Volvo Car Australia is putting the sword to the internal combustion engine in its vehicle range, pledging to go fully electric by 2026. The shift is four years earlier than the Swedish parent company’s 2030 global target and will mean the local Volvo business will need to get its skates on to replace the popular… Read more »
US-based Australian tech giant Atlassian has seen revenue rise by nearly a third (31%) to US$807 million in the first quarter (Q1) of the 2023 financial year, but the 20-year-old business continues to post losses as growth begins to slow. Quarterly subscription revenue grew by 50% on 12 months ago, to US$651 million, but the… Read more »
The University of NSW – the place where Atlassian’s Scott Farquhar and Mike Cannon-Brookes met – has announced its finalists for the inaugural UNSW Founders Awards. The awards, announced later this month at a gala dinner in Sydney on November 22, recognise startups, founders and mentor across 8 award categories. All have a connection to… Read more »
Venture capital firm Blackbird has raised Australia’s first $1 billion VC fund, with superannuation funds once again cornerstone investors. The announcement comes just a week after Square Peg announced it had raised $860 million for its fifth generation of funds. Combined with another $700 million raised earlier this year by Airtree. that means the country’s… Read more »
Early stage investment company Antler Australia recently backed 13 startups as part of its ongoing program to build great local tech companies. Startup Daily is sharing the details of each venture in the “Antler Investor Memos” series. You can also meet the founders on the Startup Daily show on ausbiz.com.au every Monday and Wednesday. This… Read more »
An artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled digital assistant called Aimer has raised NZ$1 million to help dairy farmers with pasture management Kiwi startup Aimer Development was backed by food and agritech accelerator Sprout in the fifth of 30 $1 million investments the VC plans to make. Aimer founder and Chief Technical Officer Jeremy Bryant has spent more than… Read more »
Recycling startup Samsara Eco has raised $54 million in a Series A round as it looks to reduce plastic pollution. Existing backers, including CSIRO’s deep tech fund Main Sequence, Woolworths Group’s W23 and Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) Innovation Fund were joined. by new investors Breakthrough Victoria, Singapore’s Temasek, Assembly Climate Capital, DCVC and INP Capital… Read more »
Early stage VC firm Sprint Ventures has raised $8 million in the first close of its $50 million second fund. Managing Partner and entrepreneur Llew Jury said the second fund, called the Expansion Capital Fund, follows the success of their first $5 million Vintage Sovereign Seed fund in 2020, which has delivered a return on… Read more »
Commonwealth Bank-backed fintech Klarna’s Australian foray is starting to look like a disaster for the Swedish buy now pay later startup. Banking Day reports that just two years after its launch, an EY audit of Klarna Australia’s CY2021 performance reveals a net loss of $56 million, with revenue falling 71% on its first year of… Read more »
Trying to figure out how to park legally on Sydney streets is a nightmare for many motorists, with multiple signs requiring MENSA membership to decipher. So the NSW government is going digital with parking signs in the hope it will clear up the confusion. The Smart Signage trial will begin in Sydney’s CBD next month… Read more »
Sydney startup hub Fishburners has chosen 10 ideas for the inaugural Google News Initiative (GNI) startups bootcamp The nine-week professional development program delivers support and coaching to aspiring news media entrepreneurs for independent journalism, with entrepreneurs including Sinorbis CMO Vijay Solanki, BindiMaps cofounder Tony Burrett, and Stem Media cofounder Emily Dawson providing one-on-one coaching. It’s the… Read more »
ReciMe, a social sharing cooking app, has raised $500,000 in pre-Seed funding to help its users share and discover recipes from around the world. The Alice Anderson Fund, LaunchVic’s female-focused co-investment fund, and Tractor Ventures cofounder Jodie Imam are among ReciMe’s backers, along with NZ VC Even Capital. ReciMe began life as a lockdown project… Read more »
Fitness app Steppen has raised $1.65 million in Seed funding to help Gen Z build healthy habits. The latest round was backed by Sydney VC Galileo Ventures, with support from female founder-focused VC Flying Fox, as well as LaunchVic’s Alice Anderson fund. Startmate also invested after Steppen was successful on its second attempt and was… Read more »
Psylo, a preclinical biotech firm, has raised $5 million in Seed funding as it looks to treat mental illness with naturally occurring psychedelic drugs. The fresh capital comes 12 months after the Sydney-based startup emerged Startmate‘s winter 21 cohort with an initial $1.1 million in capital from the likes Airtree’s Daniel Petre in a round led led… Read more »
Labor’s first federal budget has been widely welcomed by the tech sector, despite one analyst telling Startup Daily it was “a non-event” for tech. We called it a “socks, jocks and chocolates” budget from Labor, just five months after taking power and seven months before Treasure Jim Chalmers returns with his plans for FY24. There… Read more »
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Here are the finalists in Fintech Australia’s 2024 Finnies awards 
Atlassian cofounder Scott Farquhar steps down as co-CEO 
Unicorn dehorned: Nasdaq-listed Brisbane EV charging venture Tritium collapses into receivership 
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