Climate, health and people-related startups are getting an increasing slice of early-stage Australian investment according to new analysis of where venture capital is being deployed. The report, Impact Startups Benchmark Report 2025. draws on data from Melbourne impact investor Giant Leap, and more than 2,800 startup deals over the past three years. While total startup… Read more »
“Is my idea VC-backable?” You probably heard this and rolled your eyes thinking “What does that mean?” So let me break down exactly what it takes to be VC-backable and explain what VCs are looking for, portfolio construction and the steps to check if it’s a fit for your company. DISCLAIMER: Not every business is… Read more »
A Cloud Guru’s Sam Kroonenburg has teamed up with Go1’s Andrew Barnes and more than a dozen other founders of tech companies that achieved a $1 billion valuation to back a new $50 million venture capital fund to invest in the next wave of potential unicorns. Glitch Capital also involves two OGs of local tech,… Read more »
James Alexander from Galileo Ventures proposes a ‘Tall Poppy’ national strategy for an AI revolution in Australia. We are witnessing the dawn of a new computing revolution 66 years after the invention of the silicon chip. This time it’s an intelligence revolution that goes beyond hardware. For the first time, we can talk to computers… Read more »
New Zealand’s deep technology incubator and venture firm, Outset Ventures, has secured NZ$41.5m (A$38.4m) close of Fund II. The final commitments from more than 150 investors are more than a third above the initial NZ$30m target. The Auckland-based firm’s alumni include Rocket Lab, LanzaTech and Mint Innovation. Outset’s Future House currently hosts more than 20 deep tech… Read more »
As I sat at the second ever Systemic Investing Summit in London in March, among 180 hand-picked global wealth holders and controllers, philanthropists, academics and industry practitioners, one disturbing image kept coming to mind. While we discussed innovative financing models and systemic approaches to capital deployment that could save humanity from collapse, I couldn’t shake… Read more »
The following section is an excerpt from The Fundraising Blueprint by Abhishek Maran, focused on crafting your narrative and structuring your pitch deck. Fundraising is an emotional process, especially at the early stage. You need investors to feel a certain level of affinity towards you and your startup to stand a chance. Some people are natural… Read more »
So you’ve e-signed the docs, transferred the funds (nobody writes an actual cheque these days when they say “I’ve written a cheque”). You’ve joined the cap table. You’ve posted the obligatory celebratory LinkedIn update. Congratulations — you’re officially An Angel Investor™. But now what? If you’re a new angel investor, the post-investment phase can feel…… Read more »
Student-founded and focused NextGen Ventures has secured $1.5 million in commitments as it looks to raise $2.5 million VC fund, with Blackbird founding partners Niki Scevak and Rick Baker among those chipping in. The fund is the brainchild of Monash University alumni Mitchell Hughes, 23, and former University of Melbourne biomedicine student Jerry X’Lingson, 22,… Read more »
Qantas and European plane manufacturer Airbus have jointly committed to invest AUD$15 million into local VC Climate Tech Partners (CTP), in the hope it will accelerate the development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and other aviation decarbonisation solutions. Qantas is using the Airbus A350-1000 for its “Project Sunrise”, with plans to launch non-stop flights to… Read more »
A UK investor with close ties to one of the defendants in legal action against besieged medtech startup StrongRoom AI has come out swinging against Sydney VC EVP, which is fighting to get its $10.4 million investment back. Aaron Michelin, a director of Tyson & Blake – named after founder Chris Tornblom’s dogs – has… Read more »
EVP has lodged legal action in the Federal Court of Australia in a bid to recoup the $10.44 million it invested in Melbourne startup StrongRoom AI. The Sydney venture capital firm headed to court in Brisbane on Monday afternoon to seek an urgent order freezing assets worth up to $10,440,969 million against 13 defendants, including… Read more »
The Australian startup ecosystem has all the ingredients for success: hardworking founders, world-class talent, and abundant capital. We have enormous amounts of potential, so how do we make sure we realise it? Most people think we are held back by our inherent tall-poppy syndrome. I think this has historically been true, but this is certainly… Read more »
UNSW chancellor David Gonski and Simon Sheikh’s impact investment fintech Future Super are among the investors in a new US$100 million fund to back artificial intelligence (AI) startups. King River Capital said it’s nearing the final close of its latest A$157 million fund, which continues its ongoing strategic focus on AI-driven software startups both here… Read more »
The Victorian government’s $2 billion investment fund, Breakthrough Victoria has appointed Rod Bristow as its new chief executive officer. Bristow previously spent four years as CEO of early stage and climate-tech VC Investible, building out its Asian presence, and as well as raising a $32 million climate tech fund a $51.6m 2nd early-stage fund, and a new… Read more »
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Why the next wave of unicorns will be female-founded consumer brands rather than tech 
Leigh Jasper leads a new $50 million fund backed by Australian unicorn founders 
AI-powered healthcare transcription platform prescribed $12 million 
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