crossing the bay of mont saint michel
Business strategy

A VC offers advice on 8 strategies for founders in challenging times

- May 16, 2023 3 MIN READ

I recently returned from Silicon Valley where I had insightful conversations with a diverse range of founders and investors. These discussions shed light on the challenges faced by technology startups in the current funding landscape. With venture capitalists (VCs) taking longer to respond and valuations subdued, it is crucial for founders to approach these obstacles… Read more »

Scale Investors co-CEOs Chelsea Newell and Samar Mcheileh
Venture Capital

Susan Oliver & Carol Schwartz hand over women-focused angel startup fund Scale Investors to the next generation

- May 12, 2023 2 MIN READ

There’s been a changing of the guard at Australia’s first angel investor network for women-led startups, Scale Investors, with the founding team selling the business to the current management team Scale was created a decade ago by Susan Oliver, Carol Schwartz, Annette Kimmitt and Laura McKenzie. Over that period the angel investors backed 47 women-led… Read more »

Dog, money, nurture
Funding

Techboard analysed the first quarter of 2023 VC funding and found more than $1 billion went into 111 deals

- April 21, 2023 3 MIN READ

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 »

Jessy Wu VC
Investing

AfterWork’s Jessy Wu has put together a really cool advice list on how to break into venture capital

- April 18, 2023 2 MIN READ

Jessy Wu, investment principal at AfterWork Ventures, is an unlikely venture capitalist. She happily admits it was “the furtherest thing from my mind” when she emerged with a ANU with a philosophy degree, also majoring in English literature. Next thing she knew, she was working at NAB Ventures. Within 18 months, Wu became part of… Read more »

MilkRun
Business

MilkRun’s failure: was this just a startup fantasy in a country like Australia?

- April 17, 2023 3 MIN READ

Sydney-based startup MilkRun made a big splash with its promise to deliver groceries within ten minutes, raising more than A$85 million from some of the biggest names in Australian venture capital, including Atlassian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes. MilkRun’s co-founder and chief executive Dany Milham had already found success with fast-delivering mattress company Koala. Less than a… Read more »

Square Peg James Tynan
People

Square Peg names James Tynan as partner

- April 17, 2023 2 MIN READ

Former Startmate boss James Tynan has been named a partner at Square Peg, three years after signing on at the VC. Tynan joined Square Peg in 2020 from the Startmate accelerator program, which also makes pre-seed investments in the startups involved. Since then he’s led investments for Square Peg in companies including culture meat venture… Read more »

Venture Capital

Giant Leaps: climate tech and female founders are top of the pops in Australian impact investing

- March 15, 2023 2 MIN READ

Women-led startups and others tackling climate and sustainability-related issues are emerging trends Australia’s impact startup ecosystem, a new report from VC Giant Leap reveals. A snippet above a quarter (26%) of the impact opportunities reviewed by Giant Leap come from women-led ventures, a touch above the 23% average in the broader ecosystem. Meanwhile, a majority… Read more »

Michelle Deaker
Women in tech

OneVentures, a pioneering VC with female leaders, says sorry for featuring blokes in an IWD post

- March 9, 2023 3 MIN READ

Every chance it gets, OneVentures touts its credentials as “Australia’s first female-founded VC firm” with cofounder Dr Michelle Deaker as its public face. She’s one of two female founders, alongside Anne-Marie Birkill and Paul Kelly. Last year the business added Sarah Meibusch to the leadership team as Partner. But the faces the Sydney VC chose… Read more »