Australian Open, Rod Laver Arena
Topic

Tennis Australia’s VC fund aces first close with nearly $50 million from blue chip investors

- January 13, 2025 2 MIN READ

A who’s who of Australian investors have backed a new sports VC fund by Tennis Australia’s AO Ventures, committing around $49 million to its first close. They include Mark Nelson from Caledonia, Tanarra’s John Wylie, Melbourne-based businessman Mark Healey, Ashok Jacob from Ellerston Capital and Robyn and Victoria Denholm’s family office, Wollemi Capital Group. International… Read more »

Black Swan, Perth
Politics

Less digging, more thinking: Western Australian startup report calls for greater support for AI, biotech and data analytics

- December 7, 2024 3 MIN READ

A report into the state of play for Western Australia’s startup sector has warned the state risks slipping behind its East Cost rivals unless there’s a great focus on reforms and funding for the sector. The report, ‘Dare to Venture: Startups and the innovation ecosystem in Western Australia’, by the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre argues… Read more »

Nicola Forrest
Funding

SISTER ACT: Nicola Forrest drops $100 million into an investment fund to back women

- December 5, 2024 2 MIN READ

A new investment fund focused on and run by women has been kick-started with $100 million Western Australian philanthropist Nicola Forrest. The funds have come from the Minderoo Foundation, which Forrest established with her ex-husband, mining billionaire Andrew Forrest. The philanthropic fund has gender equality is a priority focus. Future Generation Women (FGW) will be… Read more »

Mick Liubinskas
Climate Tech

Clean Energy Finance’s Tim Buckley headlines Climate Salad’s annual climate tech investor showcase

- November 22, 2024 2 MIN READ

Climate Salad’s big annual shindig connecting climate tech startups with investors, is on next Wednesday, November 27, in Sydney. Australian Climate Tech Investor Connect kicks off at 1pm at the Paddington Town Hall, and climaxes with the Climate Tech Awards from 4.30pm, recognising the best in local solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges.… Read more »

Eric Gao
Business

Australian startup investor Boman Group grabs a $10 million slice of OpenAI

- October 7, 2024 2 MIN READ

OpenAI’s gobsmacking US$6.6 billion (A$9.5 billion) raise, announced last week at a US$157bn (A$230bn) valuation, has a small slice of Australia on the cap table, with Melbourne fund manager Boman Group chipping in A$10 million. The record raise for the San Francisco-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup was led by Josh KuschUS VC Thrive Capital with… Read more »

Singapore
Business

Australian investors spent $24 billion backing Asian startups over the past decade

- September 12, 2024 4 MIN READ

The fight for venture capital in Australia isn’t just between local startups – they’re also increasingly competing with international founders for investor attention according to a new report from Asialink Business and the Tech Council of Australia (TCA). The Building the Australia-Asia Tech Corridor report explores the vital connections between Australia’s and Asia’s tech ecosystems… Read more »

Accelerator

13 Startmate mentors and investors reveal what they’re looking for in startup ideas

- July 31, 2024 12 MIN READ

At Startmate we’re industry agnostic. We invest in people first. People with deep expertise and unique visions, working to solve some of the thorniest problems frustrating industries worldwide. The role we play is simple. Accelerate their progress – avoid pitfalls, leverage opportunities, prompt customer conversations, advise sales, and marketing – do everything in our power… Read more »

Techboard CEO Peter van Bruchem
Funding

Techboard’s funding analysis reveals NSW gets the lion’s share of VC investment, but it’s starting to wane

- June 26, 2024 3 MIN READ

Venture capital funding for NSW startups began to decline in the first quarter of 2024 after swallowing two-thirds of all Australian investment in 2023, according to new data from funding analytics firm Techboard. Startup investment in the first quarter of 2024 had slowed with $761 million invested across 82 deals recorded over the first three… Read more »

Will Richardson,
Venture Capital

Knowledge is worth more than money, VC Giant Leap tells inquiry into the wholesale investor test

- May 14, 2024 2 MIN READ

Impact venture capital firm Giant Leap has told a parliamentary inquiry into the sophisticated investor test that the government should measure investor quality rather than the size of their capital when it comes to the threshold qualifications The investment sector has swung into action as submissions to the inquiry close tomorrow and Startup Daily revealed… Read more »

child with money raining down
Funding

Submissions to the parliamentary inquiry into the wholesale investor test close next week

- May 9, 2024 3 MIN READ

Rumours that the federal government was looking at dramatically ramping up the thresholds to qualify for the wholesale investor test sent shockwaves through the startup sector at the start of 2024. The purported changes being considered as Treasury looked into the issue were increasing the asset threshold to $4.5 million, up from $2.5m, with the… Read more »

Canva cofounders Cliff Obrecht, Melanie Perkins and Cameron Adams.
Business

Canva has a new $500 million shareholder – a Sydney private equity firm that previously made a fortune from pet food

- May 3, 2024 2 MIN READ

Sydney investment firm Quadrant Private Equity is now a Canva shareholder after acquiring a hefty $500 million slice of the design giant, including more than $100 million worth of shares from VC fund Blackbird. That represents about 1.2% of the company’s stock. The deal comes after $2.4 billion worth of Canva shares changed hands earlier… Read more »