Rayn Ong is the Taylor Swift of Australian venture capital. The Archangel Ventures partner has made more than 100 investments. A Startmate mentor, Blackbird limited partner and poker shark, Ong works with angel investors and venture fund mangers to co-invest in 1st and 2nd rounds for early stage tech startups. His fans, known as Ongies,… Read more »
Investor Rayn Ong pointed out recently that “VCs (and angels) say no to 95% of the founders they meet with”. That’s ignoring the many more no responses over emails and even DMs (from some brave founders). As anyone in startup land will attest, the no comes in many forms. There is of course the quick,… Read more »
Investments in tech companies such as Fiverr, Vend, Property Guru and Canva have already returned $1.12 billion to Square Peg’s early backers, the VC has revealed as it gears to raise a sixth fund worth US$500m (A$840m). The exits across 14 portfolio companies have spanned mergers and acquisitions, secondary market share sales and public floats… Read more »
University students are increasingly turning to entrepreneurship, with student-founded startups raising more than $1.2 billion since 2012. And now that investment is set to escalate dramatically with the launch of Australia’s first student-run venture capital fund. NextGen Ventures, which launches this week, has taken a deep dive into the data around VC and student founders,… Read more »
Government-backed investment fund Breakthrough Victoria has defended itself against critics wanting it abolished saying it wants to “fundamentally reshape the innovation landscape”. The $2 billion VC fund, launched in 2021, and chaired by former Labor premier John Brumby, has been subject to a sustained media campaign for it to be dismantled, led by Adir Shiffman,… Read more »
Australia’s startup world glorifies venture capital as the holy grail—the insider’s ticket to fast scaling and billion-dollar valuations. FOMO sets in when headlines splash record-breaking funding rounds, fuelling a culture that views VC backing as the singular metric for success. As an ecosystem, we fixate on spinning the VC roulette wheel. Even founders who don’t… Read more »
2023 was a tough funding year across the market, so many founders are looking hopefully ahead to the promise of 2024. While I believe there is going to be some recovery this year for startups seeking funding, this will be gradual and geared towards the larger end of the market, as mergers and acquisitions and… Read more »
Bree Kirkham has joined Tracey Warren’s F5 Collective, a fund established to close the gender funding gap and support female founders, as chief commercial officer. Kirkham joins F5 Collective having most recently been a general partner at Flying Fox Ventures. She has more than eight years of experience in investments, operational leadership, and international expansion.… Read more »
Touch Ventures, the ASX-listed VC fund initially backed by BNPL fintech Afterpay, is breaking up with its CEO, Hein Vogel, after 4.5 years. In a statement to the market on Monday, the company said the board and CEO “have reached a consensus on his departure” with Vogel handing back his swipe card on March 29… Read more »
I’ve written about how, in general, I think the Aussie startup investment industry is doing pretty well following the release of the Cut Through Ventures 2023 State of Startup Funding report, despite all the volatility of recent years. I’ve also written about some of the more interesting revelations of the report which really highlighted how investors and… Read more »
A jobs marketplace targeting Generation Z with AI-based matching has raised $7 million in its Seed round. Sydney-based Hatch was cofounded by The Iconic cofounder Adam Jacobs and Zip cofounder Chaz Heitner in 2018. The raise was led by Rampersand, with support from Alberts Impact Ventures, Aura Ventures, Jelix Ventures, and Investible, as well as existing… Read more »
The Queensland government’s new venture capital development fund has backed five VCs: Antler, Five V Capital, Main Sequence, Mandalay Venture Partners and Salus Ventures, with a combined $130 million investment. Treasurer and Minister for Trade and Investment Cameron Dick said the deals will give Queensland startups access to up to $200 million in new matched… Read more »
Grok Ventures, the private investment fund of Atlassian cofounder Mike Cannon-Brookes, has named global asset management executive Tan Kueh as CEO, joining chief investment officer Jeremy Kwong-Law. Cannon-Brookes said that Grok is entering a new phase of growth, having refined its investment strategy to make a bigger impact on addressing the global climate challenge. “Having… Read more »
Venture capital funding in Australia plunged 53% in 2023 on the previous year, returning to the level seen at the startup of the Covid pandemic in 2020. The year saw 413 reported deals totalling $3.5 billion (down from $7.4B in 2022) according to the third annual The State of Australian Startup Funding Report by Cut… Read more »
I see hundreds of founders pitch each year across industries and idea spaces – Antler invests in around 25 businesses each year in Australia alone. These pitches include a lot of generative AI, SaaS and HR Tech innovations, but flipping it around – here are 10 opportunities I reckon are worth exploring in 2024. 1.… Read more »
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