DeepSeek
AI/Machine Learning

Chinese gen AI app DeepSeek has been banned from Australian government devices

- February 5, 2025 2 MIN READ

DeepSeek, the hedge fund-backed Chinese version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, has been prohibited on Australian government-issued systems and devices following a risk assessment by the Department of Home Affairs. Department secretary Stephanie Foster issued a Protective Security Policy Framework direction on Tuesday saying “the use of DeepSeek products, applications and web services poses an unacceptable level… Read more »

DeepSeek.
AI/Machine Learning

Chinese AI DeepSeek has big privacy and security problems – here’s what it knows about you

- February 5, 2025 3 MIN READ

The Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company DeepSeek has rattled the tech industry with the release of free, cheaply made AI models that compete with the best US products such as ChatGPT. Users are rushing to check out the new chatbot, sending DeepSeek’s AI Assistant to the top of the iPhone and Android app charts in… Read more »

Ariella Heffernan-Marks
Funding

Women’s health app raises $1.7 million to ramp up AI focus

- February 4, 2025 2 MIN READ

A health app focused on tracking the menstrual cycle to deal with issues such as endometriosis has raised $1.7 million to launch an artificial intelligence (AI) health assistant for women. The round for Ovum was led by impact VC Giant Leap, supported by Antler, Victoria and Robyn Denholm’s Wollemi Capital, Nakatomi Venture Studio, LaunchVic’s female… Read more »

Breaking Bad, money pile
Business

Techboard’s 2024 Australian startup funding review reveals NSW startup investment is plummeting

- February 3, 2025 3 MIN READ

Australian investors poured $4.106 billion into 477 private investments last year according to data analysed in Techboard’s Australian Startup Funding in Review – 2024.  Techboard cofounder and CEO Peter van Bruchem said he focused on  additional ASIC-sourced data last year, after publishing The Fintech Funding Project 2023 Report: Shedding Light on Investment into Australian Fintechs,… Read more »

Funding

The Australian government is getting local startups to head to Mars for $3.6 million

- February 3, 2025 2 MIN READ

Five Australian startups have scored $3.6 million in Moon to Mars supply chain capability grants as part of NASA’s ambitions to explore beyond the chunk of rock orbiting 384,400km from Earth. South Australian company entX scored $1 million to develop a radioisotope heater unit. The unit will help payloads withstand the extreme low temperatures on… Read more »

Mike Cannon-Brookes
Business

Atlassian had a kick-arse quarter and is now generating more than $8 billion in annual revenue

- January 31, 2025 2 MIN READ

Atlassian ‘s share price is up more than 26% in the first month of 2025, with the software company’s December quarter results thrilling investors as subscription revenue beat forecasts, growing by 30% in 12 months. Cofounder and CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes has effectively seen his personal wealth double in just six months as the tech stock’s… Read more »

Diag-Nose
Funding

Respiratory care biotech Diag-Nose sniffs out $3.15 million Seed round

- January 31, 2025 2 MIN READ

Diag-Nose.io, a Melbourne, biotechnology startup using artificial intelligence (AI) to help people breathe more easily, has raised $3.15 million in Seed funding. The round was led by state government investment fund Breakthrough Victoria, which chipped in $800,000. Other investors include Radar Ventures, Specialty Physician Associates, an international syndicate of physicians from leading hospitals including Houston… Read more »

small business, payment
Business

In-store ads streaming martech lands $40 million Series B

- January 31, 2025 2 MIN READ

An expat Australian scaleup using in-store advertising to bolster retail sales has raised US$25 million ($40m) in a Series B. The raise for 13-year-old Melbourne-founded, Dallas-based Qsic was led by UK investment firm Hedosophia. The platform, cofounded began as a music streaming service in pubs and clubs in 2012, and is now responsible for the… Read more »

Dr Kate Cornick
Business

LaunchVic is offering a $300,000 sweetener to VCs keen to set up shop in the state to back local startups

- January 30, 2025 2 MIN READ

Victorian startup agency LaunchVic is offering grants of up to $300,000 to venture capital funds and angel groups to set up in Victoria and back local startups. To qualify, they’re either just kicking off or “new to Victoria”, which means interstate VCs looking to put boots on the ground in the southeast can apply for… Read more »

Fintech

Gig worker fintech MyGigster raises $1.1 million Seed round

- January 29, 2025 2 MIN READ

MyGigsters, a fintech the helps gig economy workers track their income and spending to build financial security, has raised a $1.1 million Seed round. It leverages real-time data on earnings, expenses and work history, alongside advanced analytics, to provide hyper-personalised insights for people to improve their financial wellbeing. The fintech launched in 2022 with pre-Seed… Read more »

Canberra
Funding

The controversial $940m government deal to back US quantum computer maker PsiQuantum is under review for ‘lessons’

- January 29, 2025 3 MIN READ

An independent review is underway into “lessons learned” from the process enabling a $940 million deal for US firm PsiQuantum to attempt to build the world’s first utility-scale quantum computer in Brisbane, as well as how potential conflicts of interest were managed, newly tabled documents reveal. The documents, released to the Senate late last year,… Read more »

Dr Aengus Tran and Dimitry Tran.
AI/Machine Learning

The $15bn National Reconstruction Fund takes $32 million stake in AI medical diagnostics startup Harrison.ai

- January 29, 2025 3 MIN READ

A Sydney startup pioneering the use of artificial intelligence to analyse medical scans to rapidly identify potential diseases such as cancer, even before clinicians spot them, has taken on $32 million from the federal government’s signature National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC) as part of a planned $100 million+ Series C. Harrison.ai has trained generative AI… Read more »

Black Swan, Perth
AI/Machine Learning

DeepSeek appears to have rewritten the rules on AI’s cost, making US investors rethink their support for US tech

- January 28, 2025 3 MIN READ

Almost A$1 trillion (US$600 billion) was wiped off the value of artificial intelligence microchip maker Nvidia overnight on Monday, when a little-known Chinese startup, DeepSeek, threatened to upend the US tech market. While Nvidia suffered the biggest one-day loss in sharemarket history, other tech giants – Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon, who are investing heavily in… Read more »