CSIRO venture capital fund Main Sequence Ventures has bolstered its leadership team with Cochlear chair Alison Deans signing on as a venture partner. Deans, who is also on the boards of Ramsay Health Care, staffing management scaleup Deputy and ASX-listed envirotech scaleup Calix (ASX: CXL), and is a former Westpac and IAG director, previously ran… Read more »
Macquarie Technology Group cofounders David and Aidan Tudehope have been honoured as the 2023 Pearcey Medallists for their life’s work in the information and communications technology (ICT) industry. The annual awards, named after the late ICT industry pioneer Dr Trevor Pearcey, celebrated their 25th anniversary by inducting engineer Professor Jean Armstrong and WiseTech Global founder… Read more »
Silicon Quantum Computing founder Professor Michelle Simmons has won the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science for her pioneering work in the cutting edge sector. The awards were announced by prime minister Anthony Albanese, with scientists working in biotechnology and teaching also recognised. It’s a lucrative win for Simmons, who receives $250,000 as part of the… Read more »
Cicada Innovations has appointed Dr Katherine Woodthorpe as its new chair, the first woman to lead the board in the 23-year history of the Sydney-based deep tech incubator. The non-executive director (NED) replaces Andrew Rothery after nearly eight years in the role. Dr Woodthorpe has more than three decades of experience in commercialising technologies across a broad… Read more »
As lists go, LinkedIn’s annual compilation of Australia’s top 20 startups is certainly a conversation starter. The find-a-job social media site has trawled through its own data, looking at four key parameters, including employee growth, jobseeker interest and how well startups lured talent away from LinkedIn’s own “Top Companies” list, to select crypto-based online gaming marketplace… Read more »
Fishburners has appointed Taryn Williams and Samantha Martin Williams to the board of the Early-stage startup community hub. They replace Jacqui Feeney, who leaves to become CEO of Screen Queensland, and Andrew Thornton, whose term has expired. Taryn Williams is the founder and CEO of theright.fit and WINK Models, and entrepreneurship thought leader. Fishburners CEO… Read more »
StartGiving, the not-for-profit organisation inspiring a new culture of giving in the Australian innovation community, has launched a podcast and vodcast series for tech founders looking to start or scale their giving. Hosted by StartGiving founder and chair Daniel Petre and CEO Antonia Ruffell, the series features leaders in the tech and philanthropy spaces generously… Read more »
Five Indigenous Australian university students will head to the United States next week for internships with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The students are part of the inaugural cohort of Monash University’s National Indigenous Space Academy (NISA), selected from universities across Australia and supported by the Australian Space Agency. The students will be partnered with a… Read more »
The Albanese government has appointed venture capitalist and philanthropist Airtree cofounder Daniel Petre to the board of its $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund to be chaired by climate investor Martijn Wilder, founder and CEO of Pollination. The eight-member board for the government’s signature investment project also includes Invest Victoria chair Ahmed Fahour, MD of Latitude… Read more »
Paypa Plane cofounder and CEO Simone Joyce is heading to the US with her family to put her fintech front and centre of banking and payments reforms in North America. Joyce, who is also chair of industry group Fintech Australia, has been at the forefront of Australia’s shift to real time payments and the introduction… Read more »
Atlassian co-founder and father of four Mike Cannon-Brookes has separated from his US-born wife, Annie, after 13 years of marriage. News of the demerger emerged over the weekend in Nine newspapers, citing “sources close to the family”. An Atlassian spokesperson declined to comment. An unauthorised source told the media: “They’re both focussed on their children… Read more »
Waave has recruited former Qantas exec and eBay Australia chair Belinda Jonovska as payments fintech’s Chief Operations Officer (COO) to oversee risk, governance and commercialisation. Jonovska joins the startup after the open banking payments fintech raised $4.7 million in a Seed round in April. Cofounders Ben Zyl, Mark Connolly and Peter Traianou launched Waaveearier this… Read more »
What do Regrow Ag CEO and cofounder Anastasia Volkova and Skims founder Kim Kardashian have in common? Well, they’re both among the 20 industry leaders chosen by Time magazine for its list of the world’s 100 most influential companies. Regrow began life in 2016, as part of Sydney University’s “Inventing the Future” innovation program. Its… Read more »
As Dry July enters its 15th year, co-founder Brett Macdonald tells Startup Daily about the early days, how the movement grew to raise $82 million for more than 80 cancer organisations across Australia – and where it’s going next. It started in a small garage in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in 2007. British expats Brett Macdonald,… Read more »
ASX-listed jobs marketplace Airtasker will have its first female board leader with Cass O’Connor stepping into the chair role next month as James Spenceley departs after eight years. Spenceley, the founder of telco Vocus, is a prolific VC investor and North Sydney councillor and more recently founded humanitarian organisation Aus Ukraine Aid, was a seed… Read more »
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