This Month
The $1.3b fund targeting Aussie start-up founders
The VC firm formerly known as Sequoia India is looking to place more bets on Aussie founders looking past the collapse of grocery delivery start-up Voly.
- Tess Bennett
- Exclusive
- Funding
High-profile founders cash in as tech investor confidence returns
Big funding rounds are returning to the Australian tech centres and Local Measure and Darwinium are the latest to raise without hurting their valuations.
- Paul Smith and Tess Bennett
Good luck, rich parents and Canva: how Blackbird made millionaires
The names of some of those making a fortune from Blackbird’s first VC fund are surprising. One of them, Rayn Ong, says his good fortune was ‘life-changing’.
- Paul Smith
Call centre AI pivot (and AWS surge) helps Local Measure raise $7.9m
The Funded blog is the new home for news on the tech deals that are done in Australia, as soon as we hear about them.
- Updated
- Paul Smith
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Why there will never be a Canva or Atlassian from Aussie AI
“I’m seeing way more exciting stuff in the US,” says Zeb Rice, a venture capital investor targeting AI start-ups in Australia and the US.
- Anthony Macdonald
How SBF ‘spent billions’ in customer funds before FTX collapse
Court documents show Sam Bankman-Fried and his associates spent voraciously on investments, donations and real estate even in the crypto exchange’s final months.
- Yueqi Yang
- Exclusive
- Funding
Employment Hero secures $263m in year’s biggest capital raising
The human resources technology firm has shrugged off depressed private tech market sentiment and is now valued at just shy of $2 billion.
- Paul Smith
Big ideas trump commercialisation for new CSIRO boss
Doug Hilton has laid out plans for it to help answer the big questions facing society, while also making some money along the way.
- Updated
- Tess Bennett
Kate Morris’ goal is to make 10 other women ‘really wealthy’
Th Adore Beauty co-founder says the way to get serious about addressing under-investment in female fund managers and founders is the $3.5 trillion superannuation industry.
- Jemima Whyte
- Exclusive
- Funding
AirTree bought and sold Canva in deal at market peak
The venture capital fund bought with its 2021 fund and sold from its 2014 fund at a $US39 billion valuation – a third higher than Canva is worth now.
- Nick Bonyhady
- Exclusive
- Funding
Canva won’t list before 2025, but investors will still get rich soon
The graphic design software company is such a success that guessing when its IPO will be held has become a parlour game for the Australian technology sector.
- Nick Bonyhady
- Exclusive
- Funding
Big money is back as space tech start-up raises $120m
Skykraft, which is building satellites to communicate with aircraft in flight anywhere in the world, has closed one of the year’s biggest investments.
- Paul Smith
- Exclusive
- Funding
Digital debt collector counts benefits of a cost-of-living crisis
Perennial-backed InDebted has made its first acquisition since 2021 as a rise in people defaulting on payments sees it approach profitability for the first time.
- Tess Bennett
Bedrooms become bomb shelters as VCs do deals amid destruction
With colleagues on the frontline and international deals on the line, Israel-based VCs such as Ben Weiss are leading double lives.
- Paul Smith
Ex-Macquarie suit raising $30m to hunt for the next Xpansiv
Wunala’s current portfolio includes two unicorns in Xpansiv and Crimson Education.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
VCs could be told to reveal gender, sexual orientation of their picks
Australian venture capital firms talk a good game about promoting diversity through their investments, but the stats show most don’t follow through.
- Tess Bennett
Venture capitalists Queensland-bound after govt investment fund rammed
Funds could also apply for up to $500,000 in operating expenses to establish themselves in God’s Country (aka Queensland).
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
- Exclusive
- Start-ups
Milkrun investors to get back less than 20¢ in the dollar
The company went into liquidation with enough money to repay all its suppliers, staff and landlords, unlike some start-ups that end up depending on the taxpayer.
- Updated
- Nick Bonyhady
- Exclusive
- Start-ups
Forrest, Denholm families unite to create more female millionaires
Aliavia Ventures co-founder Marisa Warren says women in venture capital are still underrepresented at the general and managing partner level.
- Tess Bennett
- Exclusive
- Funding
Aussie start-ups face ‘much harsher’ terms from US investors
Tougher term sheets from international investors are pitting founders against their existing investors, whose stakes could become worthless.
- Jessica Sier
