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Today

Farmers’ software start-up raises $11m with profitability promise

The Funded blog is the home for news on the tech deals that are done in Australia, as soon as we hear about them.

  • 1 hr ago
  • Paul Smith

This Month

Venture capitalists Craig Blair, Paul Bassat, Rick Baker, and Michelle Deaker have to judge when to sell just as wisely as what to back.

Stick or twist? How start-up investors know when it’s time to sell

VCs selling down Canva stakes could leave huge gains on the table, but don’t want to leave selling too late. Poorly timed sales have a history of destroying value.

  • Adir Shiffman
Rich Listers Cyan and Collis Ta’eed have sold the company they founded Envato.

Rich Listers sell tech firm Envato for $375m

It was once valued at more than $1 billion, but Cyan and Collis Ta’eed have sold their digital assets marketplace to New York-listed Shutterstock.

  • Tess Bennett
Jack Zhang

Airwallex’s local outpost reverses to loss

The local outpost of one of Australia’s largest technology start-ups tripped to a deep loss after a big increase in costs.

  • Updated
  • Lucas Baird

April

Kashcade founders Patrick Nappa (left) and Alex Simmons.

Start-up lender Kashcade perks up for new deals with $23m raise

The proceeds are earmarked for Kashcade’s push into research and development lending, which allows start-ups to borrow funds against future R&D Tax Incentive refunds.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
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Labor’s bold $1b bet on Aussie quantum start-up

Australia will invest $940 million in Silicon Valley start-up PsiQuantum in a major bet that it will build the world’s first commercially useful quantum computer.

  • Nick Bonyhady
Canva is planning a new office in the pricey inner Sydney suburb of Surry Hills, helping to explain staff members plan to put money from shares into real estate.

VCs are banking on Canva staff cash, but they’re buying houses instead

While most staff say they plan to put the money towards real estate, an investing program just for Canva staff already has the interest of more than 100 people.

  • Nick Bonyhady
Shane Hodgkins, CEO and co-founder of Melbourne-based construction start-up Matrak, has opened a China office.

Aussie tech pushes into China, Taiwan despite geopolitical risks

Canva co-founder Cliff Obrecht has warned start-ups China should not be their first market but says it has massive rewards for companies that can make it there.

  • Updated
  • Jessica Sier
Assistant Minister for Competition Andrew Leigh noted the Federal Trade Commission’s findings that a ban would increase wages.

Labor urged to restrict rather than ban non-compete clauses

Leading economists have urged the Albanese government to significantly restrict the use of non-compete clauses to revive Australia’s ailing productivity growth.

  • Euan Black
Kindling co-founders Sachin Shah and Adam Miller

Got a small audience? This start-up could help you monetise it

Kindling is figuring out what AI tools can help podcasters and YouTubers “supercharge” their content, and find someone willing to pay for it.

  • John Davidson
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  • AI
Naomi Osaka, Steve Smith and Nick Kyrgios invested in 1FF, which has teams of fictional players such as Naija United’s Cristian Venditto, and Bondi FC’s Ash Jones.

Kyrgios, Smith-backed fantasy football start-up valued at $0

The company has laid off staff and had a co-founder depart, but is hoping to grow with more humans in its AI-driven fantasy football product.

  • Nick Bonyhady and John Davidson
Food delivery riders at Milkrun’s warehouse in Surry Hills, Sydney, in 2022.

A year after Milkrun’s demise, the quick commerce founders are back

The collapse of the high-flying start-up 12 months ago this week marked the end of the easy-money free-for-all. These new ventures are everything it wasn’t.

  • Nick Bonyhady

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
Blackbird co-founders Niki Scevak and Rick Baker operate under the tagline of “wild hearts”.

‘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
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese delivers a speech to the Queensland Media Club.

Tritium is ‘a lost opportunity’ for local manufacturing, says PM

The closure of the fast charger company’s Brisbane factory is the sort of thing the government is seeking to prevent with its new policy.

  • Tess Bennett
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Canva’s offices in Surry Hills, where staff get chef-cooked meals but also face performance grading.

Canva agrees to settle unfair dismissal case from senior engineer

The company initially refused to make any settlement payment to the employee, who had been earning $221,000 a year when he was sacked in January.

  • Nick Bonyhady

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
W23 Australia boss Ingrid Maes

Woolworths partners with Tesco on $190m start-up investment fund

The global fund will be run from Sydney and counts retailer chains from Europe, Canada and South Africa among its investors.

  • Nick Bonyhady
Cliff Obrecht: “All investors had the opportunity to sell and got the sell side fully met.”

Canva millionaires made as $US1.6b share sale completes

The design software giant has finalised the first tranche of a share sale it has signalled will reach $3.6 billion, with rich rewards for early staff and investors.

  • Nick Bonyhady and Tess Bennett
Together with Lululemon, Australian start-up Samsara Eco has created a jacket made of recycled textiles that can be recycled itself infinite number of times.

This Aussie start-up could change fashion forever

Samsara Eco has patented technology that can break down fabric into new yarn, which can be recycled infinitely. Its CEO thinks it could upend the industry.

  • Lauren Sams