CommandPost, a crisis management startup designed to improve emergency response times and coordination has raised $200,000 in Seed funding from Melbourne VC Skalata $200,000. Founder Alex Rixon-Booth worked in emergency service response and decided to take things to the next level in the wake of miscommunications during the recent NSW floods and Black Summer bushfires… Read more »
Founder and host of the Female Startup Club, Doone Roisin, will make a first-ever philanthropic donation to the New Wave program at New South Wales University (UNSW). New Wave provides women-identifying students, staff, and alumni opportunities to enhance their startup skills through workshops, masterclasses with experts, and mentorship from industry leaders. This support is available… Read more »
Concerns over cleaning chemicals and single-use plastics have led two female founders to launch a startup to create eco-friendly and more sustainable household cleaning solutions. Pleasant State was founded in 2020 Ami Bateman and Sian Murray with a vision to rid households of toxic chemicals, replacing them with healthier, just-add-water cleaning solutions, also putting an… Read more »
ASX-listed venture capital fund Bailador Technology Investments Limited (ASX:BTI) has tipped $9.8m investment into people management software platform Rosterfy. The investment marks a return to backing startups for Bailador, which last year declined to invest in any new startups. Last month the VC tipped an additional $10 million into existing portfolio company InstantScript, a digital… Read more »
Australians lost a record $3.1 billion to financial scammers in 2022. However, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) suggests the real figure is likely much higher, with an estimated 30% of scams going unreported. The findings come from the watchdog’s Targeting Scams report, which combines data from Scamwatch, ReportCyber, the Australian Financial Crimes Exchange… Read more »
The finalists for FinTech Australia’s seventh annual business awards, known as The Finnies, have been announced. This year’s awards received over 300 entries from over 250 fintechs across 19 categories, with judges shortlisting 156 finalists. FinTech Australia general manager Rehan D’Almeida said they’re announcing the finalists a bit later than usual due to the deliberation… Read more »
Sydney-based startup MilkRun made a big splash with its promise to deliver groceries within ten minutes, raising more than A$85 million from some of the biggest names in Australian venture capital, including Atlassian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes. MilkRun’s co-founder and chief executive Dany Milham had already found success with fast-delivering mattress company Koala. Less than a… Read more »
Former Startmate boss James Tynan has been named a partner at Square Peg, three years after signing on at the VC. Tynan joined Square Peg in 2020 from the Startmate accelerator program, which also makes pre-seed investments in the startups involved. Since then he’s led investments for Square Peg in companies including culture meat venture… Read more »
A New Zealand deep tech manufacturing startup helping produce cleaner hydrogen with fewer precious metals has raised NZ$2.5 million (A$2.3m) in a Seed round. Bspkl has developed a new, more sustainable way to produce catalyst coated membranes (CCMs) for the hydrogen industry. CCMs typically use platinum and iridium in solid membranes to maximise hydrogen production.… Read more »
Social media “finfluencer” Tyson Robert Scholz, known as “ASX Wolf” on social media, has been threatened with jail time if he attempts to charge for financial and share trading advice following a ban by the Federal Court. In December, Justice Kylie Downes found that Scholz had illegally run a financial service business between March 2020… Read more »
An Australian council mayor may become the first person in the world to sue AI platform ChatGPT for defamation over false claims he was imprisoned over a bribery scandal. The mayor of Hepburn Shire in Victoria, Brian Hood, discovered late last year that artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT was incorrectly claiming that he had pleaded guilty… Read more »
Australia has joined other countries in announcing a ban on the use of TikTok on government devices, with some states and territories following suit. The rationale was based on security fears and, in particular, the risk the platform will be used for foreign interference operations by China. TikTok is a video-sharing platform operated by ByteDance,… Read more »
Early-stage tech investor and advisory firm Scalare Partners has acquired the annual Australian Technologies Competition (ATC), which helps build promising tech companies for the world stage. The ATC has an alumni pool of 350 past winners, including telehealth platform Coviu, global agri-business Agri-Digital and ASX-listed cleantech company Calix. Scalare Partners CEO Carolyn Breeze said the… Read more »
The first mover advantage that turned Block-owned Afterpay enjoyed since its launch nine years ago is about to end, with the world’s most valuable tech company, Apple, set to become Australia’s leading buy-now-play-later (BNPL). The Roy Morgan Digital Payments Report reveals it’s taken just 7 years for Apple Pay to build its local market penetration,… Read more »
Employee benefits platform Circle In has raised $2 million in a round led by Sydney VC Alberts Impact Ventures. The cash is earmarked for global expansion plans and to develop the platform for working families and caregivers. Existing backers Leigh Jasper, Carol Schwartz, Rob Phillpot, Andrew Sypkes, and Employment Hero’s Ben Thompson also supported the… Read more »
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