For 16 hours last July, Elon Musk’s company lost control of its multi-million-dollar chatbot, Grok. “Maximally truth seeking” Grok was praising Hitler, denying the Holocaust and posting sexually explicit content. An xAI engineer had left Grok with an old set of instructions, never meant for public use. They were prompts telling Grok to “not shy… Read more »
A Sydney startup looking to reduce methane emissions from livestock has raised $11 million in a Series A. The round for Number 8 Bio was led by Kiwi VC Icehouse Ventures with support from existing backer Main Sequence, as well as Japanese climate VC One Innovators joining the cap table. Japan is Australia’s second largest… Read more »
The Albanese government has finally responded officially to the Pathway to Diversity in STEM Review handed to them 19 months ago, although the review’s chair, still sees major gaps, despite a pledge to adopt all 11 recommendations. It also comes 8 months after the former minister Ed Husic said in March, ahead of the election,… Read more »
“Has Melbourne lost its spark”? In the tech world, the debate between Sydney and Melbourne often mirrors the more light-hearted rivalry about which city serves the best coffee. But when it comes to tech ecosystems, the stakes are much higher. The perception that a startup scene is “dead” can be deflating for early-stage founders. Of… Read more »
The Victorian government’s flagship tech investment fund, Breakthrough Victoria, ended up in the red for a second year in a row after just four years in operation. The fund, which cut costs while ramping up investment, and increasing returns on cash deposits, posted a $5.7 million loss, according to its 2025 annual report, attributing it… Read more »
The hardest lesson I’ve learned about raising capital is that there’s no such thing as the right investor — only the right capital stack. Every time we started raising for Goterra’s next phase, the advice was the same: find your lead investor, fill the round, move fast. That playbook hasn’t changed much, even as the… Read more »
Canberra’s startup community has a new local venture capital fund, with ACTivate Capital securing an initial close of $23 million towards a $50m target. The Early-Stage Venture Capital Limited Partnership (ESVCLP) fund will have a dedicated investment pipeline to commercialise local research and help Canberra-grown businesses scale into global markets. ACTivate Capital will invest at… Read more »
Ahead of the TechStars Sydney ‘Demo the Future’ evening on December 8, Startup Daily is profiling the 12 startups and their founders in the 2025 cohort. Next cab off the rank is Slice – a startup guiding people through every step of the home-buying journey with free software designed to give them clarity and confidence.… Read more »
In September, US electric car maker Tesla rolled out a semi-autonomous driving feature it describes as “the future of transport” in Australia. As its name suggests, the Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system blurs the line between human and machine control. Our current licensing and road-safety frameworks were not designed to handle this situation. A federal government… Read more »
Startups are raising capital later. Often with more traction. All of which is lowering the risk to investors, thanks to AI-enabled product development. Welcome to the shifting Australian startup ecosystem. Investments in AI have dominated the headlines of late. Globally record sums are being poured into the space, with forecasts suggesting AI could add $600 billion to… Read more »
Australia is “not on track” to meet the federal government’s goal of 1.2 million technology‑related jobs by 2030, according to new economic data from its Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR). The target, which was set by industry lobby group Tech Council of Australia and adopted by the federal government in 2022, would no longer… Read more »
Medical technology was a major theme in startup funding this week, with Synchron and Lumonus AI raising hundreds of millions for their forward-thinking solutions. We also counted funding deals from Australian startups that have found new ways to clean ships, improve cattle breeding, provide gifts, and support parents and carers of neurodivergent children. Keep reading… Read more »
Startup 360 cohost Simon Thomsen is flying solo this week, taking a deep dive into philanthropy with Antonia Ruffell, CEO of StartGiving, and the Australian MD of global tech charity initiative Pledge 1%. Technology is transforming the art of giving – with companies such as Atlassian, Canva and now Airtree cofounder Daniel Petre, founder of… Read more »
Sydney venture fund EVP’s Federal Court battle to recover $10.4 million it invested in StrongRoom AI just weeks before it was placed in administration will potentially have new revelations next week when the company’s failure is examined in court by its liquidator. The legal action, begun in March this year, when EVP successfully applied to… Read more »
Gold Coast AI workforce startup Zeligate has raised $500,000 in a Seed round. The deal California B2B early-stage VC DNX Ventures, which also has an office in Tokyo and principal based in Australia, making its first local investment. Zeligate will look to raise a Series A in 12 months to end 2026. Founded in 2023… Read more »
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