the increased success of the fintech industry and the movement toward the adoption of open banking. Interestingly, an ecosystem built on the security needs of banks for sharing consumer data will see fintechs become more intrinsically linked to the innovation opportunities open banking allows… Read more »
Uber Australia has settled a Federal Court case with an UberEats driver they sacked for being late with a delivery before the court could rule on whether then driver was an employee of the business. The move heads off the threat the US tech giant being forced to recognise drivers as employees, rather than contractors,… Read more »
After a crazy year that had one more prize in store over the Christmas-New Year break, especially for people in Sydney and Victoria, we asked leaders in the startup and tech community to send 2020 a breakup letter. It’s time to move on. As 2021 gets underway, Cheryl Mack, Head of Community at Stone &… Read more »
Green energy finance provider Brighte has raised $100 million to move into energy retailing. The $100 million round was led by Grok Ventures, the family investment company run by billionaire Annie Cannon-Brookes and her husband Mike. Founder & CEO Katherine McConnell said the fund will be used in three key areas: acquiring more solar households,… Read more »
Allow us to introduce Edna — Australia’s first “genomics chatbot”. The opening dialogue of Edna the chatbot. Edna (short for “electronic-DNA”) helps patients make informed decisions about seeking “additional findings” testing. Additional findings testing looks for variants in patients’ genes that aren’t relevant to their current health, but may be later on. For example, it… Read more »
In a year like no other in living memory for most, we asked leaders in the startup and tech community to send 2020 a breakup letter. It’s time to move on. As 2021 gets underway, Right Click Capital partner Ben Chong looks back on a strange relationship Dear 2020, Haven’t we had a strange time… Read more »
Sydneysiders and Melburnians will be forced to have quieter ends to 2020 with new restrictions being announced by both states. Victorians have just six hours to adapt to changes kicking in at 5pm on New Years Eve, with the number of people at private gatherings at home halved to 15 visitors, with mask use indoors… Read more »
In a year like no other in living memory for most, we asked some leaders in the startup and tech community to send 2020 a breakup letter. It’s time to move on. Today Sophie Main from WORK180 brings out her bard to say goodbye. Sit down 2020, it’s time we had a talk, Or… Read more »
As part of our summer series looking back on an extraordinary year and the one ahead, we asked Right Click Capital Partner Benjamin Chong about the good, the bad and what he learnt this year, his summer plans and for suggestions on what to read when he gets a chance to catch his breath. Here’s… Read more »
Ask anyone in Melbourne, where they spent 111 days in a second major lockdown to get Covid-19 under control, about 2020 and they’ll give you a mixed reaction, including startup advisor and investor Chris Ridd. On the upside, he’s a Richmond Tigers supporter. As part of our summer series looking back on an extraordinary year… Read more »
Small business-focused neobank Judo had raised $280 million in a series D round. The company did not disclose its backers in the latest series, but the raise comes seven months after a $230 million series C and values the bank at $1.6 billion, an uplift of 60% on the May figure. Confirmation of Judo’s raise… Read more »
Access to Open Banking under the Consumer Data Right (CDR), introduced in Australia in July 2020, will be expanded next year to include more business customers after federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg approved the ACCC’s expansion plans for the roll out. From 1 November 2021, major banks will enable business customers to share their data with… Read more »
The ACCC says it won’t accept a legally binding pledge offered by Google to address competition concerns about its proposed acquisition of Fitbit. The competition regulator says its investigation into Google’s proposed acquisition of the wearables manufacturer will continue, setting a new decision date on whether to approve the deal in Australia by March 25,… Read more »
Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes has solved the age-old dilemma of what to get a billionaire for Christmas by teaming up with fellow tech billionaire Ryan Smith, co-founder of Qualtrics, to buy the franchise to the US NBA team Utah Jazz. Smith, 42, was approved as majority owner of the Utah Jazz on the weekend in a… Read more »
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