The NSW government’s $25,000 grants to help startups build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) are back for FY20. The 50% matching grant to a maximum of $25,000 is for startups looking to get from proof of concept/prototype stage to MVP. Successful applicants receive 35% of the funding up-front and 65% after completion and validation of… Read more »
Neobank Xinja has been granted a full banking license by Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), and will launch transaction accounts as the battle to carve out a digital slice of the $13 billion banking system’s revenue stream heats up. APRA has now granted four authorised deposit-taking institution (ADI) licences to challenger banks, having recently approved… Read more »
Australian software giant Atlassian is introducing tiered pricing for its cloud products as the company looks to its corporate clients to improve the bottom line. Having launched a Cloud Premium service in recent weeks for Jira Software and Confluence, the company will offer four tiers of subscriptions, right down to free editions of Jira… Read more »
There’s an old sporting sledge, coined by a 1930s Springboks rugby forward after an unlikely win, that applies equally in business: “Look at the scoreboard!” Andrew Skelton, CEO and Managing Director of A2B Australia, the old Cabcharge business running the 13cabs network, said as much to Uber in the AFR last week in releasing the… Read more »
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) left the official cash interest rate on hold at 1% when the board met on Tuesday while leaving the door open for further cuts. The RBA noted “further signs of a turnaround in established housing markets, especially in Sydney and Melbourne” as part of its positive outlook, but… Read more »
When Mars Australia announced recently that it was backing six local food-focused startups with a $40,000 grant as part of the food giant’s Seeds of Change accelerator, a familiar name popped up among the successful applicants: Michael Fox. Fox co-founded Shoes of Prey, the customised online shoe startup that collapsed in March, costing investors… Read more »
An Australian rural startup has devised a planting technique for farmers that can potentially boost crop yields by up to 10% simply by measuring the amount of moisture in the soil when they’re planted. And with water and the ongoing drought playing a critical role in the viability of local farms, the agtech solution by Orange-based… Read more »
Chester Osborn, chief winemaker & viticulturist at d’Arenberg The first round of speakers for the two-day _southstart technology conference in Adelaide, November 20-21, have been revealed and include senior executives from Google, DFAT and Atlassian. The issues discussed range from space to artificial intelligence, social enterprise, creative industries, blockchain and other technologies potentially redefining the future.… Read more »
Reinventure Group has made Rohen Sood and Lauren Capelin, the first two people the fintech-focused venture capital fund employed when it launched five years ago, partners. Investment Manager Rohen Sood has been made General Partner. He was the company’s first employee following its inaugural investment into peer-to-peer lender SocietyOne in 2014. Sood has most recently… Read more »
One of these things is not a nanosatellite. South Australian startup Fleet Space Technologies has raised US$7.35 million (AU$10.8m) to fund internet of things (IoT) connectivity to remote industries using nanosatellites. Global funds Momenta Ventures and Horizons Ventures – the private investment arm of Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing- led the raise, with local funds Blackbird… Read more »
Greenfield MC is the first Australian-owned company to cultivate medicinal cannabis for research purposes in New Zealand as part of a joint venture with a US-listed commercial producer Research into using medicinal cannabis to treatment of health conditions affecting Maori people is a focus NZ goes to the polls in 2020 with a non-binding referendum… Read more »
Melbourne HR tech business Culture Amp raised US$82 million (AU$121m) in Series E to value the business at US$700 million – more than AU$1 billion. It’s the third Australian startup this year to reach the magic $1 billion valuation – “unicorn” status – after Judo Bank and Airwallex, in the second biggest tech… Read more »
Challenger business bank Judo Bank has shot to the top of LinkedIn’s list of the 25 best Australian startups to work for on debut, beating Sydney design unicorn Canva. It’s just the second time the professional services website has compiled the list, based on data it collects from users. To qualify, a startup has to… Read more »
Ian Gardiner has been working with the Australian startup ecosystem for more than 15 years co-founder of Innovation Bay, helping entrepreneurs network, raise capital and collaborate. But even the startup veteran admits that despite the millions raised in seed funding and the thousands of entrepreneurs he’s met and worked with over that time, little was… Read more »
Scott Millar was 14 and a year 9 high school student in Queensland when he launched his first company, BOP (Buy Our Product) Industries, in 2014, producing laser-cut hashtag keyrings he sold at local markets before going on to produce hologram displays. The teen entrepreneur recently spent 90 seconds sharing his advice to young… Read more »
Daily startup news and insights, delivered to your inbox.
