Melt Ventures has launched Australia’s first dedicated Advanced Manufacturing Venture Fund and is already near to first close. The Fund is investing in high-growth companies in the Advanced Manufacturing sector including clean technologies such as renewable energy and storage, automation and robotics, agriculture and transport, as well as advanced materials and space. The VC fund… Read more »
CSIRO Chief Scientist Professor Bronwyn Fox has been appointed chair of a new National Robotics Strategy Advisory Committee to help guide Australia’s strategy for emerging automation technologies. Industry and Science Ed Husic announced Prof Fox’s new role, along with the rest of the committee, which includes Mike Zimmerman from VC Main Sequence, ahead of its… Read more »
Purpose focused startups such as Great Wrap, Bare Cremation, and Separation Guide, are among the major winners of the annual Pause Awards. Held in Melbourne and backed by VicGov, the 5th annual Pause Awards recognise innovation and people building Australia’s startup ecosystem, with 60 judges assessing hundreds of entries across 50 categories. assessing the merit and… Read more »
Aotearoa data startup Partly, which makes it easier to source vehicle parts, has raised NZ$37 million (A$34m) in a Series A. It’s a national record for a Series A and follows a NZ$3.7 million pre-series A in October 2021. The latest round was led by European VC Octopus Ventures, with Blackbird’s Kiwi wing tipping in… Read more »
Technology community Tank Stream Labs has launched a portfolio of business services spanning areas such as recruitment and law to help founders build their business. The Tank Stream Labs (TSL) Group is a collection of service companies providing startups and SMEs with specialised services to support business development, audio and video content production, talent acquisition… Read more »
Sydney envirotech startup Pathzero is the latest startup to bolster a round with additional funding a year or more later, adding another $8.6 million to what it’s called a Series A+. The business previously raised $6.8 million in October 2021, taking the total raised for its Series A to $15.6 million. VC Carthona Capital once… Read more »
Legal action by the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission against Google over changes to its data privacy policy has been dismissed by the Federal Court in a big win for the US tech company. The court found that Google did not mislead Australian consumers when it changed its privacy policy to expand the scope of… Read more »
The liquidators of failed adtech startup Metigy, which collapsed into administration in July, just 20 months after raising $20 million in a Series B, have taken a $1.45 million hit on the sale of a country property bought using company funds by the startup’s now bankrupt founder, David Fairfull. Fairfull bought the 48-hectare 4-bedroom property in the… Read more »
Carbon management startup Avarni has raised $3 million in venture funding, less than 12 months after launching. It’s the startup’s second raise – and part of a recently emerged trend to decline to identify a round – since it was founded in 2021. CSIRO VC fund Main Sequence Ventures led the raise with support from… Read more »
Anthony* (a friend) called a few weeks ago, deeply worried. A deputy principal of a high school in Queensland, over the past year he spent hundreds of thousands of dollars buying cryptocurrencies, borrowing money using his home as equity. But now all his assets, valued at A$600,000, were stuck in an account he couldn’t access.… Read more »
Southeast Asian climate tech venture firm Wavemaker Impact has named Monique Conheady as its new Venture Partner for Australia and New Zealand ahead of rolling out locally in 2023. The VC’s mission is to back build and back climate tech startups with the combined potential to reduce global carbon by 10% by 2035. Wavemaker Impact dubs them ‘100×100’… Read more »
A medical invention created in regional Victoria has been snapped up by the US healthcare network, Premier Inc. in a lucrative commercial deal for medtech startup Livac. The LiVac retractor is a single-use soft silicone device that uses suction to create a vacuum to join organs such as the liver and spleen to the diaphragm… Read more »
Brisbane fintech Digital Surge is the latest cryptocurrency exchange to be placed in voluntary administration in the wake of the collapse of US exchange. Scott Langdon, John Mouawad and David Johnstone from KordaMentha Restructuring were appointed voluntary administrators on Thursday, after the fintech’s directors made the decision to put the business in VA on Wednesday.… Read more »
A Melbourne startup tackling the tricky task of ensuring the quality of 3D printing for aerospace, defence and cutting edge manufacturing, has raised $4.1 million in VC funding. Additive Assurance, which spun out of Monash University in 2019, provides quality assurance for additive manufacturing, and is now looking to expand offshore The round was led… Read more »
Telsta has made its second agtech investment this week, after leading a $12 million round into farm communications startup Zenifi, also tipping $2 million in remote monitoring scale-up Farmbot Monitoring Solutions. The telco previously invested $1 million in October last year in Farmbot’s $2.7 million Series A. The startup had flagged a Series B in… Read more »
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