Aurie smart catheter system i
Funding

Disability tech accelerator and investor Remarkable goes global, backing US catheter startup’s $9.1 million Seed round

- April 4, 2024 2 MIN READ

Australian disability tech accelerator Remarkable has backed a US med tech startup reducing urinary tract infection (UTI) risks in a US$6 million (A$9.1m) Seed raise. The round for New York medtech startup Aurie, was led by existing investor Lakehouse Ventures. Founded in 2018, Aurie has developed a reusable, no-touch, intermittent catheter system used by people… Read more »

Starboard Maritime
Funding

Kiwi sea crimes startup Starboard Maritime Intelligence floats $4.6 million seed funding round

- April 4, 2024 2 MIN READ

A New Zealand data analytics startup using machine learning to detect suspicious activity by vessels at sea has raised a NZ$5 million (A$4.6m) in a Seed round. The round for Starboard Maritime Intelligence was led by Kiwi VC Altered Capital, supported by Icehouse Ventures, Invest South, Soul Capital, and Whakatupu Aotearoa Foundation, as well as marine-focused… Read more »

Google Incognito
Global tech

Turns out Google kept private browsing data to sell – but will now delete it as part of a class action settlement

- April 3, 2024 3 MIN READ

Google has agreed to delete data collected on users while they were in private browsing mode and properly inform them of how “incognito” this service actually is as part of a class action lawsuit settlement. Google-owner Alphabet settled the class action lawsuit, brought on by users of its Incognito private browsing mode in 2020 late last year,… Read more »

CEO and founder Olympia Yarger
Business

CSIRO is spending $20 million to help up to 750 startups and small businesses dive deeper into R&D

- April 3, 2024 2 MIN READ

National science agency CSIRO has allocated $20 million towards supporting startups and smaller companies with greater access to vital research and development (R&D) opportunities to accelerate their growth. Up to 750 small to medium enterprises (SMEs) will be supported under the banner of SME Connect via programs that provide facilitation, training, dollar-matched funding and support… Read more »

The NextGen Ventures Melbourne team: Varad Chaudhari, Ikya Thearam, Mitchell Hughes and Donald La. Photo: Valent Media.
Venture Capital

Students are getting into VC with NextGen Ventures to back uni-founded startups

- April 2, 2024 3 MIN READ

Australian universities are creating extraordinary startups founded by students that are changing the world. Think tech giant Atlassian – cofounders Mike and Scott met at UNSW – to more recent successes such as gaming platform Immutable, diagnosis medtech Harrison.ai, and drone deep tech venture Propeller Aero. Now students are taking charge of the investment side… Read more »

Femtek founder Olivia Orchowski
Funding

Women’s hormonal cycle tracker Femtek pockets $1 million Seed round

- April 2, 2024 < 1 MIN READ

Women’s healthtech startup Femtek has raised $1 million in Seed funding to give women better data around their menstrual cycle. The round was led by startup incubator and early-stage investor Arcanys Ventures, which also has an office in Melbourne led by managing partner Frederic Joye, alongside Philippines-based software outsourcing and a Swiss office. Techstars and… Read more »

Funding

Northern Territory government puts $10 million into co-investment fund to back startups

- April 2, 2024 2 MIN READ

A $20 million business investment fund has launched in the Northern Territory in a partnership between the government and Darwin investment firm Paspalis Corporation. The Territory government is tipping in $10 million through the Local Jobs Fund, matched by Paspalis, with funding of up to $5 million available for domestic and international businesses looking to… Read more »

First Australians Capital Brian Wyborn
Funding

First Australians Capital scores $500,000 from QBE to back Indigenous startups with Seed funding

- April 2, 2024 2 MIN READ

The QBE Foundation has given Indigenous-led investor First Australians Capital (FAC) a $500,000 to provide Seed funding for Indigenous startups. The grant will form part of a seed capital pool established by FAC to fund startups and early-stage businesses run by Indigenous Australians. FAC is an Indigenous-led organisation focused on business advisory services coupled with… Read more »

Ed Husic and Andrew Dzurak
Quantum Computing

Diraq founder Andrew Dzurak explains the incredible breakthough his quantum computing startup just made

- April 2, 2024 3 MIN READ

For decades, the pursuit of quantum computing has struggled with the need for extremely low temperatures, mere fractions of a degree above absolute zero (0 Kelvin or –273.15°C). That’s because the quantum phenomena that grant quantum computers their unique computational abilities can only be harnessed by isolating them from the warmth of the familiar classical… Read more »

Funding

Banking fintech Constantinople pockets $50 million Series A

- April 2, 2024 < 1 MIN READ

Banking-in-box fintech Constantinople has raised $50 million in a Series A. The round was led by Dutch internet investment firm Prosus Ventures, with support from existing Australian backers Square Peg and AirTree. The Sydney startup, founded in 2022 by former Westpac managers Macgregor Duncan and Dianne Challenor, previously raised US$23 million (A$32m) in a Seed… Read more »

Venture Capital

RAYN MAN: The secrets of investing in Australian startups revealed in ‘Memoirs of a dumb VC’

- April 1, 2024 4 MIN READ

Rayn Ong is the Taylor Swift of Australian venture capital. The Archangel Ventures partner has made more than 100 investments. A Startmate mentor, Blackbird limited partner and poker shark, Ong works with angel investors and venture fund mangers to co-invest in 1st and 2nd rounds for early stage tech startups. His fans, known as Ongies,… Read more »

The Jetsons, Rosey the Robot
AI/Machine Learning

If a third of people are lonely, will AI help or make things worse?

- March 29, 2024 3 MIN READ

ChatGPT has repeatedly made headlines since its release late last year, with various scholars and professionals exploring its potential applications in both work and education settings. However, one area receiving less attention is the tool’s usefulness as a conversationalist and – dare we say – as a potential friend. Some chatbots have left an unsettling… Read more »

SunDrive cofounder Vince Allen with PM Anthony Albanese, climate change minister Chris Bowen and company director, advisor and former MP Wyatt Roy.
Politics

Mike Cannon-Brookes is in the thick of the Australian government’s $1 billion plan to turn a coal mining region into a solar manufacturing hub

- March 28, 2024 4 MIN READ

Here’s an astonishing figure. While a third of Australian households have solar power, making us the world leader on adoption, just 1% of those panels are locally made, even thought we invented the technology. So the federal government is hoping to transform the coal mining Hunter Valley region, north of Sydney, into a solar manufacturing… Read more »

Semiconductor lab, science, production, PC mainboard
Global tech

Climate change is a massive threat to semiconductor manufacturing. Here’s why

- March 28, 2024 4 MIN READ

Semiconductors are the basic building blocks of microchips. These technological marvels are in everything from lightbulbs and toothbrushes to cars, trains and planes, not to mention the vast array of electronics that have become integral to many people’s daily lives. The 21st century chip manufacturing industry has been described as “at least as significant geopolitically… Read more »