When the News Media Bargaining Code was introduced by the federal government last year, forcing Facebook and Google to pay media companies for news, it was hailed as a game changer for the industry. Twelve months on, the game has changed, but tech giants Google and Facebook have created a more skewed playing field for… Read more »
Expense management platform Cape has raised a staggering $33.1 million in a pre-Seed round. The raise is split between $3.1 million in VC equity and a $30 million debt facility Aura Ventures. The raise values the Sydney startup at $18 million. The equity cap table includes Investible, Scalare Partners, Mercury Capital and 15 business angels,… Read more »
National science agency CSIRO has produced a technology roadmap for growth in protein production in Australia, believing the opportunity is worth $13 billion. Australian agricultural exports were worth around $50 billion in FY2021, and with that figure predicted to rise by 20% in FY22 to more than $60bn, options beyond beef are seen as the… Read more »
Upstreet, a fintech that rewards shoppers with fractional shares in the ASX, NYSE and NASDAQ listed companies, has raised $3 million in Seed-plus funding. The round was led by Wattle Hill Capital supported by new backers Kelly+Partners Investment Office, McKinsey & Co. Partners and private investors including MadPaws CEO Justus Hammer, Wattle Hill Capital founder… Read more »
AustCyber CEO Michelle Price is leaving today after four years to become a partner at EY. Price has been with the government-backed organisation, which merged a year ago with startup hub Stone & Chalk, since its inception in January 2017 as Australia’s Cyber Security Industry Growth Centre. Her role will not be replaced with Stone… Read more »
Driva, the two-year-old fintech that helps car buyers finance and insure their vehicle, has banked another $6 million as it looks to become a household name. The round was led by Carthona Capital and other follow-on investors, including Peter Gammell chaired Invictus, and angel investors such as CredibleStephen Dash, who made his fortune from creating… Read more »
When Sydney high school student Nick Mihailou doesn’t have his nose buried in homework and assignments, he’s busy moonlighting as a tech entrepreneur with an app development agency. Mihailou launched his startup Appstra, aged 15, and as CEO, now has a team of 10 working beside him as he takes on six-figure contracts to build… Read more »
ASX-listed accounting fintech Xero has opened new Australian headquarters in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn. The 7000 square metres site, spanning four levels, brings together Xero’s Melbourne team under one roof for the first time after a decade. The office features breakout spaces (with hearing assistance solutions), webinar suites and an indoor garden – a… Read more »
Decentralised finance startup Minke has raised $650,000 in a pre-seed round to enter the fast-growing DeFi space. The startup is currently part of the Startmate summer cohort and was backed by angel investors Rayn Ong and Quentin Wallace, and ex-Outware Mobile founders Eytan Lenko and Danny Gorog. Co-founders Josh Reyes and Marcos Teixeira met as… Read more »
Startup founders often talk about emerging from stealth mode, but it’s rare to see it used on someone within the ecosytem. But that’s what happened last week at the Impact Summit at _SOUTHSTART in Adelaide, when a group of supporters of local legend Moira Were announced they’d being raising funds to continue her work supporting the… Read more »
The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) has launched legal action against Facebook’s parent company, Meta, alleging the social media giant engaged in false, misleading or deceptive conduct by publishing scam advertisements featuring prominent Australians. The Federal Court case claims Facebook was in breach of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) or the Australian Securities and… Read more »
Every week on the Startup Daily TV show, we talk to more than two dozen founders, CEOs, investors and experts about what’s happening in tech. Now you can catch the best of the show with the weekly podcast, SUDS. Every Friday, co-hosts Simon Thomsen and Eliot Hastie, offer the weekly washup from Startup Daily TV.… Read more »
Tasmanian startup Varicon has raised $2.25 million in a Seed round for its construction cost management software. The round was led by Sydney VC Black Nova, supported by Andrew Sypkes, Galileo Ventures and Artesian, as well as strategic industry players Slattery Construction chair Josh Slattery, Tidal Ventures co-founder Murray Bleach, Aconex co-founder Leigh Jasper, and… Read more »
Health insurance fund Medibank Private has taken a minority stake in telehealth app Medinet with a $10 million investment. The app offers 24/7 telehealth consultations with a GP as well as door-to-door prescription delivery. The funds will be used to scale and develop the platform’s technology. Founded in 2019 by a group health care professionals,… Read more »
Social media giant Facebook says it will crackdown on misinformation on the platform in the lead up to the federal election in May, but Reset Australia says the plan is a “woefully inadequate” distraction from the bigger problems embedded in the business. Facebook’s parent company Meta announced this week that it will ramp up third-party… Read more »
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