An AI-based Sydney software startup that checks sewer pipes for preemptive maintenance has raised $5 million in a Series A to ramp up its push into the US market. VAPAR, cofounded in 2018 by engineers Amanda Siqueira and Michelle Aguilar, was backed Dutch water technology specialist VC PureTerra Ventures, supported by US engineering and construction… Read more »
Last year Blackbird Ventures made a massive bet on a New Zealand rental accommodation app, just six months after it had turned down a $200,000 pitch for cash. In August 2023, Blackbird instead tipped $7 million into a A$9.5 million Seed round for Kiki. The startup’s cofounder Toby Thomas-Smith, said Blackbird’s New Zealand partner, Samantha… Read more »
Bootstrapped brand collaborations startup Collabosaurus has been acquired by marketing guru Lauren Swidenbank. The terms of the M&A deal were not disclosed. Swidenbank is CEO and founder of Cali Social, a performance marketing agency specialising in female-first brands. She said the acquisition as a strategic move to expand into tech and leverage Collabosaurus’s unique position… Read more »
For two years we have seen both a criminal and a civil court case, play out to its sad completion, the result of a workplace safety issue, which led, allegedly to rape. Despite the vulgarity of the trials, which are the bluntest of instruments for remedy, through these trials, we have had the very rare… Read more »
Online wholesale marketplace Andisor has raised a $1M pre-Seed funding round. The raise was backed by Antler, LaunchVic’s female founder-focused Alice Anderson fund, Jam Pad Investments, and several prominent retail operators and leaders. Andisor emerged out of the Antler program in 2021, with founder and CEO Vandana Chaudhry, building a platform to connect enterprise-level buyers… Read more »
In the fast-paced world of tech, conversations around menopause may seem out of place. However, with women making up half the population and retiring on average seven years earlier than men (largely due to the effects of menopause on their health), this is not just a problem for individuals, but for business and the whole… Read more »
Founder Edwina Sharrock says the decision to exit from her 8-year-old edtech startup Birth Beat is like selling a child. The childbirth education platform has been acquired by Device Technologies for an undisclosed sum. Birth Beat offers comprehensive, interactive digital childbirth education, as well as baby and child first aid courses, that have helped more… Read more »
Financial industry professional development platform Nuggets Academy has raised $700,000 in a round led by Antler Australia. The edtech, which deals with the mandatory Continuing Professional Development (CPD) training people are required to undertake annually, emerged out of the Antler program last year with its initial pre-seed funding from the accelerator and VC. Also backing… Read more »
The last decade in corporate Australia has seen a much greater acknowledgement of toxic workplace practices and their impact. In the startup sector in particular, over recent weeks we have seen many women come forward to share their experiences of gender discrimination, sexism, harassment and abuse, a subset of toxic behaviour. I am in the… Read more »
A new digital jobs networking app targeting Gen Z, migrants and older job hunters is hoping to boost employment for blue- and grey-collared workers. ApplyKart is the brainchild of Melbourne-based entrepreneur Bharati Babbar. She set out to match job seekers with new employers within 48 hours, through an end-to-end hiring system. “Younger and older people,… Read more »
Entries for the One Roof Startup Women of the Year Awards will close this Sunday, November 12, at midnight. The awards, organised by One Roof, Sheree Rubinstein’s platform for entrepreneurial women, will honour the best and brightest across Australia, with the winner announced in Sydney on November 23. “This competition is our game-changer to the… Read more »
CSIRO venture capital fund Main Sequence Ventures has bolstered its leadership team with Cochlear chair Alison Deans signing on as a venture partner. Deans, who is also on the boards of Ramsay Health Care, staffing management scaleup Deputy and ASX-listed envirotech scaleup Calix (ASX: CXL), and is a former Westpac and IAG director, previously ran… Read more »
Venture capital investor Elaine Stead is among several women in the startup sector subjected to “a barrage of abusive, sexually harassing and vile comments” on LinkedIn by the founder of charitable startup GiveTree, with the company involved issuing an apology. Sam Joel, founder of the cryptocurrency and NFT-focused GiveTree subsequently had his comments, made on… Read more »
Cicada Innovations has appointed Dr Katherine Woodthorpe as its new chair, the first woman to lead the board in the 23-year history of the Sydney-based deep tech incubator. The non-executive director (NED) replaces Andrew Rothery after nearly eight years in the role. Dr Woodthorpe has more than three decades of experience in commercialising technologies across a broad… Read more »
Sydney startup Scriibed, which offers safe, secure, and flexible digital economy work to women rebuilding their lives following domestic violence, has received backing from the NSW government to help them get into tech. The Paul Ramsay Foundation also co-investing to Scriibed’s not-for-profit arm, Banksia Academy, with $250,000 as part of a payment-by-outcomes contract. The government… Read more »
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Tassie carbon accounting startup banks $5.3 million Seed round 
Eucalyptus head of growth Matt Rossi departs to launch his own marketing startup, Oodle 
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