Business

Researchers found an easy way to detect companies that perform poorly – the number of government grants they receive

- July 18, 2024 3 MIN READ

Australia hands out the best part of A$1 billion per year in grants to businesses. Many of these come with no strings attached, meaning there is no need to evaluate whether the grants boost employment, help the recipients become more efficient, or benefit the nation. To test what good these grants do, my team at… Read more »

Lighter Capital CEO Melissa Widner
Funding

Why subjectivity could be the issue when it comes to VCs backing female founders

- June 21, 2024 < 1 MIN READ

The media depicts a depressing state, but is this painting an accurate picture? The 60 funds we surveyed (please let us know if we missed yours) 1835i, Black Sheep Capital, Folklore Ventures, Macdoch Ventures, Shearwater Capital, Tenacious Ventures, Airtree, Brandon Capital, Galileo Ventures, Main Sequence, Side Stage Ventures, Giant Leap, Marbruck Investments, Significant Early Venture… Read more »

Funding

The Startmate Demo Day Asks: Here’s what the 10 startups are seeking, from investment to referrals

- May 9, 2024 6 MIN READ

Welcome to The Ask, our regular column  for founders looking for capital. It may be venture capital, crowdfunding or another path, but if you’re on the hunt for cash, we’re happy to share the news with Australia’s startup community. This is your chance to pitch directly to them. This week it’s we have a special… Read more »

Misha Schubert,
Funding

The science and tech sectors are waiting for the government to act on Australia’s research grant mess

- January 24, 2024 2 MIN READ

Australia’s science and technology sectors have urged Federal Parliament to pass the Australian Research Council Amendment Bill – and make a key amendment that requires the research funding agency to notify successful applicants within 21 days of grant approval. In its submission to the Senate Committee on Education and Employment reviewing the Bill, Science &… Read more »

Skedulo,Matt Fairhurst
Business strategy

How to land late-stage capital: Skedulo founder Matt Fairhurst reveals the strategy behind SoftBank’s $100 million Series C in the productivity startup

- May 4, 2022 5 MIN READ

In July last year, Brisbane-founded, US-based workplace productivity software startup Skedulo announced a A$100 million (US$75m) Series C from Japanese VC powerhouse SoftBank. In this special behind-the-scenes analysis, founder and CEO Matt Fairhurst and Skedulo chief of staff Nathan Merzvinskis reveal how they built the strategy behind the raise. You’ve made it — almost. Your… Read more »

Funding

An entrepreneur who raised $1 million in 24 hours to build a $100 million pub empire in just 7 years reveals 4 things you should never say to investors

- April 30, 2022 3 MIN READ

  In 2015, I found a cracker of a pub for sale.  The price tag?  Around $4 million. At that time, I didn’t have the funds to buy it myself, so I went to my network, pitched the concept, and all of them said, ‘Sure Steve, we’ll invest in that!’  Off the back of those… Read more »

money plant grow
Funding

An early stage VC investor explains everything you need to know about pre-seed and seed rounds

- February 2, 2022 8 MIN READ

We’ve now made 14 investments, and in almost all cases Galileo was the first VC investor in each startup’s pre-seed or seed round. We’ve backed some compelling early-stage companies and are on the hunt for more.  If you’re raising your first round, you should apply now. A common pattern I’m hearing in some early-stage founders… Read more »