Sports stars and startup founders have rallied behind Melbourne impact venture Who Gives a Crap in a $14.5 million raise. The round was led by European family-owned impact investor Verlinvest, which also backed Swedish milk alternative Oatly. Executive director Raphael Thiolon will joining the Who Gives A Crap board. Also joining the raise were Grok… Read more »
Sydney health analytics startup Prospection, which uses AI and machine learning to provide patients insights on potentially life-threatening diseases, has raised $45 million in a series B. The round was led by Ellerston Capital’s JAADE fund, chipping in $30 million, with the balance coming from existing backers, the CSIRO VC fund Main Sequence Ventures, and Hong… Read more »
Microsoft has joined Australia’s race to space with a major presence in the South Australian capital amid a partnership with the Australian Space Agency. The company has been active on several fronts while setting up shop at Adelaide’s Lot Fourteen. The tech giant recently inked a deal with Nokia and the South Australian government for… Read more »
A team of researchers from the Monash Energy Institute has created a longer-lasting, lighter, more sustainable rival to commonly used lithium-ion batteries by adding sugar to lithium sulfur batteries. The increase in performance is so dramatic it has the potential to give an electric vehicle to 1000km range – enough to travel from Melbourne to… Read more »
Australian digital broker Stake is turning its attention from Wall Street to the local bourse, launching a beta version of its trading platform for the ASX. The fintech has also launched a viral referral campaign among users, offering free ASX trades until the end of the year. People who sign on are put on the… Read more »
A health tech gig economy platform for aged care and disability support workers has raised $100 million. Mable, which counts US Open grand slam and Paralympic gold medal winner Dylan Alcott among its backers, has taken on the equity investment from global private equity firm General Atlantic. (Alcott’s US Open Quad title win today gave… Read more »
Automated digital content platform LivePreso has expanded its relationship with REA Group to the commercial and developer side of the online real estate business. The relationship between LivePreso (formerly SalesPreso) and REA dates back to 2014, with the group becoming early adopters of the platform for real estate agents to make data-driven sales presentations. More… Read more »
Australia has a new unicorn fintech after Tiger Global led a $210 Series A round into European-focused payments fintech Scalapay. Baleen Capital and Woodson Capital also came aboard as new investors alongside existing backers Fasanara Capital and Ithaca Investments. Scalapay was founded just two years ago by Australians Simone Mancini and Johnny Mitrevski. Its buy… Read more »
Sydney “nano-gifting” app Shouta has raised $1 million in a seed round backed by a range of startup entrepreneurs. The app, which launched in December 2020, allows users to instantly gift or ‘Shout’ anyone in their phone contacts by sending them a link to a digital, prepaid Shouta Mastercard. The reloadable card can be spent… Read more »
Sydney-based digital twin tech startup Willow has raised US$43 million (A$58 million) in a pre-Series B. Existing shareholders, including Willow Chairman Nicholas Moore, the former Macquarie Group CEO, and Willow director Jim Cooney, doubled down on their investment along with institutional investor Perennial Value Management. The four-year-old software venture also took on WatermanCLARK co-founder Ric Clark, the former… Read more »
Connected devices tracking startup AirBolt has raised $2 million in a seed round. The raise was led by 72Capital and Moat Investments, with the funds deployed to expand AirBolt’s range of connected devices and global partnerships. Airbolt’s products include a smart travel lock, the world’s first Bluetooth-enabled smart travel-sized lock and a next-generation GPS, LTE-M,… Read more »
Debanking is a growing concern for fintech and cryptocurrency startups. If you’re not sure what the term means, it’s the fintech sector’s version of cancel culture. It’s when a large financial institution withdraws banking services to a business for any number of reasons – perhaps commercial, or regulatory, such as compliance with counter terrorism financing… Read more »
Lockdowns in some NSW regions outside of Sydney will be lifted on the weekend, provided they’ve had no Covid cases for 14 days. And stay-at-home orders for adults who’ve had both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine will be lifted after NSW passes the 70% vaccination target, most likely in mid October. The changes are part… Read more »
Competition regulator the ACCC has agreed to the proposed merger of BPAY Group Holding with eftpos Payments Australia, and NPP Australia (NPPA) in one of the most eagerly anticipated decisions for Australian fintech. ACCC Chair Rod Sims said they found that, at a high level, the services of the three companies do not compete closely.… Read more »
New Zealand data insights startup Yabble has raised NZ$3 million (A$2.9m) as it looks to expand into Australia and then the US. The AI company’s second raise was led by Hillfarrance among existing investors that include Movac, New Zealand Growth Capital Partners, Enterprise Angels, and other Angel networks, and high-net-worth individuals. Co-founders Kathryn Topp and… Read more »
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