This Month
PsiQuantum deal will cost almost $30m just to check it works
But most of the details of the government’s marquee bet on the potentially powerful technology have been kept secret in the budget.
- Nick Bonyhady
$100m Sydney fintech raises $34m to take on global rivals
Ellerston Capital has taken a stake in digital identity and verification player Data Zoo, in a deal that values the Sydney-founded business north of $100m.
- Tess Bennett
Blue-sky thinkers block the sun to fight climate change
It might sound like science fiction, but a mix of scientists and venture capitalists are working on plans to block the sun to slow global warming.
- Peter Ker and Lap Phan
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.
- Updated
- Paul Smith
- Opinion
- Venture capital
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 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
- Exclusive
- Payments
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
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
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
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
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
- Exclusive
- Inside China
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
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
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
- Exclusive
- AI
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
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
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
‘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
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
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
- Exclusive
- Funding
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
