Melbourne startup One Key Access has raised $1 million in a pre-Seed round as it looks to solve the problem of parcel theft for deliveries to apartments. The startup, co-founded by former Australia Post employees Chanel Costabir and Raymond Ngai, emerged out of the Antler program last year. Antler, which made the initial investment in… Read more »
US VC powerhouse Tiger Global has once again backed logistics technology platform Shippit in a $65 million (US$48m) in an extension of its Series B round dubbed B2 Tiger also led Shippit’s $30 million Series B in December 2020. Another existing backer, Tidal Ventures, co-led this round with new investors including Leigh Jasper’s secondary fund, SecondQuarter,… Read more »
Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes has wasted no time in becoming an activist shareholder after taking an 11.3% stake in energy giant AGL. The billionaire launched a campaign with the slogan “Keep it together” to oppose AGL’s plans for a demerger, creating two separate ASX-listed companies, just hours after news emerged that he’d become AGL’s largest… Read more »
The biggest obstacles charity organisations encounter can come from the donors, the ones funding the projects. Wait, what? Astoundingly, research has shown that funder created obstacles account for 46% of the challenges faced by charitable organisations. This figure sits considerably above other more apparent issues, with fraud and theft and violence and conflict accounting for… Read more »
Billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes has picked up his pen once again, looking to take a minority stake in ASX-listed AGL Energy through his family investment firm Grok Ventures. In an announcement via JP Morgan’s equities desk after the market closed on Monday, the broker said Grok Ventures and its affiliates are looking to acquire a combined… Read more »
Labor leader Anthony Albanese has pledged to double the government’s $250 million Future Fuels Fund to $500 million to boost electric vehicle uptake and infrastructure if it wins the federal election on May 21. The ALP’s ‘Driving the Nation’ policy also embraces hydrogen vehicles and infrastructure, and hopes to make EVs more affordable and easier to charge, as… Read more »
Byron Bay plastics reduction startup Zero Co has turned its attention to what’s under the kitchen sink to what’s in the bathroom vanity, launching the world’s first refillable and single-use plastic (SUP)-free shampoo, conditioner, lotion and other body products. Zero Co founder Mike Smith said the beauty industry is a significant contributor to Australia’s plastic… Read more »
Atlassian co-founders and co-CEOs Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar have told shareholders that the company “let our customers down” when an outage disrupted service for 775 subscribers earlier this month. The acknowledgement, which stopped short of an apology, kicked off the Q3 FY22 shareholders letter coinciding with the company’s quarterly results. The workplace software venture… Read more »
Telstra has pinned its ambitions in home entertainment on content aggregation service Fetch in a deal worth $50 million for a 51% stake. The deal values the 12-year-old venture at $100 million and will see the telco shift Telstra TV customers onto Fetch. Like Apple TV Fetch is a set top box, available in two… Read more »
Sydney social enterprise Good & Fugly has delivered a lifeline to farmers whose produce is being rejected by supermarket giants for failing to meet ‘beauty standards’. The brand has launched a produce ‘rescue’ hotline for farmers for the Good & Fugly team to purchase surplus fruits and vegetables. The 13-000-FUGLY hotline is a direct response to… Read more »
In a surprise capitulation, the board of Twitter has announced it will support a takeover bid by Elon Musk, the world’s richest person. But is it in the public interest? Musk is offering US$54.20 a share. This values the company at US$44 billion (or A$61 billion) – making it one of the largest leveraged buyouts… Read more »
Victoria’s startup agency LaunchVic, is partnering with the state’s health authority VicHealth to harness the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to tackle of the key health issues of young people with a new accelerator program. The VicHealth X LaunchVic CivVic Challenge is looking for aspiring founders and early stage startups keen to find solutions that… Read more »
Elon Musk’s US$44 billion offer to buy Twitter and turn the social media platform into a private company is almost a done deal. But not quite. While Twitter’s board has endorsed his offer, Musk now needs the nod from a majority of Twitter’s shareholders and US corporate regulators. Before we get on to the details… Read more »
Meal home delivery marketplace ChefPrep has raised $3 million in a Seed round. The raise was led by Artesian Ventures and Global Founders Capital. Additional backing came from Yellow Brick Road chairman Mark Bouris, Circular co-founder Yaniv Bernstein and Hungry House founder Graeme Horne. Founded in May last year by Elle Curran and Josh Abulafia,… Read more »
Melbourne unicorn Airwallex is reportedly looking to extend its Series E round for a second time, seeking another US$150 million (A$209m) as it contemplates a public listing. Bloomberg reports the seven-year-old cross-border payments fintech is talking with several investors to close the round within months, citing unnamed insider sources. It’s just seven months since Airwallex… Read more »
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