This Month
Sidelined by VCs, women are taking their start-up ideas to the public
The three biggest raises of 2024 on Birchal, the country’s dominant equity crowdfunding platform, are businesses run by women. And largely backed by women.
- Yolanda Redrup
Musk raises $9b for ‘anti-woke’ AI company
xAI’s funding round signals the battle with OpenAI and Anthropic is intensifying.
- Paul Smith
November
Alium in deployment mode as its innovation fund draws capital
Alium was founded in 2016 and has also backed the likes of Nitro Software, now owned by Potentia Capital and online shopping rewards platform Cashrewards.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Start-up stars: what’s happened to tech’s Class of 2021
VC firms that wrote huge cheques on very generous valuations in 2021 are now nervously watching Australia’s most heavily backed start-ups. How are they going now?
- Tess Bennett
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
Hostplus’ $125m VC bet signals super’s resurgent interest in start-ups
Higher financing costs have made it a difficult period for new tech firms. But the last month has seen a resurgence in interest from retirement funds.
- Paul Smith
This VC for elite athletes is launching its first fund
Street Talk understands Athletic Ventures has already received commitments exceeding $20 million from more than 50 athletes including Matildas star Sam Kerr.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
- Opinion
- Interest rates
Tech companies must stop waiting for interest rate relief
Start-ups crave low borrowing costs because it makes investors more likely to back them, but they must adapt now that rates could remain high.
- Ben Buckingham
Death tech a safe bet as investors see value in digitising last requests
The inevitability of the end of life, and the administrative burdens that come with it, convinced high-profile investors to back a $17 million funding round.
- Paul Smith
Dovetail employee sues start-up and founder over personal relationship
The survey analytics software company, which sealed its status as a unicorn with a $1 billion valuation in late 2021, is backed by large funds such as Blackbird.
- Amelia McGuire
Aussie VC Artesian, horticulture R&D group partner to launch $60m fund
The new fund, dubbed Hort Innovation Venture Fund, will target up to 30 local and international startups for pre-seed or early series A funding.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Airtree raises $650m for new start-up investment funds
The money for the high-profile venture capital firm’s two new vehicles came from institutional investors in the US and from three Australian super funds.
- Paul Smith
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
New $1b VC fund will back Aussie start-ups with Chinese money
A Melbourne-based fund manager for Chinese money is set to close the first part of a targeted $1 billion to back Australian start-ups that could expand into China.
- Jessica Sier
‘We gave it everything’: AI start-up calls it quits after raising $60m
Administrators are looking for buyers of the assets of fallen retail company Hivery, which had raised over $60 million from leading VC firms.
- Paul Smith
Airtree partner says ‘problematic’ founders can still be accommodated
Craig Blair, an influential venture capitalist, says visionary founders are often “deeply flawed” but should be supported as they create great businesses.
- Yolanda Redrup
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
Woolworths, Westpac funds back controversial $500m anti-crime start-up
Auror’s use of AI technology to help retailers track criminals led to an Information Commissioner investigation, but investors aren’t worried.
- Paul Smith
Australian AI start-up founder accused of faking financials in US
Baba Nadimpalli has been accused of providing fake bank statements and falsifying revenue numbers to investors by the US corporate regulator.
- Max Mason
Music industry brass throw weight behind talent booking platform
An online platform that fashions itself as the future marketplace and booking platform for top Aussie talent is rounding the final week of its $2 million raise.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
NZ firm turns $1b unicorn helping kids get into elite unis
The 11-year-old Crimson Education has cracked the billion-dollar valuation after a small fundraising round led by New Zealand venture capitalists.
- Paul Smith
An app diagnosing cancers? Helfie thinks it could be worth billions
The start-up says it is using AI to screen for a dozen ailments as it tries to raise some $150 million. If successful, it will be Australia’s latest unicorn.
- Paul Smith
Crowdfunding platform Equitise calls in administrators
Equitise, which helps companies raise capital without hiring expensive investment bankers, fails to secure fresh funding needed to keep its operations afloat.
- Paul Smith
