Sydney cryptocurrency pioneer Independent Reserve has acquired Sydney Swans sponsor Bitcoin.com.au in a deal worth $3 million. The M&A deal comes as crypto sees rising prices and renewed interest amid US bank collapses and the USB takeover of Credit Suisse. Since the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, amid ongoing concerns about the stability of the… Read more »
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rising interest rates dampened merger & acquisition (M&A) deals in the first half of 2022, but even as company valuations fall, the size of transactions is growing according to William Buck’s annual Dealmaking Insights Report 2023. In 2022, the aggregate value of M&A deals in Australia increased 59% on 2021… Read more »
Payments platform Cuscal has acquiring Consumer Data Right startup Basiq for an undisclosed sum. The deal provides an exit for investors including NAB Ventures, Salesforce Ventures and Westpac’s Reinventure, as well as Visa. The VC arms of the Australian banks first backed Basiq in 2017, doubling down in a Series A in 2021. Cuscal, owned… Read more »
Startmate-backed marketing startup Brandcrush has been acquired by NASDAQ-listed media firm Criteo five years after it launched. The deal also delivers an exit for Rampersand, Luxury Escapes founder Adam Schwab, and other investors including Nicky Jackson, Jane Martino and Sean Taylor. Brandcrush was launched in 2018 by former Tribe sales director Matthew Hurle, and marketing… Read more »
ASX-listed WiseTech Global’s ongoing M&A spree continues with the US$414 million (A$602m) acquisition of US rail logistics company Blume Global. The deal comes just three weeks after Sydney-headquartered cargo software behemoth announced it was acquiring US logistics management software startup Envase for US$230 million (A$327m). WiseTech’s billionaire founder and CEO, Richard White, also snapped up… Read more »
Sydney payroll and workforce management software company Humanforce has acquired the Australian arm of fintech Wagestream – formerly Earnd – for an undisclosed sum. Its the second local startup acquisition in six months by Humanforce, which is now backed by Californian private firm, which snapped up Airtree-backed competitor Ento in September last year. Accel-KKR spent… Read more »
Brisbane workplace learning platform Go1 has acquired five-year-old rival British content curation startup Anders Pink. The deal went through late last year for an undisclosed sum amid as part of Go1’s push into the European market after also acquiring Swiss-French edtech Coorpacademy, which delivers French and German language content. It was a busy year for… Read more »
ASX-listed shipping platform WiseTech Global has acquired yet another tech company, snapping up the US logistics management software startup Envase for US$230 million (A$327m). Founded in 2020, Envase Technologies supplies transport management system software for intermodal trucking and landside logistics in North America. The acquisition deal is with private investment firm Firmament, and several other… Read more »
Northern NSW subscription butcher service Our Cow has snapped up the brand and other assets of failed Sydney grocery delivery startup Voly. The deal was finalised before Christmas, ahead of a second Voly creditors meeting on December 23. Our Cow bought the database, app and brand, hoping to grab a bigger slice of capital city… Read more »
Richard White, the Sydney-based billionaire founder of ASX-listed freight logistics business WiseTech Global, has acquired recently delisted data services company Kyckr. The deal is worth around $43.5 million, and was made throughWhite’s personal investment vehicle RealWise KYK AV Pty Ltd. Kyckr provides real-time Know Your Customer (KYC/KYB) and and Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) data from… Read more »
Monogramed luxury fashion startup The Daily Edited (tde.) has new owners, with the owners of budget fashion brand Colette by Colette Hayman (CBCH), acquiring the brand from administrators KordaMentha. Parent business BJM is owned and chaired by former Myer boss Bernie Brookes. The sale price was not disclosed. Founded in 2014 by Perth-based former corporate… Read more »
ASX-listed online retailer Kogan.com has swooped on another distressed asset, acquiring failed furniture brand Brosa a week after it was placed in voluntary administration. Administrators KordaMentha reached a deal with Kogan.com (ASX:KGN) to buy Brosa’s assets for $1.5 million after more than 30 parties expressed interest in the 48 hours after the business was placed… Read more »
The deal to merge share trading platform Superhero and crypto exchange Swyftx, which was supposed to create a fintech unicorn, is over. Superhero founders John Winters and Wayne Baskin are resuming control of their business as Swyftx grapples with the fallout from the collapse of US crypto exchange FTX and concerns of money laundering by… Read more »
Global live entertainment and ticketing giant TEG has taken a majority stake in three-year-old Sydney startup FAN+. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. FAN+ was founded by former Sydney Kings CEO Rod Hary in 2019, getting its initial momentum as part of the Qantas AVRO accelerator, and the following year, the sports-focused HYPE… Read more »
In an early sign that merger and acquisition activity is about to ramp up in the startup sector in order for companies to survive, Sydney-headquartered courier delivery service Drive Yello has merged with the cafe payments platform Hey You. The merged entity is known as 4You Innovation, and hopes to hit up the market for… Read more »
The Canva brand is now worth more than Woolies, Telstra and Bunnings
VC-backed crowdfunding platform Stride Equity is offering a new funding model for startups
Female-founded fermentation startup Cauldron lands $10.5 million to transform how new foods and fibres are developed
Antler Investor Memo Series: Adtech startup MADU monetises visual content in a post-cookies publishing
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