Business

Quarry mentality: Robyn Denholm’s R&D review releases discussion paper as minister Ed Husic claims Australia is shipping its innovation ideas overseas ‘for free’

- February 13, 2025 3 MIN READ

Australia is “virtually giving [its] world-class science away for free” according to the nation’s industry and science minister, as a panel of experts reviews the country’s struggling Research and Development (R&D) system. The independent review by four industry experts, announced in December and led by Australian-born Tesla chair Robyn Denholm, released a discussion paper on Wednesday as… Read more »

Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz
Business

You got a fast car and I want a Jira ticket to the F1: Atlassian becomes Williams Racing name sponsor

- February 12, 2025 2 MIN READ

Atlassian will join the likes of Red Bull and biotech company BWT as team sponsor in Formula 1 in a long-term deal with British team Williams Racing. Atlassian Williams Racing will debut in Australia in mid-March with the first race of the 24 round 2025 season. Under the partnership, Atlassian is title partner, technology partner… Read more »

Business

Westpac invests $10 million in Lawpath to offer customers legal services

- February 5, 2025 2 MIN READ

Westpac hit the EFT button on $10 million for the online legal services scaleup Lawpath, and plans to entice business customers by offering them subscriptions to the legal compliance platform. The bank’s acting business and wealth boss Peter Herbert, said the exclusive partnership will give startups and small-to-medium sized businesses access to affordable legal services,… Read more »

Melissa Widner
Business

Lender Lighter Capital has another $30 million for startups thanks to the Victorian government

- February 4, 2025 2 MIN READ

Venture capital alternative Lighter Capital has extended another $30 million fund offering non-dilutive funding to startups, with the Victorian government and iPartners,  The 15-year-old revenue-based financier, originally from New York, launched in Australia in 2021, and was subsequently backed by Invest Victoria, the state government’s investment attraction agency, and iPartners, with an initial $30 million fund.… Read more »

Breaking Bad, money pile
Business

Techboard’s 2024 Australian startup funding review reveals NSW startup investment is plummeting

- February 3, 2025 3 MIN READ

Australian investors poured $4.106 billion into 477 private investments last year according to data analysed in Techboard’s Australian Startup Funding in Review – 2024.  Techboard cofounder and CEO Peter van Bruchem said he focused on  additional ASIC-sourced data last year, after publishing The Fintech Funding Project 2023 Report: Shedding Light on Investment into Australian Fintechs,… Read more »

Mike Cannon-Brookes
Business

Atlassian had a kick-arse quarter and is now generating more than $8 billion in annual revenue

- January 31, 2025 2 MIN READ

Atlassian ‘s share price is up more than 26% in the first month of 2025, with the software company’s December quarter results thrilling investors as subscription revenue beat forecasts, growing by 30% in 12 months. Cofounder and CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes has effectively seen his personal wealth double in just six months as the tech stock’s… Read more »

small business, payment
Business

In-store ads streaming martech lands $40 million Series B

- January 31, 2025 2 MIN READ

An expat Australian scaleup using in-store advertising to bolster retail sales has raised US$25 million ($40m) in a Series B. The raise for 13-year-old Melbourne-founded, Dallas-based Qsic was led by UK investment firm Hedosophia. The platform, cofounded began as a music streaming service in pubs and clubs in 2012, and is now responsible for the… Read more »

Dr Kate Cornick
Business

LaunchVic is offering a $300,000 sweetener to VCs keen to set up shop in the state to back local startups

- January 30, 2025 2 MIN READ

Victorian startup agency LaunchVic is offering grants of up to $300,000 to venture capital funds and angel groups to set up in Victoria and back local startups. To qualify, they’re either just kicking off or “new to Victoria”, which means interstate VCs looking to put boots on the ground in the southeast can apply for… Read more »

Black Swan, Perth
AI/Machine Learning

DeepSeek appears to have rewritten the rules on AI’s cost, making US investors rethink their support for US tech

- January 28, 2025 3 MIN READ

Almost A$1 trillion (US$600 billion) was wiped off the value of artificial intelligence microchip maker Nvidia overnight on Monday, when a little-known Chinese startup, DeepSeek, threatened to upend the US tech market. While Nvidia suffered the biggest one-day loss in sharemarket history, other tech giants – Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon, who are investing heavily in… Read more »

George Kenley, Dean Freestone, Mark Cook
Business

Administrators for epilepsy diagnostic medtech Seer Medical seek a buyer, with US expansion still on the cards

- January 28, 2025 2 MIN READ

Voluntary administration has not dampened the ambitions of medical device startup Seer Medical, which is seeking a buyer as it prepares to release the next generation of its epilepsy home monitoring and detection device in the United States. Administrator Lindsay Bainbridge of Pitcher Partners Melbourne said non-binding offers are being sought for Seer Medical for… Read more »

Submarine data cable, fibreoptic
AI/Machine Learning

Telstra is tripling its undersea cable networks because of AI demand

- January 24, 2025 3 MIN READ

Surging demand for artificial intelligence (AI) has driven Telstra to upgrade its international networks, with a planned network using AI and digital twins to manage itself as the carrier chases new revenues in a stagnant telco market – and bolsters security in uncertain times. The company’s business-focused Telstra International division outlined its plans for next-generation… Read more »