The company behind fan engagement social media brand Basketball Forever has raised $6 million in a Series A. The round for Forever Network was led by Yolo Investments, with support from Three Kings Capital, Folklore Ventures and Astralis Capital. Forever Network will use the capital to expand into the US in the second half of… Read more »
University students are increasingly turning to entrepreneurship, with student-founded startups raising more than $1.2 billion since 2012. And now that investment is set to escalate dramatically with the launch of Australia’s first student-run venture capital fund. NextGen Ventures, which launches this week, has taken a deep dive into the data around VC and student founders,… Read more »
Government-backed investment fund Breakthrough Victoria has defended itself against critics wanting it abolished saying it wants to “fundamentally reshape the innovation landscape”. The $2 billion VC fund, launched in 2021, and chaired by former Labor premier John Brumby, has been subject to a sustained media campaign for it to be dismantled, led by Adir Shiffman,… Read more »
Employee experience platform Culture Amp is acquiring a Serbian people analytics startup to broaden its capabilities The cost of the deal with Orgnostic, founded in Belgrade in 2019, was not disclosed. The analytics platform combines fragmented HR data to give leadership teams rapid insights into how their workforce is tracking. That data will be plugged… Read more »
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has stepped in to prevent ASX-listed Dubber’s CEO and cofounder, Steve McGovern, and lawyer Mark Madafferi, principal of North Melbourne law firm, Christopher William Legal, from leaving the country as investigations continue into $26.6 million missing from the business. The corporate regulator applied to the Federal Court on March… Read more »
The Australian economy would be $100 billion bigger and boosted by 42,000 new jobs if investment in research and development (R&D) was increased to 3% of GDP, according to Science & Technology Australia, the peak body for science and tech. STA president Professor Sharath Srira spoke at the National Press Club in Canberra this week, prosecuting… Read more »
Casual workforce management platform Deputy is claiming unicorn status – a $1 billion-plus valuation – more than 15 years after it was founded, following a A$37 million buy in from a US strategic partner. But the Sydney-based scaleup is reluctant to talk about it, along with its investors. Deputy’s PR firm sent out a media release… Read more »
Perth telehealth and medicine delivery startup Hola Health has raised $4.5 million in a pre-Series A. The round was led by M8 Ventures, marking a return to investing for partners Alan Jones and Emily Rich, four years after they put the fund on ice as Covid hit. The raise also included follow-on capital from FundWA… Read more »
What do a former prime minister, a bioengineered protein, a $15 billion investment fund and a boat hull cleaning robot have in common? They’ll all be part of the Climate Investor Forum in Melbourne tomorrow. Held at the MCG on March 20, Climate Investor Forum will bring together the climate investor ecosystem covering the complete… Read more »
Bree Kirkham has joined Tracey Warren’s F5 Collective, a fund established to close the gender funding gap and support female founders, as chief commercial officer. Kirkham joins F5 Collective having most recently been a general partner at Flying Fox Ventures. She has more than eight years of experience in investments, operational leadership, and international expansion.… Read more »
The public listing of Canva will most likely happen in 2026 and won’t be on the ASX because Australia is a small market, according to the design software’s cofounder Cliff Obrecht. The husband of CEO and cofounder Melanie Perkins, named the 10th richest person in Australia, alongside his wife, with a combined wealth of $10.92 billion,… Read more »
ASX-listed voice data company Dubber is borrowing $5 million in bridging finance from existing investor Alex Waislitz to solve a cash flow crisis after more than $26 million of the company’s funds went missing. Tiga Trading, a company associated with the Melbourne billionaire’s Thorney Investment Group, is stumping up the cash as a loan secured… Read more »
US ride-sharing giant Uber has settled a class action by the Australian taxi industry on the eve of going to court, offering to pay $271.8 million in compensation. Maurice Blackburn Lawyers began a class action against Uber in 2019 on behalf more than 8,000 taxi and hire car owners and drivers. The Victorian Supreme Court… Read more »
The next time you go for a job interview at Woolies or Qantas, you may end up with generative AI not only telling you how you did, but also offering advice on how to perform better next time. Melbourne recruitment startup Sapia.ai has launched a generative AI model it’s called SAIGE to give candidate feedback.… Read more »
Ever since the Titanic was found, the world has held few mysteries. The whereabouts of the 239 souls tragically lost aboard MH370 is one. That MAFS is now in a 10th season and rating well is a personal one. Another, since 2008, is who is Satoshi Nakamoto, the author of a white paper on the… Read more »
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