A group of leading Sydney tech organisations have vowed to ramp up efforts to tackle climate change and environmental issue with a new group, The Envirotech Alliance. Advocacy group TechSydney, startup hub Fishburners, energytech org Spark Club, Girl Geek Academy and PR Launch Group are leading the alliance, which hopes to bring together hundreds of professionals… Read more »
Happy post Australia Day. It’s Tuesday and we hope you enjoyed the long weekend. Here’s what’s been happening. 1. Kobe Bryant’s death hits tech hard Retired LA Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, 41, and his daughter, Gianna, 13, were killed in a helicopter crash in California on Sunday. Among the millions shocked and saddened by the… Read more »
Performance data startup Lumin Sports has raised $650,000 through private investment to drive commercial expansion in 2020. The South Australian company’s software platform was launched in 2018 through a collaboration with global tech giant Dimension Data and World Tour cycling team NTT Pro Cycling (formerly Team Dimension Data). The technology, which interprets complex technical and… Read more »
Hello, it’s Thursday. Here’s what’s happening. 1. No ads on Netflix Netflix CEO Reed Hastings once again ruled out ads on the streaming service, despite the temptation of adding an extra US$1bn to the revenue stream, during the company’s earnings call for 2019. Netflix posted US$20 billion in revenue for 2019, with the year’s… Read more »
Happy hump day. Let’s do this. 1. Bezos had his phone ‘hacked’ by the Saudi crown prince A WhatsApp file sent to the world’s richest man in 2018 from Mohammed bin Salman personal account was reportedly used to steal data from the phone of the Amazon boss, according to an astonishing account in The… Read more »
The hunger for streaming services such as Stan and Netflix has seen the amount of data downloaded by Australians jump by nearly 50% in 12 months, the latest ACCC Communications Market Report for 2018-19 has found. And for the first time, the amount of time we spent talking on our phones fell as people… Read more »
Hello, it’s Tuesday and Space X is getting ready to put two men into space. 1. Musk’s giant leap for Space X SpaceX fired Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral in a final test flight before it carries a crew of two NASA astronauts, and things blew up, as… Read more »
• Gross sales grew by more than 16% • Gross profit grew by more than 9% • Operating costs declined marginally • Cash at period end was $34.1 million Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) has defied tough retail conditions to post a record half-yearly result helped by its best-ever Black Friday and Boxing Day trading… Read more »
Hello and happy Friday. How good is rain? Here’s a few things we’ve spotted and share. 1. Neobank Xinja shows interest It’s been a busy week for banking startups, with 86 400 getting into price comparisons for power bills, Judo hitting it $1bn lending goal (see below), and Volt enlisting Julian Sawyer, co-founder… Read more »
Aerial mapper Aerometrex has released two new services for its flagship metropolitan mapping service following a successful stock exchange debut. Based in Adelaide, South Australia, the newly listed company (ASX: AMX) has built 3D modelling into its MetroMap subscription service as well as launching its own high-flying camera to capture the images. Aerometrex Managing Director… Read more »
In the 1980s, a global race was underway: to find a more efficient way of converting energy from the sun into electricity. Some 30 years ago, our research team at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) came up with a breakthrough, called the PERC silicon solar cell. The cells have become the most widely… Read more »
Business telecom startup Spoke Phone has raised $6.7 million in Series A funding, led by Sydney private VC firm Marbruck Investments, supported by New Zealand-based Icehouse Ventures and Sir Stephen Tindall’s K1W1 fund. Spoke Phone seeks to do away with the office desk phone, with a cloud-based, mobile-first strategy and is the only venture… Read more »
When bushfires ripped through communities over summer, the New South Wales Rural Fire Service smartphone app, Fires Near Me, became a crucial warning system for many holidaymakers and residents. It quickly became of Australia’s most downloaded apps, with more than two million users – and around 1.6 million downloads in the two months leading up… Read more »
86 400 Chairman Anthony Thomson and CEO Robert Bell Digital bank 86 400’s fourth product since launching last last September is somewhat unexpected for a financial institution – an electricity analysis and switching service. Announcing Energy Switch today CEO Robert Bell said “Energy Switch service delivers on our purpose to help Australians take control of… Read more »
Hello and happy Tuesday. Here’s a mix of the latest news and some more of what you may have missed over the break. 1. From Zume to zero Just before Christmas, five-year-old Californian robotic pizza venture Zume was being flagged as a $4 billion startup, but now the SoftBank curse has struck. The… Read more »
Australia now has a National Digital ID - and big changes are afoot
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Shark Tank Australia actually delivered some really important home truths in its premiere episode
'The world’s future depends on a feminine energy': Cyan Ta'eed's inspiring address to her old school
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