Social Media

Linktree hit in Elon Musk’s ban on sharing links on Twitter

- December 19, 2022 2 MIN READ

Melbourne-based link-in-bio startup Linktree has been caught up in the latest changes to Twitter under its quixotic new owner, Elon Musk. Linktree boss Alex Zaccaria, ironically, took to Twitter to argue Musk’s latest diktat was “anti-creator and antithetical” to the foundations of the Internet and Twitter, pointing out that Linktree drives double the traffic to… Read more »

Synchron inventor Professor Nicholas Opie
Funding

Jeff Bezos & Bill Gates back Australian brain-computer interface startup Synchron in $110 million Series C

- December 16, 2022 2 MIN READ

Cutting-edge Australian tech scale-up  Synchron, which hopes to give paralysed people the power to control computers with their minds, has raised $110 million in a Series C. Synchron is a clinical-stage endovascular (inside the blood vessel) brain-computer interface (BCI) company founded in 2016 by Dr Tom Oxley and Professor Nick Opie. It is based in Brooklyn, New… Read more »

Brosa cofounders Richard Li and Ivan Lim.
Business

AirTree Ventures and Bailador-backed ecommerce venture Brosa hits voluntary administration

- December 16, 2022 2 MIN READ

Online furniture retailer Brosa is up for sale after the business was placed in voluntary administration this week. Richard Tucker and Michael Korda of KordaMentha were appointed Voluntary Administrators of the 8-year-old ecommerce company, which raised more than $7 million in venture capital from the likes of Airtree and ASX-listed Bailador Technology Investments. While Bailador… Read more »

Syenta Chief Scientific Officer, Professor Luke Connal and CEO Jekaterina Viktorova. ANU
Funding

Canberra 3D printing startup Syenta lands $3.7 million Seed round to revolutionise electronics manufacturing

- December 15, 2022 2 MIN READ

Canberra-based manufacturing startup Syenta has raised $3.7 million in seed funding to drive production of its exceptionally fast, multi-material 3D printers. The round was led by Blackbird, alongside Brindabella Capital and Jelix Ventures. The ANU-based startup spent two years in “stealth mode” as cofounders Jekaterina Viktorova and Professor Luke Connal developed a multi-material 3D printer using… Read more »

Fred Schebesta
Cryptocurrency

Corporate cop ASIC sues Finder for alleged ‘unlicensed conduct’ over its crypto product Earn

- December 15, 2022 2 MIN READ

Corporate regulator the Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC) has launched ASIC has launched Federal Court action against a subsidiary of comparison website Finder over its recently closed crypto production, Finder Earn. ASIC alleges that Finder Wallet Pty Ltd provided unlicensed financial services, breached product disclosure requirements and failed to comply with design and distribution… Read more »

FairSupply cofounders Dr Arne Geschke (l) and Kimberly Randle (r) with AirTree's Jackie Vullinghs
Funding

ESG startup FairSupply raises $6.3 million Series A to tackle corporate greenwashing

- December 15, 2022 2 MIN READ

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) software platform, FairSupply has raised $6.3 million in a Series A The round led by local VC AirTree, alongside Tidal Ventures, Dr Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation and early adopter the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC). Dr Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo previously backed the Sydney software-as-a-service startup in September last year through its… Read more »

Sydney from the air
Funding

Digital twin software startup Willow tops up with $42 million raise at a lower valuation

- December 15, 2022 < 1 MIN READ

Real estate and infrastructure digital twin creator Willow has raised US$28.8 million (A$42m) . The round was led by the Sydney-headquartered venture’s existing backers, who chipped in at a lower valuation to 2021’s pre-Series B round. Willow chairman Nicholas Moore, the former Macquarie Group CEO, is a key investor, alongside fellow director and TCI Renewables chair… Read more »

Deliveroo rider
Business

Deliveroo puts $18.8 million on the table as it leaves town – after losing $33 million this year

- December 14, 2022 2 MIN READ

Deliveroo was losing around $3 million a month on its Australian operations, administrators KordaMentha found, with revenue sliding this year in the wake of 2021’s pandemic lockdowns. The business has put a Deed of Company Arrangement (DOCA), backed by the administrators, on the table offering a total of $18.8 million to staff, delivery riders and… Read more »

bitcoin
People

Blockchain Australia’s new CEO, Laura Mercurio, has left after just 3 months

- December 14, 2022 2 MIN READ

Blockchain Australia’s new CEO, Laura Mercurio, has left the member organisation after just three months after taking on the role An experienced investment banker whose CV includes global investment banks, including BlackRock, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank), fintech’s and various government and regulatory bodies, took over from Steve Vallas in mid September. Blockchain Australia is the… Read more »

FTX Sam Bankman-Fried
Cryptocurrency

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in the Bahamas

- December 14, 2022 2 MIN READ

Police in the Bahamas have arrested the founder of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX after criminal charges were filed in the US. Sam Bankman-Fried, who goes by the name SBF, was head of the company that was valued at $47 billion before speculation FTX was running insolvent led to a liquidity crunch that ultimately brought down the exchange… Read more »

Cryptocurrency

How FTX Australia got away with claiming it was ‘ASIC-licenced’

- December 14, 2022 3 MIN READ

When cryptocurrency exchange FTX Group collapsed in the Bahamas last month, its local subsidiaries FTX Australia Pty Ltd and FTX Express Pty Ltd fell over too. The Australian companies were placed into administration on November 11 and within days the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) had suspended the Australian financial service licence FTX Australia… Read more »

ALIAVIA Ventures founder Marisa Warren (centre) with Neighbourlytics cofounders Jessica Christiansen-Franks and Lucinda Hartley
Funding

Urban analytics startup Neighbourlytics raises $1.3 million in pre-Series A

- December 13, 2022 2 MIN READ

Melbourne urbantech analytics platform Neighbourlytics has raised $1.3 million in a pre-Series A. The round was led by Californian VC ALIAVIA Ventures, which backs female founders in enterprise and consumer tech companies, supported by LaunchVic’s angel sidecar fund, the Alice Anderson Fund. The fresh capital brings the total raised by Neighbourlytics to $3.5 million with existing investors… Read more »