Updated

StrongRoom investors at war as founders hit with freezing orders

Tess Bennett, Amelia McGuire and Paul Smith

Updated Apr 1, 2025 – 10.12am, first published at 8.55am

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StrongRoom AI will be forced to detail if its founders and board members received any money from the company in the two months since it raised $17 million after Sydney venture capital firm EVP successfully sought freezing orders over the pharmaceutical software start-up’s assets.

The court orders against StrongRoom’s founders Max Mito and Christopher Durre and directors Peter Bruce-Clark and Divesh Sanghi were made days after the collapse of the company. The failure of StrongRoom has created significant investor animosity, with shareholders blaming EVP for publicly raising concerns that the company misrepresented its finances.

Tess Bennett is a technology reporter with The Australian Financial Review, based in the Brisbane newsroom. She was previously the work & careers reporter.

Amelia McGuire covers technology from the AFR's Sydney newsroom. She was previously the aviation, tourism and gambling reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Paul Smith edits the technology coverage and has been a leading writer on the sector for 20 years. He covers big tech, business use of tech, the fast-growing Australian tech industry and start-ups, telecommunications and national innovation policy.