Australian tech news headlines in October 2023 captured developments including: developments in sustainable hydrogen production; indoor, vertical farming in Australian cities; Fiji-Australia partnership on cybersecurity and defense; animal-free dairy products; and more.
And if you’re looking for New Zealand tech news from October, the headlines snapshot is further down this page.
For other editions, take a look at Asia’s tech news, daily, delivered via LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter/X, and our Indo-Pacific tech newsletters for a weekly email update on Asia’s tech scene.
So, for Australian tech news from October 2023, hit the headline links below; each is linked to the article behind it in full.
And for New Zealand tech, see further down the page; our coverage of NZ tech news in October is a bit light, so we’ve consolidated it as part of Australia’s news, given the closeness of the two nations.
Australian Cybersecurity Strategy 2023-2030
- DYNE Maritime, a US venture capital firm, has launched a Au$157M fund to invest in maritime tech related to the AUKUS agreement
- Australia: SXSW Sydney is this month, 15th-22nd – here’s an intro to the startup-related sessions, courtesy of SmartCompany
- Australia: Eden Brew secured $25M Series A with world-first animal-free casein micelle, key ingredient required to emulate traditional dairy
- Australia: MatchBox Exchange, a shipping container marketplace, has been acquired by WiseTech Global logistics firm, with platform matching supply and demand for empty containers
- 1st Australian Cyber Space Forum is set for October 10th in Adelaide
AUKUS Jobs: Defense Industry Skills
- Australia: Power pole-mounted EV chargers to be installed in Hawks Nest to trial feasibility of wider roll-out of kerbside charging points on poles across regional NSW
- Australia: Renewable Metals battery recycling firm closes $8M round to scale and commercialise environmentally friendlier, lower cost lithium-ion battery recycling tech
- Antler early-stage VC lands $60M for Australia II fund, with applications now open for Cohort 11
- Australia: West Tech Fest is set for December 4-8 in Perth, WA, bringing together startups and the tech community
- Circular raises $7.6M, providing consumers in Australia and Singapore with premium tech device access via subscription plans
- Hydrogen Headstart program was launched by Australian Renewable Energy Agency, aiming to develop the hydrogen industry, catalyse clean energy and connect to global supply chains
Achilles: Q2 2023 Supply Chain Resilience Index
- Australia: An intro to ALIAVIA Ventures, backing women-founded startups in Australia and announcing the US close of its first $13.5M fund
- Australia: Gov’t to intro laws enabling central bank to oversee digital wallets including Google Pay and Apple Pay, subjecting wallet services to same scrutiny as credit cards
- Western Australian government sees business case for new hydrogen electrolyser facilities, finding a 2 GW facility could add Au$200M per annum to local economy
- A brief intro to the 12 finalists for Ocean Impact Pitchfest 2023, working on kelp-based building materials, circular economy use of plastic, blockchain traceability and more
- Australia: An intro to Stacked Farm, planning large indoor farms in each capital city, expanding on Queensland facility
BryceTech: Small Satellites in 2023
- Australia’s SeaStock makes finals in MassChallenge Switzerland 2023 with feed ingredients to limit livestock methane emissions, developed from native Australian seaweeds
- Australia: Boundary Power launches trial of standalone power system using solar power and renewable hydrogen hydride battery to store and generate on-demand electricity
- Australia: Pacific Rim Strategic Policy Conference set for November 29-December 1st in Canberra, with the theme ‘International Security and the Rise of Autonomous Weapons’
- Australia: An intro to 8 Australian startups that collectively raised $433M in the past week
- Airwallex, Australia-founded, Singapore-HQd fintech major, to enter Lat-Am markets with acquisition of Mexico’s MexPago, with sights on global payments infrastructure
- Startup World Cup’s Australia Regional Competition is set for November 15th, hosted by the Uni of Queensland, with applications to pitch closing November 9th
McKinsey: The economic potential of artificial intelligence
- ICYMI: Fiji and Australia to cooperate on cybersecurity, with Fiji also pausing China policing agreement in preference of increasing Australia defence ties
- South Australian gov’t appoints 3 global gas and engineering firms as partners from Au$593M hydrogen production, power plant and storage facility
- Australia: CipherStash startup raised $3M with cybersecurity using advanced encryption to prevent data breaches, integrating with multiple programming languages and databases
- Australia: KPMG opens Future Technology Program for applications from early-stage startups focused on workforce solutions
- Australia: Sunshine Coast Airport becomes Australia’s first airport to install BindiMaps, a digital accessible-wayfinding solution benfiting the blind and vision-impaired
SharePass digital communications security
- Australia: An intro to 10 startups that collectively raised $39M in the past week, working in cybersecurity, call centre tech, insurance-tech and more
- ICYMI: US South Pacific Scholarship Program is open for candidates from Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu
- Singapore: Australia’s Seek employment platform launches JobStreet Express for employers to find ‘semi-skilled’ workers, building on success of the platform in Indonesia
- Japan’s EX-Fusion and Australia’s Electro Optic Systems partner to find laser solutions for space debris, aiming to track and destroy the smallest possible remnants
- New Zealand: FTN Motion electric motorcycle startup to launch flagship Streetdog bike in Australia in 2024, with 80km range, 50km/h top speed, removable battery and more
Australian Signals Directorate Cyber Threat Report 2022-2023
- Indonesia: Stilt Studios raised $10M Series A with sustainably-produced prefabricated modular homes, with sights on Australia as first growth market
- Sequoia India’s Surge accelerator unveils latest cohort, with Australia’s AI-based workforce automation firm, Relevance AI, and employee engagement platform, Mercu, selected
- Mandiri Capital Indonesia and Singapore-Australia early-stage VC, Investible, prep for launch of Global Climate Tech Fund
- Better Bite Ventures backs 3 food-tech startups in latest First Bite funding – Singapore’s Fattastic, Australia’s Pivot Eat, and South Korea’s Everything But
- Singapore: Drive Lah p2p car-sharing service gains $2M funding from ComfortDelGro transport giant, with sights on growth of Australia-focused Drive Mate brand and connected-car tech
- ICYMI: DYNE Maritime, a US venture capital firm, has launched a Au$157M fund to invest in maritime tech related to the AUKUS agreement
Australia’s semiconductor manufacturing moonshot: securing talent
New Zealand tech: October 2023
- New Zealand: Sharesies app partners BlinkPay, Māori fintech startup, to offer secure open banking services, connecting customer data between banks and 3rd party services
- New Zealand: NewFish gains backing from Norway with nutritional supplements derived from microalgae, focusing on marine whey protein
- New Zealand: FTN Motion electric motorcycle startup to launch flagship Streetdog bike in Australia in 2024, with 80km range, 50km/h top speed, removable battery and more
- ICYMI: US South Pacific Scholarship Program is open for candidates from Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu
Bryce Tech: Small Satellites by the numbers, 2023 report
Indo-Pacific TECH news
All-day tech news updates from across the broad – and increasingly strategically and technologically important – Indo-Pacific region, and across South and Southeast Asia:
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Our mobile app is currently offline, due to the ongoing devolution of what was Twitter, now X.
We aim to have the app back online with a much-improved interface and broader functionality late in 2023.
Action Plan: Australian Cybersecurity Strategy 2023-2030
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