This Month
The 10 most memorable Lunches with the AFR of 2024
From Young Rich Listers to BlackRock’s chief strategist and Donald Trump’s former daily intelligence briefer. These were the 10 most read Lunches with the AFR in 2024.
- Staff writers
‘Unicorn’ tech firm spent $43m to buy its founder’s other company
Heavily backed HR technology firm Employment Hero paid $43.4 million for a company owned by its co-founder Ben Thompson, a new regulatory filing has revealed.
- Tess Bennett
This 21-year-old has just banked $10m for his R&D funding venture
Charlie Selth brought the idea to his boss, executive chairman Jonathan Dooley, 18 months ago to create a lending model for early-stage companies.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Arbor Capital backs homegrown scuttlebutt research firm targeting PE
The venture capital upstart has taken a minority stake in expert research platform Networks X.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
NRL star turned Rich Lister backs Brisbane healthtech WearOptimo
WearOptimo has gathered $8 million in fresh funding to get into its go-to-market strategy.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Mark Carnegie, HongShan back $US100m crypto neobank
HongShan Capital Group and Peak XV Partners have led KAST’s $US10 million seed funding round.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
The ill-fitting nightclub top behind a multimillion-dollar business
When Annabel Hay’s fashion tape let her down on a nightclub dance floor, her wardrobe malfunction became a fast-growing company selling modesty-saving glue.
- Updated
- Amelia McGuire
Blackbird-backed HR start-up shuts down due to lack of demand
The employee feedback start-up’s founder admitted there was little customer demand for her business despite having raised almost $10 million three years ago.
- Amelia McGuire
Sidelined by VCs, women are taking their start-up ideas to the public
The three biggest raises of 2024 on Birchal, the country’s dominant equity crowdfunding platform, are businesses run by women. And largely backed by women.
- Yolanda Redrup
‘Find what makes you happy’: From zero to $1b in two years
Zeller’s Ben Pfisterer brought Square to Australia after stints at Jetstar, NAB and Visa. He has based his career on one piece of advice – from his parents.
- Yolanda Redrup
November
This Australian AI start-up wants you to complain more
Backed by Carthona Capital, Ajust is a consumer start-up that offers to fight your customer service battles on your behalf.
- Amelia McGuire
Revealed: Australia’s fastest-growing companies in 2024
In a tough consumer environment, this year’s Fast 100 and Fast Starters finalists have managed to find their niche.
- Victoria Thieberger
Why this entrepreneur does tech differently
From food to climate, innovators saw problems in the tech sector and took action to make things right.
- Christopher Niesche
- Overall Winner
- Fast 100
This is the fastest-growing company in Australia
Founded by an ex-banker, this air ambulance start-up has achieved 700 per cent revenue growth thanks to business from the cruise industry.
- Primrose Riordan
Meet the skincare company with 460pc growth
Identifying a niche is easy. Filling it – at scale – is the challenge, as these successful founders discovered.
- Lauren Sams
The start-ups challenging big banks on loans and payments
These top 5 fintechs on the Fast Starters list have found gaps in the market where the big banks fear to tread.
- Amelia McGuire
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
Hostplus’ $125m VC bet signals super’s resurgent interest in start-ups
Higher financing costs have made it a difficult period for new tech firms. But the last month has seen a resurgence in interest from retirement funds.
- Paul Smith
Who is Canva’s new Wall Street weapon?
Canva’s new chief financial officer Kelly Steckelberg has seen the highs and the lows of the tech boom, and starts on Tuesday as Canva heads to an IPO.
- Amelia McGuire
- Opinion
- Interest rates
Tech companies must stop waiting for interest rate relief
Start-ups crave low borrowing costs because it makes investors more likely to back them, but they must adapt now that rates could remain high.
- Ben Buckingham
Dovetail employee sues start-up and founder over personal relationship
The survey analytics software company, which sealed its status as a unicorn with a $1 billion valuation in late 2021, is backed by large funds such as Blackbird.
- Amelia McGuire