Payments platform Cuscal has acquiring Consumer Data Right startup Basiq for an undisclosed sum. The deal provides an exit for investors including NAB Ventures, Salesforce Ventures and Westpac’s Reinventure, as well as Visa. The VC arms of the Australian banks first backed Basiq in 2017, doubling down in a Series A in 2021. Cuscal, owned… Read more »
Australian space systems engineer Katherine Bennell-Pegg is hoping to become the first Australian-born woman in space, heading to Germany next month for astronaut training with the European Space Agency (ESA). In November last year NSW-raised Dr Meganne Christian was selected as part of the ESA’s astronaut class as one of 11 reservists. She was born… Read more »
A healthcare startup that simulates real life patient conversations to help doctors and nurses communicate better has raised $1.5 million in Seed funding. The round in SimConverse was led by Folklore Ventures, with support from Artesian. SimConverse was founded by Aiden Roberts and Will Pamment after they met at uni, studying medicine. They has set out… Read more »
Every chance it gets, OneVentures touts its credentials as “Australia’s first female-founded VC firm” with cofounder Dr Michelle Deaker as its public face. She’s one of two female founders, alongside Anne-Marie Birkill and Paul Kelly. Last year the business added Sarah Meibusch to the leadership team as Partner. But the faces the Sydney VC chose… Read more »
A New Zealand medtech startup that’s developed a world’s first wireless brain monitor to remotely manage chronic illness has raised NZ$6 million (A$5.6m) to take the device to clinical trials. Kitea Health spun out of the University of Auckland Bioengineering Institute after developing the implantable long-term brain pressure sensor, which could save the healthcare system… Read more »
ASX-listed accounting platform Xero is the latest tech company to put a scythe through its workforce, cutting up to 800 roles globally to improve its bottom line. The New Zealand software company’s cuts come a day after Nasdaq-listed Atlassian announced it was cutting 500 positions. Xero (ASX: XRO) employs around 5000 people, meaning around 15%… Read more »
Startmate-backed marketing startup Brandcrush has been acquired by NASDAQ-listed media firm Criteo five years after it launched. The deal also delivers an exit for Rampersand, Luxury Escapes founder Adam Schwab, and other investors including Nicky Jackson, Jane Martino and Sean Taylor. Brandcrush was launched in 2018 by former Tribe sales director Matthew Hurle, and marketing… Read more »
Sydney business payments fintech Till Payments has raised $70 million in a Series D, having shed 40% of its staff earlier this year. The company cut 120 staff at the start of 2023 amid a 5-month hunt for capital ahead of plans to list on the US NASDAQ later this year. “Despite our significant successes,… Read more »
Tasmanian accounting software startup Sumday has raised raised $2 million in a pre-Seed round as it looks to expand globally. The raise was backed by VC funds Blackbird and Possible Ventures, as well as Canva cofounder Cameron Adams and Lisa Miller, CEO of Wedgetail Ventures. Sumday gives accountants and bookkeepers the ability deliver non-financial accounting… Read more »
Workplace software giant Atlassian is cutting around 5% of its workforce – 500 staff – with co-CEOs Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brookes say they “are deeply sorry”. The job losses comes just four months after Farquhar embarked on a high-profile national tour last October to recruit more than 1000 people for new R&D roles. In… Read more »
Concerns about the cryptocurrency, including pending Australian regulation, have not deterred cricketer Steve Smith from wading into sector, taking a minority equity stake in Perth crypto app Bamboo, and also becoming its brand ambassador. The move by Smith comes as US sports stars including NFL legend Tom Brady, NBA star Stephen Curry and tennis champion… Read more »
Google, now perhaps the most ubiquitous brand in the world, didn’t start out with that name. Larry Page and Sergey Brin launched their search engine on the Stanford University servers as BackRub – play on the fact that their nascent project was scouring back links on websites to index their importance. But within 12 months,… Read more »
We’ve all seen it – and then probably heard the reaction whispered cross the audience – and probably hashtagged on social media. “Sausagefest.” Another all-bloke panel. Ian Yip, founder and CEO of cybersecurity startup Avertro has seen them too, and most importantly he’s conscious of being complicit in it. Yip took to LinkedIn ahead of… Read more »
The NSW government is investing $64 million into the state’s the first two green hydrogen hub projects, in the Illawarra and Moree, as it also opens up applications for $1.5 billion in concessions for large-scale green hydrogen producers. The initial recipients are the BOC Illawarra Hydrogen Technology Hub and Sundown’s Keytah cotton farm near Moree.… Read more »
Five years after the TV company itself went belly up, Network 10 is bringing back its startup investment show, Shark Tank Australia, for a fifth series. The move comes at a time when the term “startup” is much more deeply embedded in the public psyche than eight years ago, when it originally kicked off in… Read more »
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Eucalyptus head of growth Matt Rossi departs to launch his own marketing startup, Oodle 
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