Victorian startup agency LaunchVic has added four new directors to its board as it gears up for 2025 with a revised focus. They are: Charlie Day: CEO of Monash University spinout Jupiter Ionics and former CEO of Innovation & Science Australia . Chaman Sidhu: Former Chief Legal and Company Secretary roles at Xero, Envato, and… Read more »
Schools-focused digital skills e-learning platform in Grok Academy has survived a near-death experience following allegations of inappropriate behaviour by its founder and former CEO, is rebuilding under the ownership and management of Adelaide’s KIK Innovation. KIK, which delivers the tuition-free coding school 42 Adelaide, stuck a deal to acquire Grok Academy last month. It came… Read more »
As a developer at DataStax, I often find myself trying to explain what I do for a living. For people working in tech and using AI tools or coding copilots, telling them I work with generative AI is often well understood. Sitting around the table at Christmas lunch with the family can be a different… Read more »
The Victorian government’s controversial $2 billion venture fund has been embroiled in an unfair dismissal case launched by the cofounder of one of its portfolio companies. Seer Medical founder Dr Dean Freestone launched Federal Court action against the company he helped launch and Breakthrough Victoria earlier this year, alleging he was forced out of the… Read more »
Startup builder Beanstalk Ventures recently harvested the first crop of agtech startups from its latest program, the Drought Venture Studio, a 12-week program backed by the federal government’s Future Drought Fund. Eight startups and their leaders were selected for the recent Innovation Showcase, whittled down from 24 chosen for the inaugural program from among 200… Read more »
The National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC) has gone into Christmas shopping mode, investing nearly $50 million in two days in two tech companies, today announcing $22.5 million for 12-year-old sovereign cloud data security company Vault Cloud. The equity investment comes just 24 hours after leading a $50 million raise for Adelaide IoT and satellite maker… Read more »
Twelve-year-old Melbourne EV charging business Jet Charge has raised $72 million after a year-long funding hunt, securing Mirova, an affiliate of global asset manager Natixis, as its lead investor. Existing backers the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), RACV (the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria) and Kilara Capital also hit the EFT button once again. Mirova’s… Read more »
As an active contributor to Australia’s innovation ecosystem for the last 15 years, and a native Sydney-sider, I’m stunned by last week’s news that the Sydney Startup Hub will be kicked out of its wonderful Wynyard location in October 2025. The reason? It’s younger sibling – Tech Central – is struggling and needs propping up. … Read more »
The federal government’s $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund has made its third investment, tipping $25 million to lead a $50 million raise by Internet of Things (IoT) satellite builder Myriota. It’s the first raise in four years by the Adelaide space tech startup since former PMÂ Malcolm Turnbull was among the backers of a $28 million… Read more »
This time last year, Chaz and I were in the closing stages of our $7m Seed round. From the outside, raising capital may seem… exciting and sexy? That’s the Instagram version, you know it well. The reality is it’s an all-consuming and exhausting grind with zero margin for failure and the potential of changing an… Read more »
A new guide for technology workers in Australia aims to encourage industry employees to become whistleblowers when they witness wrongdoing by organisations and digital platforms. The Technology-Related Whistleblowing guide, released this week by advocates from the Human Rights Law Centre, Reset Tech Australia, Psst, and Digital Rights Watch summarises existing laws and protections for raising concerns… Read more »
A consortium of 21 startups, space and manufacturing companies, mining giant BHP and several universities will collaborate in a project to put an Australian-made rover on the Moon. The ELO2 Consortium, co-led by EPE Oceania and Lunar Outpost Oceania, is part of NASA’s Artemis Moon exploration program. The group has been charged with a $42… Read more »
Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has struck a $50 million deal with the Australian Information Commissioner to settle a Federal Court case over privacy breach involving the Cambridge Analytica political scandal. While it’s the second largest settlement struck by Meta over the matter, its a fraction of the US$725 million (A$1.14bn) the tech giant paid to… Read more »
Sydney marketing technology startup Upflowy is about to release an AI-enabled marketing copilot, called ‘Psyke’, to help agencies, marketing teams, and companies create content that’s on-brand in hours, not weeks. Cofounder and CEO Guillaume Ang said Upflowy’s focus is delivering trust in AI at scale. “We help companies do the marketing functions that take up a… Read more »
The federal government will develop an artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities plan for Australia to figure out what support is needed and how it can be used to bolster the economy. Industry and science minister Ed Husic announced on Monday that his department will consult with industry to develop a National AI Capability Plan. The final… Read more »
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