The Spark Festival, Australia’s largest event for startups, innovators and entrepreneurs, kicks off next week with more than 130 events, many of them free, happening over 17 days. Spark Festival 2019 runs October 10 – 27 and with so much to choose from, Startup Daily asked Spark Festival program director Maxine Sherrin to single out… Read more »
It’s Friday! Go the Raiders. Here’s how the tech week ends. 1. Thousands of WeWork employees are facing the chop. The besieged global coworking giant is reportedly looking to shed between 3,000 to 5,000 people, with Bloomberg reporting that new co-CEOs Artie Minson and Sebastian Gunningham told staff had been told cuts are coming in… Read more »
This is Startup Daily’s regular roundup of investment raises in the Australian and New Zealand startup sectors. At the end of each month we’ll give you a snapshot of that month’s investment activity. If we missed your raise, please let us know (contact details below). Sept 30: Sydney fintech DiviPay, a virtual credit… Read more »
US co-sharing office startup WeWork had a valuation of $47 billion as it moved towards an IPO in August Founder Adam Neumann stepped down as CEO amid growing concern about his behaviour and the company’s viability and the IPO was withdrawn A long time critic says the company looks set to lose thousands of… Read more »
If you’ve ever wanted to pitch the story of your startup to the media, but didn’t know how to do it, we have a simple solution. Next Thursday, October 10 at Barangaroo in Sydney, we are hosting our first networking event to promote Kochie’s Campaign for Optimism. It’s a chance to share your business… Read more »
The AusBiz team: head of content Nadine Blayney, markets editor Ingrid Willinge, chairman David Koch, head of partnerships Ross Kidd and founder Kylie Merritt. ausbiz is a free business news and startups streaming service It will stream weekdays for 8 hours and feature Startup Daily ausbiz will cover breaking companies and markets news throughout the… Read more »
Competitive Foods Australia chairman Jack Cowin, v2food CEO Nick Hazell and federal science and innovation minister Karen Andrews at the launch of v2food Fast food billionaire Jack Cowin has partnered with the CSIRO’s innovation fund to create a plant-based burger The JV business, v2food, has been developed in just 8 months and could appear on… Read more »
Happy hump day. Here’s your daily dose of tech today 1. If you only read one WeWork story, make it this one. Scott Galloway, a professor of marketing at NYU Stern School of Business, let rip in August with an analysis title WeWTF. He’s been a critic of the ̶m̶a̶g̶i̶c̶ ̶b̶e̶a̶n̶s̶ ahem consciousness elevating startup for… Read more »
Researchers using machine learning at the CSIRO’s Data61 have developed a new technique to tackle one of the biggest issues in mental health – the diagnosis psychiatric disorders. The breakthrough was announced today in Sydney by neuroscientist Dr Amir Dezfouli at D61+ LIVE, the organisation’s annual science, technology and innovation conference. The solution developed by… Read more »
New Zealand space venture Rocket Lab has signed Californian satellite startup Astro Digital as a client for its next launch, later this month. It will be Rocket Lab’s ninth mission from its Launch Complex 1 on New Zealand’s Māhia Peninsula and 2019’s fifth mission, taking place in a fortnight-long window from October 15. The company’s… Read more »
Australia’s official cash rate now sits at 0.75% following a 25 basis points cut It’s the third rate cut since June amid growing concerns about a sluggish national economy The Reserve Bank expects inflation to be a little under 2% 2020, rising to just above 2% in 2021 The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has… Read more »
WeWork co-founders Miguel McKelvey and Adam Neumann in happier days. Photo: supplied Happy 1st of the month. Welcome to RBA decision day and the start of Q2 FY20. Here’s what’s happening in tech today. 1. It no longer works for WeWork. The We Company, aka WeWork, announced overnight that it will withdraw its… Read more »
Founder and CEO Tom Maclean with SOFI Spritz backer Steve Baxter SOFI Spritz, the ready-to-drink (RTD) cocktails venture that began at Bondi Farmer’s Market in 2013, is seeking $1 million in equity crowdfunding as it looks to target international markets. The venture has already held three rewards-based crowdfunding campaigns via Pozible and is now turning… Read more »
Shares in Queensland-based Change Financial soared today after the startup announced it had been registered as a Mastercard payments processor. The US-focused fintech (ASX:CCA) is just the second business to be accepted by Mastercard in the past 20 years. Change said it will begin onboarding its first customer in October 2019, The company has set… Read more »
Hello, welcome to Monday and peak school holidays season. Here’s what’s happening in techland. 1. The number of “suspicious matter reports” received by AUSTRAC in FY19 was up 95% on 2018. The AFR reports that the national financial intelligence agency is telling fintechs, money remittance ventures and organisations involved in gambling, including pubs… Read more »
A cybersecurity founder who had a $100 million exit is back with a new idea and a $9.2 million Seed round from Paladin Capital 
Why the next wave of unicorns will be female-founded consumer brands rather than tech 
Reality bites for Blackbird-backed room rental startup Kiki as it departs the Big Apple 
Series A-focused climate tech VC hits $50 million for fund’s 1st close 
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