Non-alcoholic cocktail company Naked Life comfortably landed its $3 million raise on equity crowdfunding site Birchal that finished on Thursday night. In the final 12 hours of the campaign, around 130 investors tipped the last $450,000 into Naked Life which easily walked away with what it sought from the funding drive. Founder and managing director… Read more »
The annual Spark Festival, the largest national event for Australia’s startup community, is the latest victim of a reduced funding for the sector, with the director departing and the board looking to refresh the event to present later this year. Festival director Maxine Sherrin left the organisation on Friday after nearly seven years, having successfully… Read more »
Paris Hilton and electronica duo The Chainsmokers have been added to the A-lister cap table of LA-based expat Australian startup Checkmate, which has raised US$15 million (A$23m) in a Series A. The round was led by GV (formerly Google Ventures), with support from DJ duo Alex Pall and Drew Taggart’s VC fund Mantis, plus several… Read more »
The NSW startup sector has responded with dismay after the NSW government suddenly shut down a range of funding programs for early-stage companies in the wake of an expenditure review by the new Labor government. Popular programs such as the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) grant have been put on hold “as part of the sector-wide… Read more »
SBE Australia has launched a new advisory model to connect high potential female-founded businesses with the services they need for high growth in a partnership with professional services firm BDO. SBE CEO Nicole Cook said the SBE Advisory Collective was developed in response to reports the organisation commissioned last year, which found that between 2017… Read more »
Blockchain provenance startup Everledger has been placed in voluntary administration after an existing investor failed to follow through on the 2nd tranche of their funding. The Brisbane tech company, founded in 2015 by former Queensland chief entrepreneur Leanne Kemp, offers supply chain traceability using blockchain, artificial intelligence, intelligent labelling and Internet of Things. They were… Read more »
Federal government investment fund the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) has doubled down on its funding for Infradebt, tipping an additional $100 million into the ACT-based renewables financing firm, taking its total backing to $150 million. Infradebt is a specialist infrastructure project finance fund manager/financier, providing capital for renewables and battery storage projects as well… Read more »
Venture capital funding at the start of 2023 may not have been as bad as many thought according to new analysis from Perth-based investment data company Techboard. Releasing its March quarter Funded report this week, Techboard identified $1.01 billion in capital deployed across 111 deals. That figure is 50% higher than the $661 million across… Read more »
CommandPost, a crisis management startup designed to improve emergency response times and coordination has raised $200,000 in Seed funding from Melbourne VC Skalata $200,000. Founder Alex Rixon-Booth worked in emergency service response and decided to take things to the next level in the wake of miscommunications during the recent NSW floods and Black Summer bushfires… Read more »
A New Zealand deep tech manufacturing startup helping produce cleaner hydrogen with fewer precious metals has raised NZ$2.5 million (A$2.3m) in a Seed round. Bspkl has developed a new, more sustainable way to produce catalyst coated membranes (CCMs) for the hydrogen industry. CCMs typically use platinum and iridium in solid membranes to maximise hydrogen production.… Read more »
As a female founder, I’ve faced numerous challenges particularly in regard to getting investors to fund us. There is a gap in venture funding in Australia, and it’s getting worse. It seems as if Australian investors in particular are struggling at how to fund female founders equitably. Right now we get around 1.2% of funding,… Read more »
Employee benefits platform Circle In has raised $2 million in a round led by Sydney VC Alberts Impact Ventures. The cash is earmarked for global expansion plans and to develop the platform for working families and caregivers. Existing backers Leigh Jasper, Carol Schwartz, Rob Phillpot, Andrew Sypkes, and Employment Hero’s Ben Thompson also supported the… Read more »
The Australian government is backing the quantum sector with $4.6 million in funding to improve education and collaboration. National science organisation CSIRO has scored $3.6 million to fund up to 20 PhDs in quantum technology under the Australian Quantum Graduates Program. A further $1 million goes to the Sydney Quantum Academy through the National Quantum… Read more »
Western Australian startup CO-architecture has raised $330,000 in a pre-Seed round for its community platform for professional designers and creatives. The cash came from Victorian early-stage VC Skalata Ventures, with support from several local angel investors, including architect and former Perth deputy lord mayor Sandy Anghie, and Hassell director Peter Lee. CO-architecture connects independent and… Read more »
Cauldron speeds up development of new food, feedstock and fibre ingredients Its hyper-fermentation platform lowers commercial risk & production costs $10.5m Seed round led by Main Sequence + Horizons Ventures An ambitious plan to transform the way new food, feedstock and fibre ingredients are created, by using fermentation has raised $10.5 million in seed funding… Read more »
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