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Latest

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
Emma Foley is Uber’s new Australian managing director, while Ed Kitchen will run Uber Eats.

New Uber bosses to see through gig economy transition

There will be new heads of both Uber and Uber Eats in Australia, ahead of gig economy rules that threaten to significantly raise its cost of doing business.

  • Paul Smith

Ex CSIRO boss would pick different ‘winners’ in $1b quantum push

Larry Marshall, former CEO of CSIRO, says taxpayer money should be targeted at points in the quantum computing supply chain, not the finished product.

  • Liam Walsh

Apple plays up AI potential in new iPads

The tech company unveiled a bevy of new iPads including two versions of the iPad Pro sporting its M4 chipset and a redesigned iPad Air model in two sizes.

  • Chris Velazco

America’s new moon race is billionaire v billionaire

Today’s space race looks in some ways like that of the 1960s; instead of the US v the Soviet Union, it’s Bezos’ Blue Origin v Musk’s SpaceX.

  • Loren Grush

Macquarie Technology founders cash out; E&P Capital on trade

Stockbroker Evans and Partners crossed two lines of stock in the ASX-listed data centre operator after-market on Monday.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

Opinion & Analysis

Will Apple’s new iPad Pro finally replace your laptop?

Apple says its new M4 iPad Pros will have better AI, better performance and better battery life than laptops. But don’t throw away your laptop just yet.

John Davidson

Columnist

John Davidson

Quantum leap to secure first-mover advantage for Australia

The government’s chief scientific adviser says the investment in PsiQuantum may be high risk, but it’s also high reward.

Cathy Foley

Chief Scientist

Cathy Foley

It’s bigger and brighter, but is it Samsung’s best TV?

We pit Samsung’s “pinnacle” TV against a lesser model. The results won’t surprise you.

John Davidson

Columnist

John Davidson

Dell rethinks its legendary laptop

Dell has made some dramatic design choices in its quest to revitalise its legendary-but-ageing XPS laptop lineup, and we’re not sure all of them have worked.

John Davidson

Columnist

John Davidson

Technology reviews

Dell rethinks its legendary laptop

Dell has made some dramatic design choices in its quest to revitalise its legendary-but-ageing XPS laptop lineup, and we’re not sure all of them have worked.

  • John Davidson

You’ll forget you’re even wearing these earbuds

The OpenFit earbuds by Shokz might not look the best, but they certainly feel the best of any earbuds we’ve ever reviewed.

  • John Davidson
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Yesterday

The new Magic Keyboard looks like a laptop keyboard.

Will Apple’s new iPad Pro finally replace your laptop?

Apple says its new M4 iPad Pros will have better AI, better performance and better battery life than laptops. But don’t throw away your laptop just yet.

  • John Davidson

This Month

CSIRAC: Australia had one of three classical digital computers in the world in the 1960s but missed the opportunity to become a leader in computer development.

Quantum leap to secure first-mover advantage for Australia

The government’s chief scientific adviser says the investment in PsiQuantum may be high risk, but it’s also high reward.

  • Cathy Foley

42-year-old Sydney tech company saved with $150m price drop

Casa Systems bought NetComm for $161 million in 2019. Five years later another US company is buying it out of administration for just $US7 million.

  • Nick Bonyhady
PsiQuantum’s co-founders Jeremy O’Brien and Terry Rudolph are confident they will win bipartisan support in Australia.

PsiQuantum in talks for bipartisan support but Coalition not swayed

PsiQuantum is confident of winning over sceptical politicians by highlighting its backing from both major parties in the US, where it has defence contracts.

  • Tess Bennett

It’s bigger and brighter, but is it Samsung’s best TV?

We pit Samsung’s “pinnacle” TV against a lesser model. The results won’t surprise you.

  • John Davidson
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Dell rethinks its legendary laptop

Dell has made some dramatic design choices in its quest to revitalise its legendary-but-ageing XPS laptop lineup, and we’re not sure all of them have worked.

  • John Davidson
Science and Industry Minister Ed Husic has been frustrated by suggestions the decision-making process behind the big quantum investment was not thorough.

Answers emerge slowly to government’s $1b quantum questions

Questions are mounting over how PsiQuantum was backed when we have been told so often to marvel at local tech stars.

  • Paul Smith
  • Analysis
  • AI

AI start-ups face a rough financial reality check

The AI revolution, it is becoming clear in Silicon Valley, is going to come with a very big price tag.

  • Cade Metz, Karen Weise and Tripp Mickle
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
TToby Norton-Smith says x15’s app will help people guard against the growing risk of identity theft.

CBA beats government to start-up opportunity from data breach scandals

Commonwealth Bank has a new app launching on Tuesday to warn citizens when their identity documents are in the wrong hands.

  • Paul Smith
There are more varieties of digital coins than any investor could care to count.

ASIC-investigated NGS Crypto was accused of ‘passing off’ as NGS Super

The Gold Coast-based cryptocurrency miner under investigation by the corporate watchdog was accused of passing itself off as part of a similarly named superannuation fund.

  • Max Mason
PsiQuantum co-founder and CEO Jeremy O’Brien at the government announcement in Brisbane last week.

Quantum computing breakthroughs draw investment back to sector

Many in the industry believe that a clear route has recently opened up to building large-scale systems that will bring real technical and business advantages.

  • Richard Waters
Genero co-CEOs and co-founders Mick Entwisle (left) and Andrew Lane have worked with some of the biggest names in music.

Ellerston-backed video platform draws in big-name investor

The investment from Melbourne emerging companies specialist Acorn Capital takes the total funds raised by Genero to $15 million.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
It seems to have started with Minister Ed Husic meeting with PsiQuantum in late 2022 and again in the Silicon Valley in early 2023.

So many things wrong with Labor’s one huge bet on PsiQuantum

Venture capital investors typically place many best across multiple different companies and technologies. The government is backing one technology and company.

  • Paul Fletcher

Why Apple’s earnings call gives us hope for more exciting new devices

Announcing iPad and iPhone sales that were lower than last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook says something that could make us all want to upgrade … and of course, it involved AI.

  • John Davidson
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Evidence now emerging suggests that smartphone use in children is linked with poor mental health outcomes.

Inside the fight for smartphone-free childhoods

A rising number of parents around the world, who have become addicted to handheld devices themselves, want to ban under-16s from having them.

  • Pippa Bailey
An advertisement for the opening of a new Apple store in Shanghai last month.

Apple’s shares rally after return to sales growth forecast

The tech giant announced $US110 billion in share buybacks and raised the quarterly dividend by 4 per cent.

  • Mark Gurman
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
Quadrant Private Equity executive chairman Chris Hadley.

Quadrant crows about $500m Canva investment

The deal was led by Quadrant’s Victor Ha and Louis Casey and represents the firm’s single biggest investment.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Fruit flies show signs of consciousness.

Don’t swat fruit flies – they’re smarter than you probably think

Researchers say many species, from insects to invertebrates, have consciousness. It turns out humans aren’t so special, after all.

  • Ed Cumming