Neobank Xinja is once again cutting the interest rate on its Stash account from Wednesday, as well as slashing the amount of money you can earn interest on by $95,000. It’s the fourth interest rate cut in the nine months since Stash was launched in a blaze of publicity as “Australia’s best savings account”, paying… Read more »
Welcome to our new, regular column, The Pitch Doctor, with Cheryl Mack, Head of Community at Stone & Chalk. When Mack appeared on the Startup Daily show recently on ausbiz, we asked her to name the best pitch deck she’d seen. She only half-jokingly replied “Fyre Festival”. You can read what she had to say about… Read more »
Let’s face it, for most of us, raising money, even in the best of times, isn’t easy. Over the past 13 years I’ve raised over $1 billion dollars, in the UK, Europe, North America and Asia, and pretty much none of it was simple. It might be more challenging now than it was a few… Read more »
FY20 startup funding nearly $7 billion Private investment almost doubled to $4.48bn Blackbird led Australian VC investors with 14 deals worth $490m More than 700 Australian startups have received nearly 900 rounds of funding from around 400 investors during the 2020 financial year according to the latest annual funding report by data analysis company Techboard.… Read more »
The Research and Development Tax Incentive (R&DTI) program is one of the most crucial yet fraught programs supporting the growth of Australian startups. The R&DTI helps offset some of the costs that businesses invest into eligible R&D and the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources is looking at reforms to improve how companies engage… Read more »
Presentation platform SalesPreso has raised $5 million, and has also rebranded as LivePreso as it ramps up its offering for business. Shearwater Growth Ventures, the $50 million Sydney VC fund co-founded by former WiseTech directors Charles Gibbon and Mike Gregg, with managing partner Zac Zavos, led the round. Melbourne investor and MedAdvisor chair Chris Ridd… Read more »
Airwallex has topped up its US$160 million (AU$254m) series D raise from April with an extra US$40 million ($57m) with Skip Capital, the family investment fund run by Kim Jackson with her husband, Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar. Regular backer Square Peg Capital also returned for the latest cash injection, which continues to value the… Read more »
Sydney-based non-alcoholic spirits company, Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Spirit Co. has $16 million in seed round funding 18 months after launching as the startup’s growth continues to grow exponentially worldwide. The backers include VRD Investment, Doehler Ventures, DLF Venture and Maropost Ventures, with family funds in Europe, America and Australia tipping in. Lyre’s CEO and co-founder Mark… Read more »
Steve Baxter’s investment syndicate TEN13 and LA-based angel investor Kate Vale, Google Australia’s first employee, are part of a US$1.3 million (AU$1.8m) seed round for audio platform Vurbl, which hopes to become the YouTube of audio. The startup, which is in beta and will launch before the end of the year also attracted support from LA… Read more »
Atlassian says it will invest US$50 million in early-stage startups, but the funds come with a catch – the ventures must all be working on projects that help build out the US-listed tech giant (Nasdaq: TEAM). The company’s US-based head of corporate development, Chris Height, said in a blog post on the company site that… Read more »
Swedish buy now pay later (BNPL) fintech Klarna is now Europe’s most valuable fintech – the 4th most valuable globally – following a US$650 million equity raise that values the business at US$10.65 billion (AU$14.54bn). The latest valuation nearly doubles the US$5.5 billion valuation following a US$460 million raise in August 2019. The round was… Read more »
Impact Investment Group (IIG) is on the hunt for $70 million from wholesale investors for a new fund targeting sustainable and socially conscious startup investments. IIG CEO and co-fund manager Daniel Madhavan said the Impact Alternatives Fund will be a mix of investments, including renewable energy infrastructure such as solar farms, impact private equity, venture… Read more »
Elevate NZ Venture Fund – the government’s new venture capital fund run by New Zealand Growth Capital Partners (NZGCP) – is investing NZ$21.5 million into the Blackbird Ventures’ New Zealand fund. Blackbird, led by partner Samantha Wong, opened shop in New Zealand 12 months ago, and its local fund will focus on startups seeking Series… Read more »
Remote work in the era of Microsoft Teams and Zoom meetings has been a boom for business software companies and a Brisbane remote learning startup is riding the wave with the backing of some of the world’s biggest companies. GO1 has raised $61 million (US$40m) in Series C in around led by SEEK and US… Read more »
Dinner party marketplace Gathar launches Microwd crowdfunding campaign
Antler Investor Memo Series: Social money app Chippit makes saving easier with family & friends
Till Payments founder Shadi Haddad steps down as CEO
Female-founded edtech startup Pivot banks $1.4 million to support student and teacher wellbeing
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