Fleet Space Technologies has raised $50 million in a Series C round that values the South Australian satellite startup at more than $350 million. The round was led by existing backers Blackbird, with support from Atlassian cofounder Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures, Alumni Ventures and super fund Hostplus. New to the cap table are TelstraSuper, former… Read more »
Climate change and natural capital technology company FLINTpro has raised US$9 million (A$13.5m) in a Series A as it looks to ramp up its US growth. The round was led by Understorey Ventures with new participation from Pollination, Persei Venture and existing investors Ananta-OM and Synovia Capital. FLINTpro is a pioneering software system that integrates… Read more »
Former NSW innovation minister Victor Dominello has a new side hustle after leaving politics, joining the board of the Tech Council of Australia (TCA). He will replace former Turnbull-era federal minister and TCA executive director Wyatt Roy, who departs the board next month. TCA chair Robyn Denholm thanks Roy for his contribution in the two… Read more »
The federal government has backed AustCyber to launch of the AustCyber Innovation Network to help bolster the sector as it become front and centre of both the political and business response to online threats. The network, part of the Stone & Chalk Group, is designed to nurture commercial relationships, provide thought leadership, and help companies… Read more »
Sydney satellite data analysis startup Arlula has raised $2.2 million in a Seed round . The round was led by CSIRO’s deep tech VC fund Main Sequence, with support from Black Nova Venture Capital. Launched in 2018, Arlula makes Earth Observation (EO) data and imagery captured by satellites available for companies to make better decisions… Read more »
Health tech commercialisation group ANDHealth has opened applications for its ANDHealth+ program accelerator program, seeking 5-7 digital health startup. The program also offers up to $3.75 million in equity-free funding alongside support from a network of experts to help the startups involved scale. ANDHealth+ is funded by the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF). The program… Read more »
Enterprise software startup Servicely has raised $3 million as it looks to transform how people work. The round was led by Sydney B2B SaaS focused venture fund EVP. The funding is allocated towards further international expansion and enhancing the startup’s Enterprise Service Management (ESM) platform. Servicely’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) to augment… Read more »
Australia is the third country in the world to offer Apple’s Tap to Pay, which lets small businesses accept payments via in-person contactless payments on the iPhone. Retailers, restaurants and other merchants can now use an iPhone to accept Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, and other digital wallets with no extra hardware or… Read more »
Entries for the annual Pause Awards opened this week, with CEO and founder George Hedon announcing a stellar line up of more than 60 judges to decide who gets the gongs. The Pause Awards hand out honours across five key categories: growth, excellence, operators, good and culture. The awards span People’s Choice, Winner, Grand Prix,… Read more »
Medical cannabis company Cannaponics has raised a record-equalling $5 million – the maximum allowed under Australian law – in an equity crowdfunding campaign via Birchal. The campaign for the West Australian startup lasted just two weeks with 2,771 investors buying in. The only other company to raise the $5 million maximum was Byron Bay’s plastics… Read more »
Applications have opened for the Minderoo Foundation’s 2023 Dream Venture Masterclasses with $200,000 in seed funding on offer for First Nations business owners. The Minderoo Foundation is mining billionaire Andrew Forrest and his wife Nicola’s philanthropic venture. Dream Venture is led by Minderoo Foundation’s Generation One initiative to equip First Nations entrepreneurs with the connections,… Read more »
Breakthrough Victoria, the state government’s $2 billion investment fund, has backed edtech startup Cadmus, which is helping universities detect generative AI plagiarism, chipping in $600,000 as part of an undisclosed total round for global expansion. Cadmus emerged in 2015 out of a research project at the University of Melbourne. The software platform has sophisticated learner… Read more »
Chalk up another $32 million to the investment tally in 2022 with belated news emerging this week that software fintech Constantinople banked a US$23 million (A$32m) Seed round in May last year. If two’s enough to be a trend, then late funding announcement are the new black after meal ordering platform Me&u revealed last month… Read more »
The first foreign exchange (FX) transaction using the the Reserve Bank of Australia’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) has been a success. ASX-listed DigitalX (ASX:DCC) and fund manager TAF Capital were involved in the trade of eAUD to USDC stable coin on May 17, with blockchain fintech Canvas central to the test FX transactions. The trade… Read more »
Crypto investors hoping to get their cash in a hurry through Binance Australia will be forced to wait a day or two longer after the crypto exchange said it has been forced to stop offering PayID deposits for Australian dollar account holders following “a decision made by our third party payment service provider”. The bebanking… Read more »
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