Victoria will join NSW, Queensland and South Australia in offering a digital licence for drivers from next year. The state government announced this week that motorists will be able to carry their licence on their phone with a digital driver licence trial in Ballarat from July before a statewide roll-out by 2024. NSW pioneered the… Read more »
Brisbane workplace learning platform Go1 has stitched together an undisclosed capital raising deal to acquire German summary startup Blinkist in a deal believed to be worth $100 million. Go1 has been on a merger spree since raising $140 million on a $2.8 billion valuation in June last year. GO1 previously raised $273 million in a… Read more »
Data strategy veteran Lisa Byrne from Notitia expects to see increased investment in cyber security investment in the federal budget next Tuesday, saying the move is a ‘”no brainer” for the government. Byrne argues it’s critical for small business to be incentivised to implement cyber security systems and upskill their workforce to deal with the… Read more »
While it’s been a torrid time for Australia’s food delivery sector in recent months, those making the things we love to eat continue to thrive, with more than 8,000 local small batch food makers helping feed the nation. Their delicious talents will be celebrated in Sydney on Friday, May 19, at the inaugural Foodpreneurs Festival at… Read more »
Atlassian’s March quarter revenue has grown 24% on 12 months ago to $915 million (A$1.365bn), with subscription revenue up 37% to $761 million (A$1.136bn), but last year’s US$32.9 million profit has turned into an operating loss of US$161.6 million (A$240m) for Q3 in FY2023. The US-listed (NASDAQ: TEAM) Australian workplace software giant released its quarterly… Read more »
Startmate and Boundless Earth, the philanthropic venture of Mike Cannon-Brookes, have accelerated their partnership to recruit and upskill 300 new founders and operators into climate tech startups over the next 18 months. Startmate has launched its inaugural Climate Tech Fellowship last week as part of the plan. The 8-week virtual program with Boundless Earth is… Read more »
Short-term rental management startup MadeComfy has raised $10 million in venture capital and debt as it looks to cover more cities across Australia. Founded in Sydney in 2015, and Airbnb strategic partner, MadeComfy previously raised $1.1 million in 2017 and then $6 million in 2018 from Investec. Commencer Capital acquired the $60 million Investec Emerging… Read more »
The 2020 decision by the founders of BoozeBud to buy back their online drinks retailer from Japanese brewing giant Asahi Beverages has not panned out as planned, with voluntary administrators taking control of the business on Tuesday and shutting down sales. A majority of the board members had resigned over the recent months and the… Read more »
The founders of Sequoia Capital-backed Sample have rebranded and changed the focus of the business, raising another $2.4 million Seed round from new investors in the process. As Sample, cofounded in 2021 by former Grab staffers Jascha Zittel and Elliott Gibb, the startup raised $920,000 in pre-Seed funding, led by Sequoia Capital India, in December… Read more »
End-of-life planning platform, Safewill, has raised $5.5 million in what the startup is calling a Series A for the second time in 19 month. The tech platform previously raised $3 million in a Series A in October 2021. The latest round was led by Carthona Capital, supported by existing backer Reinventure, plus Flying Fox Ventures.… Read more »
Electric delivery bike startup Zoomo has cut staffing for the second time in six months, making 27 roles redundant, just weeks after the collapse of major client Milkrun. “Zoomo has made the difficult decision to reduce its overall headcount by 8%. The restructure will accelerate our path to company-wide profitability in 2024,” a statement from… Read more »
Stakeholder engagement platform Fresh Equities has raised $4 million and is changing its name as it looks to improve public company communications with investors. The round was led by Sydney VC EVP. The business has also rebranded as InvestorHub as it looks to expand into international markets such as the UK, Singapore, Canada and the… Read more »
The federal government has earmarked $3.4 billion over the next decade for an Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator (ASCA) to develop advanced military technologies. The proposal is part of the Defence Strategic Review released last week, which recommends spending $19 billion over the next four years amid more effective support for innovation, faster acquisition and better… Read more »
ASX-listed biotech Emyria(ASX: EMD), which is developing psychotherapy treatments using MDMA (aka ecstacy) and psilocybin (aka magic mushrooms), has raised $2.5 million in share placement backed by existing investor Andrew Forrest through the healthtech fund Tenmile, part of his private investment group, Tattarang. The $2.5 million placement was jointly led by Perth’s Sixty Two Capital… Read more »
Former NSW digital government minister Victor Dominello has a new job after leaving politics at the March state election, signing on as the director of the university-based UNSW-UTS Trustworthy Digital Society Hub. The announcement comes on the same day Jihad Dib, the new Labor minister in charge of digital government marked Privacy Week, announcing the… Read more »
From Perth to Paris: How an Aussie startup for teacher training won the Cartier Women’s Initiative
Antler Investor Memo Series: Kidly is taking the pressure off parents to make sure their children have fun
NSW startup sector sounds the alarm as the state government turns off funding taps in pre-budget review
Female-founded edtech Cleverbean raises $200,000 to reduce teach burnout
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