Business

Silicon Quantum Computing built a bigger, better, faster processor chip

- December 26, 2025 2 MIN READ

Sydney startup Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC), which builds its own quantum chips (QPUs) for commercial-scale quantum systems, has achieved a breakthrough in scaling processors.  The company’s manufacturing process, developed over 25 years, patterns chips with 0.13 nanometer (atom level) precision to create the most accurate semiconductor manufacturing process in the world. Details of the latest… Read more »

Business

From Strongroom AI to losing LaunchVic: the year’s biggest business controversies

- December 24, 2025 4 MIN READ

Australia’s business pages in 2025 were on the spicier side, as controversies across retail, tech, consulting and policy certainly brought out the trust issues in the sector. Across the year, there were major data breaches, court actions over wage underpayments, startup failures, consumer safety interventions and the closure of long-running business support programs. Here’s a… Read more »

Scrooge McDuck
Business

Da biggest bucks: The 10 Australian startups that raised a combined $2.74 billion in 2025

- December 23, 2025 4 MIN READ

Despite the continued strained economic climate, we’ve seen some big chunks of change thrown around in 2025. While early-stage funding stayed constrained for much of the year, large cheques concentrated around a smaller group of companies certainly prevailed. In some cases, twice. These were some of the largest Australian startup raises of 2025, and the… Read more »

Business

Why Canberra software startup Aristotle Metadata went with venture debt for capital

- December 22, 2025 2 MIN READ

Canberra startup Aristotle Metadata has secured a $400,000 loan from Tractor Ventures in a capital raising exercise that shows the importance of venture debt as an option for startups. The Aristotle Metadata Registry is a data governance platform that helps organisations improve the quality, compliance and accessibility of their data; a growing challenge amid the… Read more »

Business

Here’s the full program of inspiring speakers and fearless conversations at the Melbourne Growth Summit

- December 19, 2025 2 MIN READ

The full program for the 2026 Growth Summit in Melbourne is now live, promising expert insights, powerful leadership lessons, and fearless conversations tailored to Australian startups, scaleups, and SMEs. Presented by SmartCompany and Startup Daily, in partnership with Xero, the Growth Summit will see the nation’s brightest entrepreneurs and innovators inspire a new generation of ambitious business leaders. Leigh… Read more »

Business

Accommodation accessibility startup Heartful is up for grabs – or closing down

- December 18, 2025 2 MIN READ

When Jen Clark launched Heartful, the online accommodation marketplace for sustainable and inclusive travel, just over 12 months ago, the last thing she predicted as a founder was that AI bot attacks could lead to its potential demise. It wasn’t even an attack on Heartful, which has more than 550 high-quality property listings nationally. They came… Read more »

ASX

ASX-listed VC Bailador just got a $13.3 million Christmas gift from UpDoc and PropHero

- December 18, 2025 2 MIN READ

ASX-listed venture fund Bailador Technology Investments has increased the valuations on stakes in two key portfolio companies, Updoc and PropHero, with the latter rising 45.6% in just 10 months. Bailador (ASX:BTI) tipped $12.5 million into real estate investment proptech PropHero in February as part of a $25 million Series A. The investor told the market… Read more »

ASX

ASX-listed payments platform Tyro is buying NAB-backed rising star fintech Thriday

- December 16, 2025 2 MIN READ

ASX-listed Tyro Payments (ASX: TYR) is acquiring small business “CFO in your pocket” startup Thriday. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, with the acquisition expected to complete in January 2026. Thriday is an AI-powered financial management platform for SMEs that automates invoicing, expense management, accounting and banking workflows. CEO Michael Nuciforo, a former… Read more »

AI/Machine Learning

When King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard quit Spotify, an AI rip-off turned up – and the streaming platform’s algorithm promoted it

- December 11, 2025 3 MIN READ

Imagine this: a band removes its entire music catalogue off Spotify in protest, only to discover an AI-generated impersonator has replaced it. The impersonator offers songs that sound much like the band’s originals. The imposter tops Spotify search results for the band’s music – attracting significant streams – and goes undetected for months. As incredible… Read more »

Business

From broke at 16 to billionaire: Airwallex CEO Jack Zhang says 2025 is the year his global fintech finally stopped ‘almost dying’

- December 10, 2025 5 MIN READ

The arc of a tech company’s success is often sprinkled with near death experiences. And according to Airwallex cofounder Jack Zhang, the business, which raised $498 million in a Series G this week, had so many lives in its first 10 years, it should probably be nicknamed “Catwallex”. London-based Zhang took to social media overnight… Read more »

AI/Machine Learning

Now you’re hallucinating – OpenAI denies there are ads on ChatGPT, after users complain about seeing them

- December 8, 2025 3 MIN READ

OpenAI insists it is not running ads inside ChatGPT. However, after multiple paying users reported seeing what looked like promotions for Target and Peloton, the company has been forced to clarify what, exactly, is happening. Over the weekend, senior executives from OpenAI responded to screenshots posted on X by ChatGPT subscribers claiming they had seen… Read more »

Murray Hurps
Business

The annual Startup Muster survey reveals that AI is transforming how Australian founders build tech

- December 5, 2025 5 MIN READ

Australia’s startup landscape is undergoing its most dramatic shift in a decade, with data from the annual Startup Muster report revealing that founders are investing in artificial intelligence rather than headcount. The 2025 edition of the nation’s largest startup survey, released in Sydney on Friday night, reveals a sharp fall in employment as more than… Read more »