This Week in Australian Startups #47, 26th November 2023
This Week in Australian Startups #47, 26th November 2023
As we approach the end of the year, I’ve been thinking a lot about what the future for this newsletter is and where I should be spending my time. I’d love to get your feedback on what you find valuable, and what you’d like to see more of (and less of) - just hit reply or message me on LinkedIn. If you’re also based in Sydney, I’m always open to grab a coffee as well!
What I am clear on for the moment is the need for more reporting and transparency on diversity in funding, specifically on the number of startups founded with at least one female or BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) on the founding team.
Starting this week I’ll be sharing these stats. A special shoutout to Blaise Moskalev (McCann) and Kirstin Hunter for being the catalysts for this through recent conversations!
All my data is collected through publicly available information on Australian startups (either headquartered in Australia, or with Australian founders), this does mean there can be inaccuracies and I’ll be going back in retro and updating this as and when I’m either notified or find more accurate data.
I’ll also be spending time before the end of the year going through all publicly announced fundraises for 2023 with the goal to share an annual summary - if you’d like a copy of this, be sure to subscribe.
For this week in Australian startups we’ve seen:
13 funding rounds
46% (6) having at least one female founder, 54% (7) all male founding teams
31% (4) having at least BIPOC on the founding team, 70% (9) all white founding teams
At a weekly snapshot, that’s almost at parity for gender diversity with plenty of room to improve for BIPOC. As I go through the rest of the 2023’s data, there’ll be a better story to show as one week won’t be an accurate snapshot.
Top News
Australia
Airtree and Antler-backed addiction app Lived shuts down as founder battles health concerns (Startup Daily)
Lived founder Sally Metelerkamp shares the unforgettable lessons (SmartCompany)
The Australian government’s 7-year plan to ramp up cyber security explained (Startup Daily)
ACS gets its 2nd female president as Helen McHugh takes the reins (Startup Daily)
Tractor Ventures launches 24-hour lending approvals, plans equity fund for 2024 (SmartCompany)
CSIRO accelerator to offer up to $75,000 for Australian and Indian circular economy startups (SmartCompany)
Edtech startup MyTeacherAide launches AI-powered tool for teachers (BNA)
Fitness tech Evolt 360 secures supplier agreement with Canadian giant GoodLife Fitness (BNA)
Boomerang Labs selects 13 NSW circular economy startups for latest accelerator program (BNA)
Australia’s tech unicorns are defying the global odds (AFR)
QuantX secures $750,000 from Next Gen Tech Fund’s ghost (InnovationAus)
CSIRO launches $19M Aus-India circular economy accelerator (InnovationAus)
Australian investors say capital limitations push founders to ‘new heights of creativity’ (TechCrunch)
Carol Schwartz’s investment ‘strategy pivot’ toward women-owned VC funds (Women’s Agenda)
Around the World
Binance CEO departs after guilty plea over money laundering as US authorities belt the crypto exchange with a $6.6bn fine (Startup Daily)
OpenAI Rivals Move to Exploit Leadership Turmoil (WSJ)
Google admits Spotify pays no Play Store fees because of a secret deal (TechCrunch)
After closed door OpenAI drama, open source AI backed by Nvidia, Eric Schmidt, could emerge winner (CNBC)
All things OpenAI this past week
Sama is back as CEO! (artificially intelligent)
Meet Adam D’Angelo, The OpenAI Board Member Who Brokered Sam Altman’s Return (The Messenger)
The Atlantic CEO’s take (LinkedIn)
What is OpenAI, Really? (The Pragmatic Engineer)
OpenAI, emerging from the ashes, has a lot to prove even with Sam Altman’s return (TechCrunch)
The OpenAI Saga Continues, Microsoft’s New Chips, Microsoft’s AI Platform Hedge (Stratechery)
Australian Funding Rounds
Elliephant, B2B Gift Intelligence Platform, has raised a $560K Pre-Seed round by the Alice Anderson Fund, Jagen Family Office and Jodie Imam (Startup Daily | SmartCompany)
White Box Enterprises, who build, support and advocate for jobs focused on social enterprises, has raised $12M from Angel Investors, Ian and Shirley Norman Foundation (Startup Daily | SmartCompany)
Songtradr, the world's largest music licensing marketplace, has raised a $106M Series E round (Startup Daily | SmartCompany | AFR)
Avarni, a carbon accounting startup, has raised $2.5M from Main Sequence Ventures, Sprint Ventures, Afterwork Ventures, Vulpes Ventures and Common Sense Ventures (Startup Daily | The Australian)
Seminal, the first global copyright register and marketplace for artistic intellectual property, has raised a $5M Seed round (The Australian)
Touch2Pay, a payments company making it easier for hospitality, retail and professional services industries to get paid, has raised a $3.2M Series A2 round (SmartCompany | CRN)
Intrigue Media, a newsletter that explores the intersection of Geopolitics, Business and Technology, has raised a $2.7M Seed round led by Autumn Road Capital (SmartCompany)
Earlywork, who are building the fastest, fairest pathway to begin a career in tech, have raised a $1.5M Seed round led by No Brand along with Jelix Ventures, Archangel Ventures, Ultraviolet Ventures, and notable Angel Investors (AFR | The Australian | The Age)
SuperAPI, which makes products for onboarding super members through major HR and payroll platforms easier, has raised a $1M Seed round (SmartCompany | AFR)
LeVel Lemonade, a sports beverage startup, has raised $584K through a crowdfunding campaign on Birchal (SmartCompany)
Appen, who provides data services to help companies develop and train AI models, has raised $30M in a new share release on the ASX (ASX | AFR)
CorePlan, a mining software company that helps exploration and drilling companies manage their operations, has raised $4M led by EVP (The Australian | CorePlan)
Pitcrew AI, a startup that makes transport safe and more efficient through sensors, computer vision and ML to automate vehicle inspection, has raised an undisclosed amount in a Series A round from Resource Capital Funds and Startmate (InvestMETS | IM Mining)