A New Zealand entrepreneur who developed virtual reality software to treat anxiety and phobias is heading to Australia as part of a bid to source additional funding to help further enhance his product. oVRcome founder Adam Hutchinson, from Christchurch, will pitch to investors at the Digital Health Festival in Melbourne starting June 6. Funding will… Read more »
Doomsaying is an old occupation. Artificial intelligence (AI) is a complex subject. It’s easy to fear what you don’t understand. These three truths go some way towards explaining the oversimplification and dramatisation plaguing discussions about AI. This week outlets around the world were plastered with news of yet another open letter claiming AI poses an… Read more »
Australia’s godfather of open banking, Scott Farrell, has been added to FinTech Australia’s Hall of Fame at the annual Finnie Awards. For the second year in a row, the awards have been shared widely, with small business lender Lumi the only company to receive more than one award, taking home Best Workplace Diversity and Emerging… Read more »
A Brisbane startup that has developed waterproof coatings for packaging than ensures it’s still recyclable has raised $1.85 million in a pre-Seed round. Earthodic’s bio-based coating solution, Paperbarc, provides paper and packaging with enhanced water resistance while still being strong and recyclable. It’s a potential replacement for the current use of wax or plastic-coated packaging.… Read more »
Uber’s controversial surge pricing, which has seen the US tech giant refund customers and apologise in the wake of 2014’s Lindt Cafe siege, will be capped in times of crisis under a deal with the NSW government. The agreement is part of the Transport Management Centre incident response process to deal with unplanned public transport… Read more »
Since its founding in 2016, Elon Musk’s neurotechnology company Neuralink has had the ambitious mission to build a next-generation brain implant with at least 100 times more brain connections than devices currently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company has now reached a significant milestone, having received FDA approval to begin… Read more »
Hospitality ordering app Mr Yum has been named startup of the year in the annual Governor of Victoria Startup Awards. The fintech, currently in talks with rival Me&u over a possible merger, was recognised for its role in helping the state’s restaurant sector continuing to operate during pandemic restrictions and now helping the hospitality sector… Read more »
Australia’s tech sector grew by 8% over the past year and despite a wave of high profile redundancies, added more than 10,000 jobs in the first quarter of 2023. The nation’s tech workforce increased by 70,000 jobs to 935,000 by February 2023, according to new research from the Tech Council of Australia (TCA). That growth… Read more »
The “global first” of $5 a litre “raw” milk has not been the innovation goldmine the founders of diary tech startup Made by Cow had hoped, with the business placed in voluntary administration last week and closing its doors. The Sydney startup developed a patented method to treat milk so it was safe to drink… Read more »
Australia’s roll out of open banking under the consumer data right (CDR) is stalling ahead of the third anniversary of its introduction, with industry lobby groups and the fintech sector calling on the federal government to put in place a long sought-after roadmap for CDR implementation. FinTech Australia and the Financial Data and Technology Association… Read more »
ASX-listed tradesperson platform Hipages Group has conceded to regulator the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) that it potentially engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct over four years involving its subscription renewals and termination fees. The ACCC said the company’s actions were in breach of the Australian Consumer Law between October 2018 to January 2022… Read more »
Victorian alcohol delivery startup Hairydog Group has added rival BoozeBud to its portfolio, acquiring the company’s assets a month after the business was placed in administration. The terms of the deal were not disclosed by Hairydog says the acquisition will push its annual revenue above $75 million, delivering incremental profitability and reinforcing its position as… Read more »
Being on social media has become synonymous with living in the 21st century. Year after year, we see new platforms and smarter algorithms roping us into highly addictive online worlds. Now, a growing number of people have noticed this trend and are actively making an effort to resist it. Anecdotally, a case can be made… Read more »
New Zealand digital teaching aid Education Perfect has acquired a bootstrapped Victorian edtech assessment platform Essential Assessment in a deal believed to be worth $40 million Education Perfect (EP) saw global equity giant KKR take a majority stake in the business two years ago in a deal worth more than $400 million. The terms of… Read more »
Enterprise software startup Complexica has raised $6.5 million in a round backed by Acorn Capital. The nine-year-old Adelaide tech company has now taken on $31 million in external capital over the last two years as it ramps up the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in software for optimising and automating sales, marketing, and… Read more »
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