An AI-based chatbot startup that allows real estate agents to communicate with customers 24/7 has raised $6 million in a series A. Propic, which has two proptech solutions for agents and property managers to respond and communicate via automated conversational or text AI, was backed by former Domain boss Antony “The Cat” Catalano and billionaire… Read more »
Real estate marketplace ListingLoop.com.au, which specialises in pre-market and off-market property sales, has closed a $3 million round to accelerate its already stellar growth. The pre-series A raise was co-led by Michael Locaso from investment and advisory firm LP7, who has since become the company’s Chief Operating Officer and property entrepreneur Michelle Catelan from RP… Read more »
Australia needs to continue to expand its innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem to strengthen our economy, grow our industries and to produce new jobs. Government has focussed on research endeavours and need to commercialise academic IP. This presents one path to delivering innovation, but not the only way that universities are supporting Australia’s entrepreneurial eco-system and… Read more »
The Proptech Association Australia announced the winners of the inaugural Proptech Awards this week at a Sydney ceremony before 150 people. Others tuned into the livestream via satellite events in Brisbane and Perth (regrettably Melbourne’s event was cancelled due to the covid lockdown), as the winners of 15 category trophies, three Best of the Best… Read more »
In 2007 Malcolm Turnbull turned off an industry’s life support without blinking. The industry made light bulbs, of the traditional kind; so energy-inefficient they lost most of it as heat. “A normal light bulb is too hot to hold — that heat is wasted, and globally represents millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide that needn’t… Read more »
UPDATE: Watch Dr Cathy Foley’s’ How Science is Transforming Our World online panel here. Physicist Dr Cathy Foley became Australia’s Chief Scientist in 2021. Her distinguished 35-year career in science with the CSIRO has been focused on exploring magnetics and superconductors. Her experience spans pure research to commercialisation and revolutionised the way mining companies detect… Read more »
The Commonwealth Bank has made a second major investment in a digital startup, investing $20 million in a series B round for electricity retailer Amber. The deal follows a $30 million investment by CBA for a 23% stake in e-commerce retail platform Little Birdie. The Amber investment gives CBA a 25% stake in the business.… Read more »
This week the innovators in Australia’s property industry will be celebrating their hard-earned achievements. On Thursday, May 27, the Proptech Association Australia will host the inaugural Proptech Awards, Australia’s first nationally co-ordinated awards for the growing property technology sector. In Sydney, there will be a gala dinner in the Ballroom at Ashurst, the event’s major… Read more »
Melbourne proptech startup Rental Heroes has raised $1 million in seed funding for its AI-based tenant request SaaS platform. Seed investment group Investible led the round, with existing investor, Artesian, once again backing the two-year-old startup alongside US-based Hustle Fund and Morten Birk Belling, managing director of Menulog ANZ. Rental Heroes is pioneering the use… Read more »
From personalising stem-celled derived therapies to revolutionising drug discovery and cyber security, Sydney is stepping into the global spotlight with transformative technologies that will reshape our world. This June, you’re invited to meet the entrepreneurs and startups behind these boundary-pushing ideas. Transformative technologies refers to new tech innovations that solve scientific problems in our daily… Read more »
In the second of a three-part series, I explore key areas for innovation in 2021 Digital health came of age in 2020. There really is nothing quite like a global pandemic to drive innovation and modernise Australian healthcare infrastructure. And with growing levels of comfort and an increase in the number of health tech businesses… Read more »
Internet of Things devices will soon be used to power and better manage cities’ transportation, power grids and security, with the rise of smart cities to drive unprecedented demand in connected devices. According to a new report by Frost & Sullivan on the growth of the IoT market, spending on smart cities around the world… Read more »
A New Zealand agritech startup fitting cows with GPS-enabled solar collars to “guide” cows around pastures using sound and vibrations, creating virtual fences via an app, has raised A$29 million in a series B round. Halter says it is bridging the gap between human and animal understanding to transform farming. The series B round was… Read more »
Melbourne-based ESN Cleer says it’s now just months away from delivering a major medical breakthrough – the world’s first early risk detection screening test for heart disease – after raising $650,000 via crowd-funding site VentureCrowd. The raise was topped up by another $50,000 direct investment. The medtech startup has developed a simple saliva test that… Read more »
Agriculture and food tech accelerator SparkLabs Cultiv8 has selected 10 new startups for its 4th cohort. The global Sparklabs Group invests in early-stage companies and each startup will receive up to A$100,000 in seed funding. This year’s group includes a CSIRO project using seaweed in livestock feed to reduce their methane production, a consumer app… Read more »
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Smart hotels get even smarter: 72 Byte to launch in Australia with AI expert backing 
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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