If you could get 20 minutes in a room with some of the startup community’s most successful founders and VCs, what would you ask them? Startup Daily recently hosted an interactive event in Sydney to find out. Our Ask Me Anything event brought together some of the brightest and most experienced minds in the startup… Read more »
Atlassian cofounders and co-CEOs Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar have backed the Australian Indigenous Voice referendum, saying it will “move us closer to meaningful reconciliation” and a more equitable nation. In a note to staff late last week, the pair said that “empowering First Nations communities is something we’ve always believed in and backed in… Read more »
A Sydney venture fund that co-led agtech startup Loam Bio’s huge $105 million round, has raised $220 million in a Series A. Sydney-based Wollemi Capital, founded in 2021, is the brainchild of former Macquarie Capital boss Tim Bishop and Boston Consulting Group’s Asian venture exec Paul Hunyor. The pair set out to raise $100 million,… Read more »
In recent weeks, crypto token prices have taken a beating. The two major coins, Bitcoin and Ethereum, are off ~5% in the last month and alt coins in many cases are off by 25% or more (e.g ImmutableX is down 17% in the last 30 days, Polygon is off by more than 25%, and Optimism… Read more »
The Commonwealth Bank’s venture-scaling arm, x15ventures, is on the hunt for startups focused on net-zero carbon emissions for its 2023 cohort. Applications opened today, July 17, for x15’s annual Xccelerate program, which develops early-stage startups develop their ideas for corporate partnership. This year’s Xccelerate investment thesis is “helping advance Australia’s transition to net zero” and… Read more »
As increasingly capable artificial intelligence (AI) systems become widespread, the question of the risks they may pose has taken on new urgency. Governments, researchers and developers have highlighted AI safety. The EU is moving on AI regulation, the UK is convening an AI safety summit, and Australia is seeking input on supporting safe and responsible… Read more »
Learning platform Secure Code Warrior has finished its Series C round, led by Paladin Capital Group, with $72 million (US$50 million) raised. The funding will help the company continue developing its platform and increase share in the important cyber skills development market. Managing director of Paladin and Secure Code Warrior board member Mourad Yesayan said… Read more »
Reactory founder Mark Eltom has a bonus incentive for investors who chip in $100,000 to his latest capital raise: a bottle of whisky that was accidentally left maturing for eight months. Now eight months isn’t usually a long time for whisky to mature, but Eltom claims his specialised maturing vats can make a whisky taste… Read more »
Sydney retains the crown has Australia’s top startup ecosystem, but Melbourne is rising rapidly through the ranks according to the latest (GSER). The report, an annual collaboration between Startup Genome and the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), analyses data on 3.5 million startups across 290+ global ecosystems. The Oceania region had highest early-stage funding in the world,… Read more »
Three Australian startups have been picked to join the latest round of Taronga Ventures’s RealTechX program focusing on environmental, social and governance (ESG) innovation across the real estate sector. Carbon management software company Cerclos, EV charging software firm Everty, and Sapien Cyber were on the list of 12 companies around the world chosen to join… Read more »
Sydney-based quantum tech startup Q-CTRL has landed a deal with the Department of Defence to develop quantum sensors for navigation without GPS. Quantum-assured navigation is useful for craft that operate in locations where GPS doesn’t work – like underwater and deep space – or in wartime contexts where GPS can be disrupted. “From day one… Read more »
Rapid progress in artificial intelligence (AI) has spurred some leading voices in the field to call for a research pause, raise the possibility of AI-driven human extinction, and even ask for government regulation. At the heart of their concern is the idea AI might become so powerful we lose control of it. But have we… Read more »
The use of a thumbs-up emoji in a text message can be a legally-binding agreement to a contract, a Canadian court has found. In the Court of King’s Bench in Saskatchewan, Justice Timothy Keene found that a farmer had agreed to a contract by replying to a text message with the thumbs-up emoji. The judge… Read more »
Scale-up space Stone & Chalk is joining forces with design student learning program UpRising to help unearth the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators. “With rapid technological advancement, it’s paramount that we equip our next generation with skills that align with emerging industry demands,” said UpRising founder Richard Hainsworth. This week, high school students will… Read more »
Early-stage VC firm Black Nova has launched a new fund seeking a target of $35 million as it aims to hit early stage B2B tech companies with some much needed extra capital. Black Nova managing partner Matt Browne said the new fund’s direction will complement the work of Black Nova’s original fund that raised over… Read more »
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