Adam and James Gilmour,
Space

Gilmour is go: Queensland rocket builder’s launchpad approved for lift offs

- March 5, 2024 2 MIN READ

Gold Coast rocket startup Gilmour Space has been granted approval to launch from its north Queensland facility. Federal regulators gave the company the green light under new laws introduced in 2018 to help develop Australia’s fledging space technology sector. Gilmour has developed its own hybrid rockets with a more environmentally friendly propellant and plans to… Read more »

Funding

Healthcare startup Kismet pockets $12.6 million Seed raise

- March 5, 2024 2 MIN READ

A Melbourne-founded healthcare platform focused on the NDIS has banked US$8.2 million (A$12.6m) in Seed funding. The round led for Kismet by Dutch-listed internet investment firm Prosus Ventures and existing backer Airtree Ventures. The startup previously raised A$4m in pre-Seed capital in May last year, with from Airtree, Black Nova and Flying Fox. The startup,… Read more »

Dr Amrutha Vijayakumar and Dr Jacinta Bakker
Funding

Green ammonia agtech startup Jupiter Ionics plants $9 million raise

- March 5, 2024 2 MIN READ

A Victorian startup based at Monash University has raised $9 million to develop carbon-neutral “green” ammonia for the agriculture sector. Jupiter Ionics is the result of research by scientists at the university’s School of Chemistry, Prof Doug Macfarlane, and Assoc Prof Alexandr Simonov. The electrochemical technologies they’ve developed has resulted in modular ammonia production systems… Read more »

Metakosmos
Space

Spacetech startups score $9 million in latest Moon to Mars grants

- March 5, 2024 2 MIN READ

More than $9 million has been awarded to Australian startups focused on space supply chain solutions for NASA’s Artemis program for lunar exploration. The recipients include Victorian startup NextAero, which is developing cryogenic rocket propellants, and South Australia’s Neumann Space, which is focused on electric spacecraft propulsion. The both received $1 million grants from the… Read more »

cowboy, lasso, farm
ASX

Superloop knocks back Aussie Broadband’s $466 million takeover bid as ‘opportunistic’

- February 29, 2024 3 MIN READ

Expanding internet service provider Aussie Broadband is weighing its options after fibre infrastructure operator Superloop rejected as “opportunistic” a proposed acquisition that Aussie said would have created a serious market rival to “incumbents” Telstra and Optus. A merger of the companies – which would have created a “scale player” providing a wider product offering to… Read more »

Employment Hero founder Ben Thompson
Business

Employment Hero founder Ben Thompson fired a broadside at one of his investors, Hostplus, claiming the super fund ‘wants to put us out of business’

- February 29, 2024 3 MIN READ

Disrupting a $3.5 trillion industry is difficult. Just ask fintechs like Cannon-Brookes-backed Spaceship, Superhero, and Verve Super. Australia’s superannuation industry gets a $362 billion compulsory cake from fees – more than $30 billion annually – and wants to eat it all too. Treasury put out a consultation paper titled Securing Australians’ Superannuation late last year… Read more »

Bandicoot Imaging founders Dr David Monaghan, Dr Matthew Arnison, David Karlov, Dr Peter Fletcher
Funding

3D fashiontech startup Bandicoot Imaging Sciences banks $1 million pre-Seed round

- February 28, 2024 2 MIN READ

Fashiontech startup Bandicoot Imaging Sciences has raised $1 million in pre-Seed funding for its fabric digitisation technology. The round was led by Hong Kong VC qonvolv Ventures and included Precision Textiles and Mou Fung Ltd., as well as previous investor, NewSouth Innovations from UNSW.  Bandicoot Imaging previously raised $330,000 in July 2020 in an angel… Read more »

Business

Five years after hitting the ASX with a $610 million market cap, small business lender Prospa is delisting with a $74m takeover bid

- February 27, 2024 2 MIN READ

Small business lender will disappear from the ASX within months following a $74 million takeover bid from the Melbourne-based Salter Brothers Tech Fund. While the offer of $0.45 cents a share is a 22% premium on Prospa’s (ASX:PGL) closing price of $0.37 cents on Monday, it’s a far cry from when the business listed at… Read more »

Octopus Deploy, Sonia and Paul Stovell.
Business

Queensland quiet software giant Octopus Deploy snaps up US rival for $43 million

- February 27, 2024 3 MIN READ

Brisbane enterprise software scaleup Octopus Deploy has acquired a US rival, Codefresh, in a deal worth reportedly worth US$28 million (A$42.6m). It’s the first major acquisition by the quiet achiever of the Queensland tech scene, one of the largest privately-held companies in the DevOps ecosystem. While no figure was mentioned in the announcement, media reports… Read more »