New Zealand ocean security startup Starboard Maritime Intelligence (SMI) has banked a NZ$23 million (A$20.7m) Series A. The round was co-led by SMI’s first backer, Kiwi VC Altered Capital, with new investors OIF Ventures and King River Capital, supported by Co:Act Capital, Icehouse Ventures, and Whakatupu Aotearoa Foundation. The funding is for global expansion into… Read more »
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) will get one more crack at cryptocurrency fintech, Block Earner, in a long-running dispute over one of its investment products after the High Court granted the regular special leave to appeal a Full Federal Court decision it lost. It will be the fourth case in a two-year legal battle… Read more »
Atlassian (NASDAQ: TEAM) is acquiring a US AI-powered browser startup in a deal worth US$610 million (A$935m) in cash. Atlassian cofounder Mike Cannon-Brookes has been a fan of The Browser Company (TBC), and its product Dia, which he calls “the knowledge worker’s browser”, since it was released in mid-2025 in beta mode, sending bug feedback… Read more »
After years of testing and regulatory hurdles, Australian startup Vow has released its cultured (or ‘lab-grown’) Japanese quail in Australian restaurants. And I’ve finally had the chance to taste it. As a technology journalist, home cook, and self-proclaimed foodie, I’ve kept a close eye on the alternative meat space for many years. My past adventures… Read more »
When you talk to Pete Horsley about his career in tech, it doesn’t take long to see that his work is deeply personal. His eldest sister, Jo, was born blind, autistic, and with an intellectual disability. That experience shaped the way he views the world, as he explains to Majella Campbell on episode 29 of… Read more »
Former Finder boss Chris Ellis has a new startup to lead as CEO of back-office automation engine Collabra.ai. Ellis is also cofounder of the Sydney-based enterprise artificial intelligence startup, which is now moving into full commercialisation following two years of product build. Collabra has developed AI agents for mid-market enterprises combine the reliability of robotic process… Read more »
Financial crime prevention small cap Identitii (ASX:ID8) has sold its remaining stake in joint-venture fintech Payble to existing investor OIF Ventures for $1.6 million. Payble, founded in 2020 by CEO Elliott Donazzan, is a payments platform for local government payments using QR codes and now has 50 customers, including four New Zealand councils after launching… Read more »
When you ask ChatGPT or other AI assistants to help create misinformation, they typically refuse, with responses like “I cannot assist with creating false information.” But our tests show these safety measures are surprisingly shallow – often just a few words deep – making them alarmingly easy to circumvent. We have been investigating how AI… Read more »
Cybersecurity workers in Australia are losing more hours of productivity to stress and burnout than they were just a year ago, with artificial intelligence both helping and hindering the situation according to a survey commissioned by cybersecurity firm Sophos. Industry professionals have lost 4.8 hours per week to stress and burnout in 2025 — a… Read more »
Payments fintech Airwallex has acquired a US billing platform for an undisclosed sum as it looks to expand its product offering to take on the likes of Stripe Billing and Recurly. The terms of the deal to add San Francisco-based OpenPay – not to be confused with the failed former ASX-listed BNPL of the same… Read more »
V2 AI has added AWS Ambassador and cloud-native specialist Bojan Zivic to its leadership team as director, bolstering the consultancy’s push into AI-led modernisation for large enterprises.
When Katherine Ruiz launched People Haircare, she didn’t tiptoe into the market. She went straight into over 800 Coles stores nationally. No soft launch. No boutique trial. Just premium, high-performing haircare on the shelves of one of Australia’s biggest retailers – right from day one. “From day one, Coles was part of the vision,” she… Read more »
Adelaide’s Fleet Space Technologies has teamed up with Australia’s F1 Academy rising star Joanne Ciconte, adding Fleet branding to her kit from 2026 and aligning the space company’s data-first ethos with a young driver on the rise — as Fleet scales new manufacturing in Adelaide and readies a lunar mission.
Airspeeder’s Mk4 racing eVTOL has received experimental approval from CASA, the company says, pushing crewed flying-car racing closer to reality. The news lands as Fleet Space partners with Australia’s F1 Academy driver Joanne Ciconte to champion women in high-performance STEM.
Yesterday, there were numerous articles written about the fact that a couple large VC funds missed their gender targets for new investments. We do ask our VC funds for more transparency and effort, and then low key shame them when they don’t meet their goals and state it publicly, even if they are moving the… Read more »
Daily startup news and insights, delivered to your inbox.
