Big names from the Australian tech scene have dominated this year’s BRW Young Rich list. Atlassian founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, top of the list with their combined wealth of $2.3 billion, are joined by 35 other young entrepreneurs who made their money in technology and internet-based ventures.
While I know that I sat through a number of first aid lessons in high school, learning how to give CPR to a dummy and what to do while waiting for an ambulance, I can’t actually remember any of it. Unless our work requires frequent training, most of us are in the same boat. Melbourne startup Real First Aid wants to provide first aid training that people will remember by tailoring it to the specific situations they may one day find themselves in.
The live events sector is a $100 billion market globally, but what most people don’t realise is that 85 percent of these events don’t actually sell out. In fact, according to various surveys by ticketing companies, 40 percent of people say they would have actually gone to a particular event, but their reason for not going was because they never even knew it was on. For the majority of events, a less than desirable marketing strategy is usually responsible for empty seats and extra standing space.
As a business Versent is all about bringing craftsmanship back to technology for the enterprise space. The company has just launched its new initiative, Level 3, to help it do that.
The wins keep coming for design startup Canva. Just a few weeks after closing a US$15 million Series A round that has valued the startup at $165 million, co-founder Melanie Perkins has taken out top prize at the NSW Technology Entrepreneur of the Year awards in recognition of her ‘entrepreneurial endeavours and role model qualities’.
After advertising for a local manager over the last few months, New York fitness startup ClassPass has finally announced its Australian launch, naming FitSessions cofounder Natasha Prasad as regional general manager for Australia.
When it comes to mathematical education, what’s lacking is real-world maths being taught in schools. Real-world maths teaches kids about managing income, taxes, loans and all the other financial issues individuals face once they leave the safety of school and are no longer under the care of a guardian.
It’s become impossible to watch a sports broadcast without sitting through at least a dozen ads for one sports betting agency or another, and as each agency looks for an edge over the other, it’s never been easier to place a bet. A punter no longer has to visit the TAB in person to place a bet, with Sportsbet to Unibet, Ladbrokes, William Hill, Tom Waterhouse and more offering live in-game betting from a smartphone. It’s also never been easier for punters to lose money.
Peer-to-peer and B2C marketplace for space startup, Spacer has announced today that it has closed a $1 million funding round from angel and private investors to support its Australian launch.
This morning, Sydney-based Mad Paws, a fast-growing marketplace for pet services, has raised $1.1 million in an oversubscribed funding round. Investors that contributed to the round include Macdoch Ventures, cofounder of HotelsCombined Michael Doubinski, Commonwealth Bank Group Executive Matt Comyn and Managing Director of Amazon Web Services Paul Migliorini.
Design platform Canva today announced a USD$15 million Series A round of funding to continue expanding its platform, which is now used by more than five million marketers, designers and small business owners. This latest round of capital brings the total amount raised by the Sydney-based startup to USD$27 million and gives it a valuation of USD$165 million.
In spite of the name, fantasy sports is a big and serious business. It’s so serious that some sports fans are willing to put aside allegiances to teams they’ve supported for decades and cheer for their arch rival’s star playmaker to work his magic so they get all the fantasy points they can and win their league’s money pool.
The idea for BuiltWith came in 2007, when Gary Brewer was visiting a lot of random sites, looking at their source code and discovering what platforms they were built with. He was researching elements like the writing of code on the site by viewing the source, seeing if they were made in PHP or if the company was using Windows and similar information in that arena.
One of the big criticisms of popular video games is that they promote violence or materialism and aren’t doing us that much good. But of course, like in most other industries, there are groups creating niche products looking to make a positive impact. One such group is Noosa-based game development startup Disparity Games, which has launched a new title hoping to help combat bullying.
Melbourne FinTech startup Clover, an automated investment advice platform, has announced the raising of a seed funding round by a number of investors including superannuation fund Equipsuper. Though the startup wasn’t willing to reveal the exact amount, Startup Daily was able to confirm that Clover raised over $1 million.
Canva has a new $500 million shareholder – a Sydney private equity firm that previously made a fortune from pet food 
Envato founders exit in $373 million Shutterstock deal 
Outdoor adtech startup Doohly banks $500,000 pre-Seed to speed up digital ad execution 
Breakthrough Victoria invests $37 million to lure US near-space exploration platform World View to Melbourne 
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