Envato, the creative marketplace that grew to generate more than US$1 billion in revenue for its users annually, is being acquired by US listed imagery company Shutterstock in a deal worth US$245 million (A$373m). It marks the end of an 18-year journey for cofounders Collis and Cyan Ta’eed, and their friend Jun Rung, having launched… Read more »
Australia’s startup industry is entitled to ask itself what are the government’s expectations when it comes to technology? While some of the government’s moves around Big Tech have been encouraging, proposed changes to mergers and acquisitions requirements will likely have a chilling effect on dealmaking and investment in our local startup industry. What’s happened? Last… Read more »
Fintech Kashcade has raised an additional $1 million from existing investor Prandium Capital and several high net worths, alongside a $22 million warehouse facility funded by asset-backed lending specialist Rixon Capital. The digital lender offers startup founders non-dilutive capital and will use the debt warehouse to expand into the R&D lending space, so companies can… Read more »
Ahead of Startmate Demo Day on May 2 in Sydney at Blackbird’s Sunrise, Startup Daily is profiling the 10 startups involved. Today it’s Venu, a marketing startup for the hospitality sector. Venu founders Kieran Gardiner and James McArthur are on a mission to level the playing field for independent hospitality businesses. Venu empowers SMEs with the kind of sophisticated rewards… Read more »
Three space tech startups have received $18 million under the International Space Investment India Projects program, funded by the Australian government. Western Australia’s LatConnect60 received close to $5.8 million to develop and build a Low Earth Orbit satellite in Australia to collect information on carbon emissions at a very high resolution. The satellite will be… Read more »
Airwallex is offering to waive initial FX fees for startups as part of a new program for the sector. The foreign exchange fintech has launched Airwallex for Startups, with vice president of small-to-medium enterprises and growth, Matthew Sek, saying it’s been designed to unlock growth opportunities for startups and help them get their finances in… Read more »
Sexual harassment is often considered to be a person-to-person act, but new research shows Australians are also experiencing and perpetrating workplace harassment in large numbers through technology. Our latest study shows one in seven Australian adults surveyed reported having engaged in workplace tech-based sexual harassment. One in eight reported having engaged in both tech-based and… Read more »
The federal and Queensland governments have put the house on a US quantum startup over local rivals in a financial package worth $940 million (US$620m) to build a quantum computer in Brisbane. PsiQuantum was founded in Palo Alto, California in 2015 by expat Australian professors Jeremy O’Brien, Terry Rudolph, Mark Thompson and Dr Pete Shadbolt.… Read more »
The University of Sydney as won an $18.368 million grant to build a national industry hub, Quantum Australia, for the quantum computing sector. The federal funding over four years for up to 75% of the cost of the centre, which is charged with raising awareness of quantum technology, fostering collaboration between industry and universities, encouraging… Read more »
Sydney startup Xefco will ramp up its Victorian presence after raising $10.5 million in a Seed extension. The round was CSIRO-backed VC fund Main Sequence Ventures, with support from Virescent Ventures for the government-backed Clean Energy Finance Corporation, which chipped in $2.5 million, plus existing shareholders Investible and Voyagers Climate-Tech Fund in Xefco’s Seed investment round.… Read more »
There’s no shortage of debate around venture funding for female founders, but if you’re looking for a veteran canary in the coal mine, Women Who Code, which kicked off in 2011 in San Francisco as a community group of female engineers seeking connection and support in the tech industry, is shutting down. The board made… Read more »
Mental Health Australia chair Matt Berriman has resigned from the position over concerns the government is not doing enough to address the issue. The investor and entrepreneur, who founded venture capital fund Real VC, and marketing startup Unlockd, took on the role in December 2021 following his own diagnosis with dipolar disorder and an attempt… Read more »
Outdoor advertising startup Doohly has raised $500,000 in a pre-Seed round. The raise was backed by Melbourne VC Skalata along with Archangel Ventures, with the funding earmarked to expand Doohly’s digital-out-of-home (DOOH) offering. The startup is an end-to-end programmatic ecosystem for DOOH advertising, combining an independent content management system (CMS) with native integrations to a programmatic… Read more »
A Melbourne construction supply chains startup has raised $2.9 million in a Series A as it looks to expand into China. The round for Matrak was led by Singapore-based G&M Capital alongside Sydney VC Our Innovation Fund, former Aconex chairman Simon Yencken and others. Matrak was cofounded by Shane and Brett Hodgkins in 2018 with… Read more »
In the free-for-all between the Australian government and Big Tech boss Elon Musk last week, the government had to be on a winner. Most people would have little sympathy with Musk’s vociferous opposition to being told to take down from X (previously Twitter) the video of the stabbing of bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at a… Read more »
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