Simon Thomsen

Simon has been editor of Startup Daily since 2019.

He hosted the Startup Daily show on streaming service ausbiz.com.au from 2020 to 2023.

He was previously associate editor of Business Insider Australia, a national restaurant critic, editor of The Good Food Guide, and newspaper proprietor during a 30-year career in journalism and publishing.

He's also an investor in early stage startups.

Simon chaired the environment committee of industry lobby group Australian Business Ltd's (now NSW Business Chamber) during the Kyoto agreement era, debating cow farts with mining execs.

Michael Batko
Events

LaunchVic is tipping another $300,000 into Startmate to teach uni students about startup life

- July 26, 2023 2 MIN READ

Victorian-government backed startup agency LaunchVic has granted another $300,000 to early-stage accelerator and investor Startmate to inspire around 300 university to become founders. The $300,000 grant over two years will see at least 320 Victorian university students complete the Startmate Student Fellowship, a three-week intensive designed to give students the confidence, connections and skills to… Read more »

Prof Andrew Dzurak
Quantum Computing

Q-CRTL, Diraq & Quantum Brilliance share $7 million in grants from NSW government commercialisation fund

- July 25, 2023 2 MIN READ

University of NSW quantum computing startup Diraq has won the lion’s share of a one-off NSW government $7 million quantum commercialisation fund, pocketing $3 million, alongside $2.34m for Professor Michael Biercuk’s Q-CTRL and $1.44m for Quantum Brilliance. The former Coalition government announced NSW Quantum Computing Commercialisation Fund (QCCF) late last year, with applications closing before… Read more »

Sans Drinks founder Irene Falcone
Business

Last drinks: Nourished Life founder’s latest startup, Sans Drinks, placed in administration

- July 25, 2023 2 MIN READ

Nourished Life founder Irene Falcone’s latest startup venture, Sans Drinks, has fallen victim to the challenging retail environment, with the business handed to administrators. Jirsch Sutherland partner Andrew Spring was appointed administrator of The Non Alcoholic Drinks Co Pty Ltd, trading as San Drinks, on July 17. Spring said it was “still early days in… Read more »

Liven cofounders William and Grace Wong
Business

Hospitality platform Liven acquires four companies in $152 million spending spree

- July 25, 2023 2 MIN READ

Nine-year-old restaurant loyalty platform Liven has spent $152 million acquiring four complementary hospitality tech companies – two in Australia, plus one in Singapore and another in California, as it looks to expand its product range and international presence. The Melbourne data company snapped up the veteran online meal ordering business OrderUp, seven-year-old restaurant point-of-sale solution… Read more »

Mike Cannon-Brookes
People

Atlassian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and his wife Annie are separating

- July 24, 2023 3 MIN READ

Atlassian co-founder and father of four Mike Cannon-Brookes has separated from his US-born wife, Annie, after 13 years of marriage. News of the demerger emerged over the weekend in Nine newspapers, citing “sources close to the family”. An Atlassian spokesperson declined to comment. An unauthorised source told the media: “They’re both focussed on their children… Read more »

Gecko cofounders Ben Kennedy, Lal Birch and Cody Fisher-Peel.
Funding

Sydney’s new TechStars accelerator backs events rental startup Gecko in $350,000 pre-Seed round

- July 21, 2023 2 MIN READ

Event rental e-commerce platform Gecko has raised $350,000 in a pre-Seed round led by the NSW government-backed Techstars program in Sydney. Gecko is one of 12 startups selected for the inaugural Techstars Tech Central accelerator program, which got underway earlier this month. US investors Goodwater Capital and Launch House also backed the startups pre-Seed raise.  … Read more »

hostplus, Sam Sicilia
Funding

Super fund Hostplus tips another $100 million into uni commercialisation fund IP Group

- July 18, 2023 < 1 MIN READ

Industry superannuation fund Hostplus has poured another $100 million, on top of its existing $210 million investment, into listed early-stage science investor IP Group Australia.  The $310 million IP Group Hostplus Innovation Fund has invested in several university spin-outs, including electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft startup AMSL Aero, UNSW telecommunications traffic analysis venture Canopus… Read more »

Atlassian, Mike Cannon-Brookes, Scott Farquhar
Politics

Atlassian cofounders say ‘yes’ to Voice referendum on giving Indigenous Australians a say in Constitution

- July 17, 2023 2 MIN READ

Atlassian cofounders and co-CEOs Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar have backed the Australian Indigenous Voice referendum, saying it will “move us closer to meaningful reconciliation” and a more equitable nation. In a note to staff late last week, the pair said that “empowering First Nations communities is something we’ve always believed in and backed in… Read more »

x15ventures, Toby Norton-Smith
Accelerator

CBA’s VC accelerator is looking to back net-zero startups

- July 17, 2023 2 MIN READ

The Commonwealth Bank’s venture-scaling  arm, x15ventures, is on the hunt for startups focused on net-zero carbon emissions for its 2023 cohort. Applications opened today, July 17, for x15’s annual Xccelerate program, which develops early-stage startups develop their ideas for corporate partnership. This year’s Xccelerate investment thesis is “helping advance Australia’s transition to net  zero” and… Read more »

MagicBrief cofounders Dan Nolan and George Howes
Funding

Blackbird leads $2 million pre-Seed round into martech startup MagicBrief

- July 6, 2023 2 MIN READ

 Sydney startup MagicBrief has raised $2 million in a pre-Seed round for its marketing platform which acts like the lovechild of Canva and Pinterest for advertising. The round was led by Blackbird with support from Archangel Ventures. Several individual founders also chipped in as angel investors, including Vimeo’s Zach Klein, UsTwo’s Matt Miller, Tim Doyle… Read more »