Melbourne startup WorkRex has raised $220,000 from early stage VC Skalata for its all-in-one customer marketing platform for small business. Cofounders Jing Chen, Lance Qian, and Myron Liu – an optometrist, ex-McKinsey consultant, and software engineer respectively – developed the platform after a deep dive into how small-to-medium-sized are struggling to keep up with growing… Read more »
Early stage investment company Antler Australia recently backed a new cohort of 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, which is designed to give you a quick, sharp understanding of the startups and people… Read more »
The next time you go for a job interview at Woolies or Qantas, you may end up with generative AI not only telling you how you did, but also offering advice on how to perform better next time. Melbourne recruitment startup Sapia.ai has launched a generative AI model it’s called SAIGE to give candidate feedback.… Read more »
Startup founders need to think about how to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into their business with care and attention to potential risks in order to attract investors, a leading VC says. But a fear of those risks and regulation shouldn’t cause a “paralysis moment” that stop innovation, says Lee Hickin, the AI technology policy lead… Read more »
Tech-focused coworking community Tank Stream Labs has launched an AI Hub powered by Microsoft at the Sydney Startup Hub Tank Stream Labs CEO Bradley Delamare said the AI Hub will be a dedicated community to founders, developers and startup/scale-up companies in the AI sector. “We are excited to introduce the Tank Stream Labs AI Hub… Read more »
From a telco platform recognised as having the ‘Best AI Product in Telecom’ at London’s CogX Festival, to AI-powered retail tech that increases shopper basket sizes, these Australian and New Zealand startups are getting noticed globally. Earlier this month, Startup Daily and Microsoft joined forces for our first-ever AI Deep Dive event for startups, founders… Read more »
A little over a week ago, OpenAI announced a new generative AI system named Sora, which produces short videos from text prompts. While Sora is not yet available to the public, the high quality of the sample outputs published so far has provoked both excited and concerned reactions. The sample videos published by OpenAI, which… Read more »
Sam Altman, chief executive of ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, is reportedly trying to find up to US$7 trillion of investment to manufacture the enormous volumes of computer chips he believes the world needs to run artificial intelligence (AI) systems. Altman also recently said the world will need more energy in the AI-saturated future he envisions – so… Read more »
A vector search startup for ecommerce, founded by a former Amazon robotics scientist and engineer, has raised US$12.5 million (A$19.4m) in a Series A, just six months after banking A$8.1m in a Seed round. The fresh raise for Marqo, was led by Lightspeed, with support from Blackbird, January Capital, and Chronosphere founder and CTO Rob… Read more »
As AI innovation accelerates rapidly, Microsoft is bringing the local tech community up to speed over two events in Sydney this February: the Microsoft AI Tour and the startup-focused AI Deep Dive event with Startup Daily. We spoke to Andrew Boyd, General Manager, Digital Natives and Startups, about how startups can leverage Microsoft’s latest AI… Read more »
An AI-based Sydney software startup that checks sewer pipes for preemptive maintenance has raised $5 million in a Series A to ramp up its push into the US market. VAPAR, cofounded in 2018 by engineers Amanda Siqueira and Michelle Aguilar, was backed Dutch water technology specialist VC PureTerra Ventures, supported by US engineering and construction… Read more »
On Wednesday, the federal Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic revealed an interim response from the Australian government on the safe and responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI). The public, especially the Australian public, have real concerns about AI. And it’s appropriate that they should. AI is a powerful technology entering our lives quickly.… Read more »
As car manufacturers have demonstrated for years, there is no functional reason why robots require a head, face, or personality – but with Generative AI (GenAI) now offering irresistible possibilities for designers, humanoid robots were out in force at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Chinese firm Kepler Exploration Robot Co, for one, used the… Read more »
The legal profession has already been using artificial intelligence (AI) for several years, to automate reviews and predict outcomes, among other functions. However, these tools have mostly been used by large, well established firms. In effect, certain law firms have already deployed AI tools to assist their employed solicitors with day-to-day work. By 2022, three… Read more »
AI-based workflow automation startup has raised $15 million in a Series A as it looks to ramp up its international presence. The round was led by King River Capital along with support from Peak XV’s Surge (the former Sequoia Capital India), and existing backers Galileo Ventures and Insight Partners. Relevance AI previously raised $4 million… Read more »
The lessons from Uber, Ola and rideshare’s disruption is that in the end, the consumer still pays 
Unicorn dehorned: Nasdaq-listed Brisbane EV charging venture Tritium collapses into receivership 
Here are the finalists in Fintech Australia’s 2024 Finnies awards 
‘Have I gone too far?’ How founders can beat their startup demons 
Daily startup news and insights, delivered to your inbox.
