Australia’s startup sector has seen a huge week of dealmaking. Firmus came in clutch on Friday morning with a massive $500 million raise just two months after it raised $330 million, making it one of the largest tech rounds announced this year. In total, eight companies pulled in $572.12 million across AI infrastructure, biotech, renewable… Read more »
Recently, I had a tough conversation with my 12-year-old son. Australia had just announced that from December 2025, no one under 16 will be allowed to create a YouTube account. The idea is simple: protect kids from harm. But here’s the problem – this ban won’t do what it promises. In fact, it risks making… Read more »
Artificial intelligence data centre startup Firmus Technologies has trebled its valuation to $6 billion after raising another $500 million, just two months after banking $330 million in a deal with Nvidia. After setting out to build an AI data centre in Tasmania, the Singapore-based company announced a $73.3 billion plan, Project Southgate, with AI infrastructure also… Read more »
Chief artificial intelligence officers will be appointed to every federal agency in 2026 as generative AI causes a “fundamental shift” in government operations, according to an AI Plan for the Australian Public Service (APS) released by the federal government on Wednesday. The plan will see every government worker given access to generative AI tools, as… Read more »
Let’s be honest, even just writing this sentence has meant engaging with some very basic artificial intelligence (AI) as the computer checks my spelling and grammar. Ultimately, the quality and integrity of the finished article are a human responsibility. But the questions this raises go well beyond everyday word processing. Powerful AI is now changing… Read more »
Just 18 months after serial entrepreneurs Gabby and Hezi Leibovich, teamed up with two young founders keen to take on Linktree with their own digital landing page startup, they’ve gone from trying to beat them to joining them. Linktree has acquired Fingertip, a Melbourne platform helping freelancers, creators, and small businesses manage and grow their… Read more »
This is part three of Christie Jenkins’ five-part series on bravery. It is inspired by her chat with Crista Samaras, the founder of Brave Enterprises. Trampolining was my first sport. For 17 years, I did flips every day. “Does it feel like flying?” people ask me. From their view, I get why. I’m often 10 meters… Read more »
Australian entrepreneur Ned Dwyer has reason to celebrate, after Great Question, the San Francisco-based startup he co-founded in 2020, raised $20 million (US$13 million) in venture capital investment. And the Series A round has also prompted Dwyer to reflect on his experiences as an expat in Silicon Valley, and what has changed since for fellow… Read more »
Victorian agtech startup Drone-Hand has raised $720,000 in a pre-Seed round for its autonomous livestock management platform. The raise was led by US VC Radius Capital, supported by three local agribusiness investors Gippsland-based Edward Barraclough founded Drone-Hand in 2023, having grown up in NSW on a mixed livestock property. The idea was inspired by an… Read more »
Rage Biotech, a therapeutics startup tackling chronic inflammatory disease, has raised $29 million in a Series A. The round was led by IP Group Australia and super fund Hostplus, with support from existing investors including Monash Ventures. The funds will go towards first-in-human clinical trials for Rage’s nasal therapy to treat inflammatory lung diseases The… Read more »
Australia’s top national security bureaucrat used an AI chatbot to ghostwrite speeches and messages to his colleagues, internal documents show. As Finance Minister Katy Gallagher announces a significant government-wide AI plan to promote its use in the public service, Crikey has used freedom of information (FOI) laws to reveal how a government employee is already using the nascent… Read more »
A Sydney AI-powered ecommerce startup focused on customer satisfaction during delivery – known in the trade as WISMO (Where is my order?) – has raised $2.3 million in pre-Seed funding. The round for Keeyu was led by Rampersand, with support from Archangel, Startmate, Empress Capital, Exhort Ventures, Sydney Angels, Southern Angels, and others including Marketplacer’s… Read more »
Pioneering food delivery service Menulog is being killed off at the end of the month by its European owners after nearly 20 years, most likely a victim of the rapid local expansion of rival Uber Eats. The business was founded in Sydney by Dan Katz, Leon Kamenev and Kevin Sherman in 2006. A decade later,… Read more »
As ROI goes for investing in deep tech, Sydney deep tech innovator Cicada Innovations has delivered in spades over the past 25 years. The organisation celebrated its 25th anniversary this week, estimating that its role in Australia’s economic growth tops $8 billion, including $6.5 billion in capital raised, high-skill jobs creation, and broader innovation innovation… Read more »
The government-backed Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has tipped $25.3 million in new funding into Sydney startup SunDrive, which is developing cheaper, copper-based solar panels. It’s the second major funding injection from ARENA, which also tipped $11 million into SunDrive in 2023 and has now supplied nearly $40 million in capital. SunDrive began life in a… Read more »
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