This Month
Leaving war-torn Ukraine was hard, then this AI worker tried Australia
Tech skills have been in red-hot demand for a decade, but skilled migration has cooled as numerous companies have shed staff in the so-called tech funding winter.
- Tess Bennett
Fortescue, Playground-backed hydrogen flight start-up collapses
Universal Hydrogen had attracted almost $150 million in funding, including from Aussie Peter Barrett’s Playground Global, but it wasn’t enough for it to take flight.
- Yolanda Redrup
- Exclusive
- Funding
Ex-Atlassian insiders pull in millions for AI development start-up
Redactive has raised $11.5 million from local and US-based investors after convincing financial services clients to use it to help software engineers develop AI tools.
- Paul Smith
- Analysis
- Pets
Meme stock kingpin’s latest play has hit a brick wall
The man behind the GameStop mania of 2021 has a new $US250 million bet: pet food retailer Chewy, but it isn’t going to plan.
- Nick Bonyhady
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
The untold story of struggling start-up survival rounds
Delivery company Sendle raised almost $90 million in good times, but venture capitalists have likened the terms on its latest raise to payday lending.
- Nick Bonyhady
What this start-up founder learned from the public death of her company
Mina Radhakrishnan, the only founder of a collapsed start-up brave enough to speak at the Financial Review Entrepreneur Summit, hopes the industry values battle scars as she tries again.
- Tess Bennett
How Kim Teo pulled off a mega-merger with her start-up’s biggest rival
The co-founder of restaurant ordering app Mr Yum is now the boss of its former competitor me&u, after the heavily backed Aussie start-ups merged to survive.
- Aaron Weinman
June
The ‘grindset’ is back in vogue for start-ups – with a health twist
Start-up bosses no longer just enthuse about working innumerable hours – now they recommend an ice bath after the innumerable hours.
- Nick Bonyhady
‘I fire people just as quickly as my male co-founders’
High-profile female entrepreneurs including Airwallex’s Lucy Liu have hit out at sexist attitudes, and male-led venture capital investors.
- Tess Bennett
Top VC admits newer Aussie funds will struggle to raise capital
Younger venture capital funds will be the next casualties of the tough capital raising environment, even if they’re performing well, a Square Peg partner says.
- Yolanda Redrup and Nick Bonyhady
‘Pick up a knife and get on with it:’ Start-ups reject work-life balance ‘beast’
Start-up workers must be prepared to “go to war,” to help their companies succeed, rather than worrying about work-life balance top local entrepreneurs have warned.
- Maxim Shanahan and Paul Smith
Super funds ‘should be forced’ to back start-ups
Employment Hero chief executive Ben Thompson has proposed a novel aid for the flagging start-up sector: reserving 1 per cent of superannuation money for it.
- Nick Bonyhady
Robotic friend company raises $3 million to build Abi
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
- AI
Aussie brothers’ AI firm worth $120m as big name backers invest
Melbourne-based Affinda has built AI-based software used by numerous big companies around the world, it has doubled its valuation in 18 months with well-known investors.
- Paul Smith
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
Tenacious Ventures lives up to its name with $18m raise in hard market
Members of the Schwartz, Denholm and Murdoch families have committed money to the agricultural technology investor that has overcome hurdle after hurdle.
- Nick Bonyhady
OpenAI co-founder’s new company promises safe ‘superintelligence’
Last year, Ilya Sutskever tried to force out OpenAI boss Sam Altman. Now he has a new company, aiming to build a machine that is more intelligent than humans – safely.
- Cade Metz
- Exclusive
- Workplace
Say something bad about Canva? It can claw back staff shares
Documents seen by the Australian Financial Review show how Canva shares give the start-up leverage over former staff in a widely used industry practice.
- Nick Bonyhady
This Rich Listers’ daughter is forging her own path in business
Georgia Geminder launched her own toothpaste at the start of 2020 after three years of research. Now she has found a new “boring” category to transform.
- Yolanda Redrup
Sonic Healthcare-backed Harrison.ai boots up $100m-plus Series C raise
Harrison.ai’s management team has commenced discussions with a handful of potential investors regarding the cash call.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
VC firms lured to Qld by government funding
Early Tritium investors who sold out of the Brisbane-based company close to the peak of its valuation are among four VC firms to receive government backing.
- Tess Bennett