Last Week in Australian Startups #85, 16th September 2024

Results of the poll last week below, so another ‘last’ week in Australian startup edition for your inbox.

My 2 year old daughter wasn’t feeling 100% this weekend, so on daddy duty meant no deep dive this week.

I did however have the opportunity to partner with Muslims in Tech and UNSW Founders to share my experience in going from 0-1, and how you can think about Founder Led Sales. Useful even if you’re not a founder but in an early stage startup.

Some good takeaways here from Rushi and here from Dr Tanvir Uddin.

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Top News

• 4 Australian startups –  Contact Harald, Marqo, Relevance AI, Splash Music – make the cut for Amazon’s global Generative AI Accelerator (Startup Daily)

• Elon Musk’s Tesla hangs up for-sale sign at SA virtual power plant (AFR)

• Facebook admits it scraped data from Australian users without letting them opt out. Here’s how to protect yourself (Startup Daily)

• Inaugural National Reconstruction Fund chief steps down (InnovationAus)

• Quantum sensors startup QuantX Labs has bagged a $2.7M deal with the Australian government for optical atomic clocks for the ADF (Startup Daily)

• Ashleigh Greaves joins Queensland VC Tribe Global Ventures to wrangle investor relations (Startup Daily)

• Australian investors spent $24 billion backing Asian startups over the past decade (Startup Daily)

• Canva boss Melanie Perkins is talking to legendary US investor Mary Meeker at SXSW (Startup Daily)

• Hypersonic vehicles set to blast off from SA spaceports (InnovationAus)

• Needle-free biotech Vaxxas seals $43M from US Government for its largest trial yet (BNA)

• Australia’s startup scene has delivered the 3rd-highest liquidity behind the U.S. and China, new analysis shows (Fortune)

• Australian School of Entrepreneurship acquires Generation Entrepreneur to carry on startup education mission (SmartCompany | Jahan Tanvir)

• Australian VCs need to improve their communication, says global LP Boman Group (Capital Brief)

• Femtek rebrands to ‘Kyri’ to strengthen brand and protect IP (SmartCompany)

• Meta admits Australians cannot opt out of ‘predatory’ AI data scrape (The Age)

• Dubber gets a new CEO – but is still missing $26 million (Startup Daily)

• Govt readies age verification tech trial for social media ban (InnovationAus)

• Hearing tech scale-up Audeara secures China foothold in deal with tech group Eastech (BNA)

• How Square Peg is luring investors into its $840M fund raise (AFR)

• PM backs a social media ban until 16 (The Australian)

• Sydney’s Q-CTRL software integrated with quantum hardware giants (InnovationAus)

• Techstars’ 2024 cohort kicks off with record number of women-led startups (SmartCompany)

• Uber’s payroll tax win sets the stage for a bigger regulatory battle (Capital Brief)

• ‘So much talking, so little doing’: Startmate boss calls out inaction on backing women in tech (Startup Daily)

• Amber makes offshore debut through partnership with UK energy group E.ON Next (BNA)

• Australia must become an AI powerhouse, or be left behind (AFR)

• Australian startup Build Buddy wins Startup World Cup Regional Final (StartUp ScaleUp)

• How Australian deep tech is catching the interest of offshore venture capital (Capital Brief)

• Sports hydration management startup AQUAME signs breakthrough deal with Spanish soccer club Valencia (BNA)

• Tech tops new Westpac CEO’s agenda (Capital Brief)

• Why Uber abandoned Carshare for Turo (Capital Brief)

• Canberra Data Centres in partner search with $16b enterprise valuation (AFR)

• Terem has acquired FMI, a facilities management software provider (Scott Middleton)

• How to clap back when an attack column brands you as a 'ZIRP horror story' (Encour)

Funding Rounds

• Neurode, which makes a non-invasive headband to help people with ADHD with brain stimulation, has raised $5.3M (SmartCompany)

• NEXTDC, an Australian data centre operator, has raised $550M on the ASX for an expansion into Asian (ARN | Capital Brief)

• Renewable Metals, a battery recycling startup , has raised a $8.1M Seed round from Investible, The Grantham Foundation and Virescent Ventures (Startup Daily | SmartCompany)

• Algenie, a biotech that’s building a platform to grow algae in order to replace fossil fuels as the raw material for plastics and fuels , has raised a $1.1M Seed round from UTS and Better Bite Ventures (BNA | SmartCompany)

• Directo, a B2B marketplace for pharmacies and suppliers streamlining logisticsm invoicing and fulfilment, has raised $2M (Startup Daily | Capital Brief)

• Number 8 Bio, which develops technology to reduce methane emissions from livestock, has raised a $7M Seed round from Main Sequence Ventures, The March Group and Breakthrough Victoria (Capital Brief | Startup Daily)

• SafetyCulture, the a mobile-first workplace operations platform, has raised $75M in new capital in a funding round that included $90M of secondary sales valuing it at $2.5B (Startup Daily | AFR)

• Allegro Energy, a pioneer in water-based energy storage systems, has raised a $17.5M Series A round from Origin Energy, The Grantham Foundation, Melt Ventures and Impact Ventures (AFR | AU Manufacturing)

• Security Matters, which digitises physical objects on the blockchain to enable the circular and closed loop economy, has raised $5.35M (Stock Titan)

• Carbonaught, which turns rocks into carbon-sequestering fertilisers, has raised an undisclosed sum Seed round from Better Bite Ventures (green queen)

• Tour Amigo, a B2B AI driven marketplace for tours, destination management and cruises, has raised a $2M Seed round from 500 Global and Wavemaker Partners (PhocusWire)