There’s a cage fight-like quality to Employment Hero cofounder and CEO Ben Thompson’s campaign against one of his investors, Hostplus, but it appears the $100 billion industry super fund is not enjoying the show. In fact, in Hostplus’ view, Thompson is lowering the tone of Australian corporate life and unless he brings back a bit… Read more »
Kogan.com chief financial officer and chief operating officer David Shafer has sold two million shares in the online retailer he cofounded with Ruslan Kogan. Shafer sold at $8 a share on March 7, worth $16 million, taking his stake through Shafer Corporation to below the 5% threshold of being a substantial shareholder in the ASX-listed company.… Read more »
Melbourne startup Bae Juice has raised $1 million for its ‘hangover prevention’ drink as it looks to expand in the US. The round was backed by Perth gaming billionaire Laurence Escalante via his family fund, Lance East Office, with existing investor Honan Capital also chipping in. Escalante became a fan of Bae Juice after tucking… Read more »
Touch Ventures, the ASX-listed VC fund initially backed by BNPL fintech Afterpay, is breaking up with its CEO, Hein Vogel, after 4.5 years. In a statement to the market on Monday, the company said the board and CEO “have reached a consensus on his departure” with Vogel handing back his swipe card on March 29… Read more »
A new nationally representative survey has revealed Australians are deeply concerned about the risks posed by artificial intelligence (AI). They want the government to take stronger action to ensure its safe development and use. We conducted the survey in early 2024 and found 80% of Australians believe preventing catastrophic risks from advanced AI systems should… Read more »
Global Tech Advocates (GTA), the international grassroots tech community of more than 30,000 tech leaders, experts and investors, has spread its wings to Australia. Tech Australia Advocates is GTA’s 35th international group and the Oceania region’s first chapter. It now operates in Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Americas. Global Tech Advocates, was created in 2016… Read more »
Brisbane solar battery startup Redback Technologies has handed its books to voluntary administrators. McGrathNicol were appointed administrators of Redback Operations Pty. Ltd on March 5, as the company was in Sydney exhibiting at the Smart Energy Expo. Redback continues to trade as the administrators seek expressions of interest for the sale or recapitalisation of all… Read more »
The theme for International Women’s Day this year is ‘Count Her In: Invest in Women. Accelerate Progress.’ For women in startups, venture capital investment in them is already a hot topic, with female founders receiving 4% of the $3.5 billion in capital deployed in 2023. That’s a literal invest in women and still has a… Read more »
Two leading women in Australia’s startup sector have joined tech community builder Innovation Bay. Eleanor Salt, who recently returned to Australia from Singapore after working with Sydney-based fintech Nano Lending Solutions, has signed on as Innovation Bay’s as community manager. Former Airtree head of community Melissa Ran, is joining as investment ambassador for the organisation’s… Read more »
Cybersecurity startup Nullify, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help software developers and security teams detect and fix potential vulnerabilities in code as it’s being written, has raised US$3.41 million (A$5.2m) in Seed capital. The round was co-led by US VCs Two Sigma Ventures and Root Ventures ahead of the startup’s plans to launch in… Read more »
61% of employees find equity as an important factor in accepting a role Only 50% of employees know the real value of their equity Only 34% of founders think they communicate the value of equity effectively 56% of Australian companies apply a 1-year cliff with a 3-year full vesting period 36% of Australian startups issue… Read more »
Women launching startups in South Australia will have access to government funding in a new grants program launched at _SOUTHSTART in Adelaide today. The Fearless Innovator Grants Program will offer funding to women-run early stage startups. The Malinauskas government has committed $110,000 from the Research and Innovation Fund to support Women in Innovation (WINN) to… Read more »
Wellbeing expert advice marketplace Anni has banked $1 million in a Seed raise just five months after launching. The round has backed by several unnamed high net worth individuals and family funds and will be used to build out the wellbeing platform in areas such as online video consults, digital goods and distributed cross-platform on-demand… Read more »
Gold Coast rocket startup Gilmour Space has been granted approval to launch from its north Queensland facility. Federal regulators gave the company the green light under new laws introduced in 2018 to help develop Australia’s fledging space technology sector. Gilmour has developed its own hybrid rockets with a more environmentally friendly propellant and plans to… Read more »
A Melbourne-founded healthcare platform focused on the NDIS has banked US$8.2 million (A$12.6m) in Seed funding. The round led for Kismet by Dutch-listed internet investment firm Prosus Ventures and existing backer Airtree Ventures. The startup previously raised A$4m in pre-Seed capital in May last year, with from Airtree, Black Nova and Flying Fox. The startup,… Read more »
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