Alt.Leather founder Tina Funder and chief scientific officer Dr Tuan Nguyen
Funding

Tesla chair Robyn Denholm backs substitute leather startup in $1.1 million angel round

- January 29, 2024 2 MIN READ

Plant-based leather substitute startup Alt. Leather has raised $1.1 million in an angel round to replace the alternative of petroleum-based synthetic leathers. The Melbourne-based startup, founded in 2022 by Tina Funder, was backed by Startmate, The Austin Group, Robyn Denholm’s family office Wollemi Capital Group, and LaunchVic’s Alice Anderson Fund, along with strategic angel investors. … Read more »

ProcurePro cofounders Nathan Dench, Jesse Dymond, Alastair Blenkin, Tim Rogers and Tom Newby
Funding

Construction software startup ProcurePro builds $6.15 million Series A for UK expansion

- January 29, 2024 2 MIN READ

Queensland construction industry procurement platform ProcurePro has raised $6.15 million as it looks to take on the UK market.  The company’s first external round was backed by AirTree and industry expert Leigh Jasper through his VC fund Saniel Ventures.\ The capital raised from ProcurePro’s first venture round will help accelerate growth in the UK as a key… Read more »

Kate Pounder
People

Tech Council CEO Kate Pounder resigns

- January 22, 2024 < 1 MIN READ

The founding CEO of The Tech Council of Australia (TCA), Kate Pounder will step down from the role after three years at the end of next week. TCA chair Robyn Denholm paid tribute to Pounder for launching and cementing the lobby group as a critical industry body and raising the profile of the tech sector… Read more »

Cryptocurrency

The story behind the day bitcoin made pizza the most expensive meal in the world

- May 20, 2022 2 MIN READ

Well before bitcoin’s coronation as an alternative asset class or getting the attention of institutional and celebrity investors, it lived in swamps and deserts. It was only an experiment between cypherpunks & cryptographers without any market value or any real world applications. On May 18, 2010 – after 14 months from Bitcoin genesis block –… Read more »

Musk, twitter
Business

Elon Musk’s wrong about free speech on social media – the problem lies in the algorithms

- May 19, 2022 4 MIN READ

Imagine there is a public speaking square in your city, much like the ancient Greek agora. Here you can freely share your ideas without censorship. But there’s one key difference. Someone decides, for their own economic benefit, who gets to listen to what speech or which speaker. And this isn’t disclosed when you enter, either.… Read more »

Data

ANZ’s venture arm, 1835i, backs data collaboration startup DataCo Technologies

- May 18, 2022 2 MIN READ

A data sharing startup DataCo Technologies has emerged out of ANZ Bank’s VC and innovation arm, 1835i, to help businesses organisations safely test and realise the value of collaborating on data.  The DataCo Collaboration Platform allows organisations to connect and collaborate on customer data, leveraging the latest privacy enhancing and data protection technologies to remove… Read more »

Politics

Here’s what the major parties and key independents are saying about their commitments to tech and science

- May 18, 2022 2 MIN READ

Peak industry body Science & Technology Australia has asked the political parties and independents standing in this Saturday’s federal ballot for their positions on 10 election priorities for the sector. The sector’s priorities identify major science and technology policy settings and investments needed for Australia to seize crucial opportunities. Whether the pledges of current and… Read more »