Yesterday
New legal AI tools target partners, dealmakers
Two new artificial intelligence tools have entered the increasingly crowded legal market, as in-house counsel push firms to pass on the cost savings being made though AI.
- Maxim Shanahan
This Month
Blackbird, New York fund back start-up to count supply chain emissions
The Funded blog is the home for news on the tech deals that are done in Australia, as soon as we hear about them.
- Updated
- Paul Smith
- Exclusive
- Start-ups
‘We’re not lemmings’: What happens when Blackbird drops a start-up
The fund is seen as the purest expression in Australia of the venture capital playbook of doubling down on best bets. What happens to the rest?
- Nick Bonyhady
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
Made in Australia ‘over-due’ as Sydney VC forms $US150m fund in Singapore
Sydney-based VC fund Investible has secured Indonesia’s biggest bank as an investor, its CEO says Australia has ground to make up on regional peers.
- Paul Smith
- Exclusive
- Investment banking
Macquarie shreds valuation of troubled Indian tech investment
The bank has marked down education platform Byju’s by 80 per cent after sustained investor pressure.
- Aaron Weinman
- Exclusive
- Start-ups
Start-up deals fall to six-year low as tech winter persists
Just 66 Australian companies raised funds from venture capital investors in the first quarter of this year, and total funding has dropped 45 per cent year-on-year.
- Tess Bennett
- Exclusive
- Canva
Blackbird nets $800m payday from Canva share sale
“I hate selling even one Canva share … but it’s time for some of our earlier funds to take some profits off the table.”
- Tess Bennett
- Exclusive
- Fintech
Sydney start-up Honey Insurance lands blockbuster $108m US investment
After 305 meetings Honey has closed a huge series A funding round, but it had to head offshore to find the right investors.
- Paul Smith
Aussie MMA start-up quietly lists in the US after $9.9m raise
Manly-based Alta Group, which runs a mixed-martial-arts training platform, has debuted on the New York Stock Exchange after raising $US6.5 million.
- Tess Bennett
March
Dirty laundry at AirTree staring everyone in the face
The public telling of the story of AirTree – one of Australia’s premier VC firms – keeps omitting the relationship between the co-founders.
- Updated
- Mark Di Stefano
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
Square Peg touts billion-dollar returns as it hits up market for $843m
Square Peg, one of Australia’s biggest venture capital firms, has revealed its returns to shareholders have topped $1 billion
- Paul Smith
Break or breakthrough: the red flags at Victoria’s VC fund
Breakthrough Victoria was formed after its now-chairman, John Brumby, called for the establishment of such a fund.
- Myriam Robin
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
Blackbird slashes valuations of top Aussie start-ups
Culture Amp, Eucalyptus and Hivery are among start-ups backed by Blackbird, that have been marked down by independent auditors, as valuations fall across the sector.
- Jessica Sier
CSIRO backs its long-term VC bet despite nil returns
The CSIRO’s VC fund has not returned a dollar to public coffers despite receiving $175m from taxpayers over seven years, but insists it is on track.
- Nick Bonyhady
There’s an AI funding boom – but Australia’s being left out
Venture capitalists are going all-in trying to back big winners, rather than spreading their funds around.
- Paul Smith
No plans to wind up embattled $2b VC fund: Pallas
Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas has hit back at calls to wind up the state’s venture capital fund, saying there isn’t enough private money to support start-ups.
- Updated
- Gus McCubbing
- Exclusive
- Workplace
Australia has its first tech ‘unicorn’ in two years
Software firm Deputy cracks the billion-dollar valuation milestone to break Australia’s unicorn drought, after a prospective US customer invested $37 million.
- Tess Bennett
- Exclusive
- Finance
Former stockbroker, Afterpay alumni raise $16m for fintech start-up
Former Wilsons stockbroker and Australian national swimmer Luke Trickett has raised $16 million for his invoice payments start-up Marmalade.
- Tess Bennett
- Exclusive
- Start-ups
Tech star lends staff cash to buy its shares
SafetyCulture, a $2.7 billion software firm, is helping staff buy more stock and is structuring its sales to avoid debts accrued by some US start-up workers.
- Nick Bonyhady
- Exclusive
- Media & marketing
Big media names pour cash into ‘cookie-free’ ad start-up
Media boss Antony Catalano and Seek co-founder Matt Rockman are among investors in a new advertising tech start-up, which eschews privacy-invading cookies.
- Paul Smith
