Breaking Bad, money pile
Funding

Budget 2024: It seems the federal government went dutch with Queensland on the $940 million PsiQuantum deal, but the really surprising part is a $28m fine print cost

- May 14, 2024 2 MIN READ

We now know how much the federal government is spending to bring PsiQuantum, the California-based quantum computing company with Australian founders, to Brisbane. Well, almost. The budget says $466.4 million in equity and loans from Export Finance Australia on the National Interest Account. And it seems that a fair slab is a loan “estimated to exceed… Read more »

Tony Fitzgibbon and Charlie Minutella 
Funding

Identity verification fintech Data Zoo banks $35 million after 13 years of bootstrapping

- May 14, 2024 2 MIN READ

Sydney fintech Data Zoo has raised $35 million (US$22.7m) taking on external capital for the first time. The funding came from Ashok Jacob’s Sydney investment firm, Ellerston Capital, via its JAADE fund, which has also backed startups Mable, Camms, and Phocas. The deal values the business at more than $100 million. Data Zoo’s software provides… Read more »

Jim Chalmers
Politics

Budget 2024: The key points – what you need to know

- May 14, 2024 2 MIN READ

The third Chalmers’ budget will deliver a surplus of $9.3 billion for this financial year – the second successive surplus of the Albanese government. This will be the first time there have been back-to-back surpluses in nearly two decades. But the forecast surplus is less than the $22.1 billion last financial year. Tuesday’s budget will… Read more »

digital ID
Politics

Budget 2024: Digital ID scores another $288 million towards $1 billion roll out

- May 14, 2024 3 MIN READ

A further $288 million will be provided to the government’s digital identity scheme in the federal budget, bringing its total funding to nearly $1 billion. Treasurer Jim Chalmers will also extend the instant asset write-off test for another year, allowing tech and other businesses to immediately deduct $20,000 from eligible assets. Chalmers will hand down… Read more »

Will Richardson,
Venture Capital

Knowledge is worth more than money, VC Giant Leap tells inquiry into the wholesale investor test

- May 14, 2024 2 MIN READ

Impact venture capital firm Giant Leap has told a parliamentary inquiry into the sophisticated investor test that the government should measure investor quality rather than the size of their capital when it comes to the threshold qualifications The investment sector has swung into action as submissions to the inquiry close tomorrow and Startup Daily revealed… Read more »

Politics

Elon Musk 1, eSafety Commissioner 0, in legal battle over priest stabbing video removal on X

- May 14, 2024 2 MIN READ

Elon Musk has won the latest round in his Federal Court fight with Australia’s eSafety Commissioner over demands that his social media company X (aka Twitter) remove footage of a bishop being stabbed in Sydney last month. The decision by Justice Geoffrey Kennett limits the powers of  Commissioner Julie Inman Grant and the country’s Online… Read more »

Business

Queensland EV charging manufacturer Tritium may survive

- May 13, 2024 2 MIN READ

The receivers of Brisbane-based electric vehicle charging venture Tritium are hopeful of finding a buyer for the company, having stabilised the business and kept it trading. The 23-year-old business imploded last month after attempts to find a buyer fell through as it teetered on the brink of insolvency, despite being listed on the US Nasdaq, when… Read more »

Women in tech

Applications for Press Play’s Victorian program to help women become startup founders are about to close

- May 13, 2024 2 MIN READ

Press Play is a pre-accelerator program for women looking at stepping outside their corporate, scaleup or startup jobs to become a startup founder. It’s designed to take them from employee to entrepreneur in 12 weeks. Thanks to the support of LaunchVic and several other supporters there are 100 scholarship, valued at $4,700 each, available for… Read more »

AgriWebb
Funding

Farming stock management software startup plants $11 million raise

- May 10, 2024 2 MIN READ

Digital beef cattle management platform AgriWebb has raised US $US7.2 million (A$11m). The 10-year-old startup attracted listed Swedish climate solutions firm Munters Group as a new investor, with existing backers Germin8 Ventures, Grosvenor Food & AgTech, and Telus Ventures, the VC arm of the Canadian telecommunications giant, also part of the round. AgriWebb, founded in… Read more »