Sydney food marketplaces ChefPrep has acquired it Melbourne likeness, Co-Lab Pantry and rebranded as CoLab. The ChefPrep side was founded in May last year by Elle Curran and Josh Abulafia, following a $1.25 million angel round. In April they landed a $3 million in a seed round led by Artesian Ventures and Global Founders Capital,… Read more »
Global search giant Google is not responsible as a publisher for serving up links to defamatory material, Australia’s High Court has ruled. The landmark decision overturns exisiting rulings by the Victorian Supreme Court and its Court of Appeal involving a $40,000 damages award against Google to Melbourne lawyer George Defteros for a hyperlink to an… Read more »
Atlassian billionaire Scott Farquhar and his venture capitalist wife Kim Jackson look set to win control of ASX-listed Genex Powerafter upping its takeover bid for the renewable energy company. The Genex (ASX: GNX) board rejected a $0.23 cents per share offer made in late July on August 1, but left the door open for a… Read more »
The Victorian government has handed out $900,000 in grants to three new angel investor networks to back early-stage startups. Innovation, medical research and digital economy minister Jaala Pulford said Cut Through Angels, Climate Angel Network and Playbook Angel Network, each will receive $300,000. The grants will help the angel groups to establish operations in Victoria and… Read more »
The hospitality sector was among the hardest hit during the pandemic lockdowns, leading multiple restaurants to turn to takeaway and other options to survive. And while many have now refocused on getting diners back in their front doors, a Covid pivot to eat-and-serve meals by the team behind the Botanical Hotel in Melbourne’s South Yarra… Read more »
An online groceries startup that set out to break New Zealand’s supermarket duopoly has raised NZ$3.9 million The startup, founded in 2021, opened its latest funding round in June through Snowball Effect with a target of raising $2.5 million and a cap of $3m, but extended the raise due to overwhelming interest. The funds will… Read more »
The ACCC’s Digital Platforms Services Inquiry will dive into competition for social media services in Australia as part of the sixth interim report of the regulator’s five-year Digital Platform Services Inquiry. The competition watchdog will also look at consumer issues, such as the way that businesses use social media advertising services, including paid influencers. An… Read more »
US investment firm BlackRock is acquiring local battery storage developer Akaysha Energy as part of a deal to spend A$1 billion to develop 1GW (Gigawatt) worth of storage feeding into the National Electricity Market (NEM) in Australia. For perspective, that’s more than the power produced by Australia’s largest coal-fired power station, Origin Energy’s Eraring plant (2,880MW),… Read more »
Queensland consumer data right startup Biza.io has raised $7.5 million in a Series A. The round led by OIF Ventures and Jelix Ventures in the first raise for the Brisbane fintech after five years of bootstrapping. Biza helps banks, financial institutions, energy retailers and others in the CDR space with Software-as-a-Service solutions for both data… Read more »
Mapping software company has seen its shares pop by a third on Monday after revealing that it had been in takeover talks with US private equity company Thoma Bravo. The takeover price of $2.10 cash per share values the business at around $1.055 billion and is an 83% premium to Nearmap’s closing price of $1.15… Read more »
WA mining billionaire Andrew Forrest has turned his investment attention to the health tech sector, with a new $250 million venture capital fund. The VC, Tenmile, is being backed by Tattarang, the Fortescue Metal Group founder’s private investment company. Tenmile will target startups focused on unmet medical needs that support sustainable and equitable healthcare, offering seed… Read more »
Tech giant Google has been hit with $60 million in penalties by Australia’s Federal Court for for making misleading representations to consumers about the collection and use of their personal location data on Android phones. The fine resulted from legal action by consumer watchdog the ACCC, which took Google to court in October 2019 over… Read more »
Investors have demonstrated a healthy appetite for Sydney social enterprise Good & Fugly, which has raised $528,628 from 652 backers in a crowdfunding campaign. The business was seeking up to $1.5 million at $1.59 a share at a pre-raise valuation of $13.52 million. Good & Fugly offers standalone and subscription boxes of “ugly” fruit and… Read more »
Nine years after it listed on the ASX as one of the 2013’s biggest floats, the board of comparison website iSelect has agreed to sell the business to rival Innovation Holdings Australia (IHA), owner of Compare the Market, in a deal that values the business at $72 million. Startup investor Thorney Investment Group, which has… Read more »
Construction tech startup HammerTech, restaurant ordering platform Mr Yum and car subscription website Carbar are among nine startups singled out by the Victorian government’s startup agency LaunchVic as potential unicorn companies under a new program to help them get there. A “unicorn” is a reference to a startup hitting a $1 billion valuation. The state… Read more »
US investment giant BlackRock makes a $1 billion battery play in Australia, acquiring Melbourne startup Akaysha Energy
Twiggy Forrest is backing biotech with a new $250 million VC fund
Rent Rabbit is changing the Australian rental market and you can hop on board
Subscription produce startup Good & Fugly raises $530,000 via crowdfunding
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