???? This Week in Australian Startups #97, 8th December 2024

This week I republished and wrote a new article, see my post from earlier this week below.

Top News

• Lauren Humphrey has shared on LinkedIn the decision to shut down the Tandem product (Lauren Humphrey)
• Blossom App expands into New Zealand market as funds under management near $100m (BNA)
• NBN left in the dust by Musk’s Starlink (The Australian)
• Tech just got bumped up the list as a priority for skilled migration (Startup Daily)
• WTF: Why West Tech Fest might be the best technology conference in Australia (SmartCompany)
• ACCC steps up attack on Google, saying AI is failing to dent its monopoly (The Australian)
• Australia's Redbelly says its new blockchain is first ever designed for real-world assets (Capital Brief)
• Birchal’s new LaunchVic-backed investment syndicate has helped raise $1.9 million for hardware startups in 90 days (Startup Daily)
• Google is facing a year of challenges to its business model in Australia in the form of two potential class actions over its ad tech practices (Capital Brief)
• Nicola and Andrew Forrest’s Minderoo are spearheading the $100 million seed investment in Future Generation Women, a high-net worth fund exclusively managed by female portfolio managers (Forbes)
• Splend has secured a $300m debt financing facility from Macquarie to add thousands of electric vehicles to its fleet (AFR)
• WAVC Initiative Awards $45m in VC Funding to Purpose Ventures, FundWA, Brandon Capital Partners, Health Translation Group, Skalata Ventures, Melt Ventures, and Artesian Venture Partners (Startup News)
• Former science and innovation minister Arthur Sinodinos joins deep tech VC Salus Ventures (Startup Daily)
• TRaCE launches Australian university’s first seed fund with reinvestment model, backed by Investible and Hampton Capital, to drive the growth of climate technologies (Startup Daily | TRaCE)
• Startmate's $500 voucher prize for a women's leadership award has ignited fierce debate over how to meaningfully support female talent in technology. (Capital Brief)
• The BNPL sector is now being regulated as credit in Australia (Startup Daily)
• Deeligence’s Elena Tsalanidis on overcoming venture capital’s gender problem (Capital Brief)
• Zip co-founder Larry Diamond sells $100m in shares after stepping down to focus on philanthropy (AFR)
• Dovetail teases virtual customer concept alongside new AI tools (SmartCompany)
• Labor grants ACCC new powers to crack down on digital platforms (The Australian)
• Nearly 9000 taxi drivers just scored $152 million from Uber as compensation for its illegal launch in Australia (Startup Daily)
• Co Ventures is gifting 5% of it’s carry in Fund 1 to its founders (Maxine Minter)
• 2024 Wrap up by Canva (Canva)
• Tesla’s Robyn Denholm is an awkward choice to lead Australia’s R&D review (Crikey)
• Leonardo.Ai releases Flow State - it’s newest tool for infinite creativity (Leonardo.Ai)

Funding Rounds

• Umps, who work with home care providers, allied health professionals and retirement village operators to?provide remote monitoring and personal alarms, has raised $4m in a Series A round from Breakthrough Victoria, Cerebral Palsy Alliance, InterValley Ventures, 5Point Foundation, Sprint Ventures and Agnes Health (BNA | Startup Daily)
• Visibuild, a construction tech platform that keeps track of quality and compliance during a build, has raised $6.6m from Skip Capital (Startup Daily | BNA | The Australian)
• MGA Thermal, who is on a mission to remove 30 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030, has raised $200k in a Pre-Series B round from Electrifi Ventures, Climate Salad and Australian Renewable Energy Agency (BNA | Startup Daily)
• Josef, a no-code software platform that empowers lawyers and legal professionals to automate legal tasks, has raised an undisclosed amount from Carthona Capital, OIF Ventures and TheLegalTech Fund (LawSites | Josef)
• Liven, an alll in one tech solution for hospitality businesses, has raised an undisclosed amount from Living Lab Ventures (Sinar Mas Land)
• MapAI, which provides geospatial insights through AI-driven chat, has raised $1.3m in a Seed round from FrontierSI and University of New South Wales (Toorak Times)