October, November & December
4th Quarter
Australia’s tech, startup and VC funding news from across October, November and December of 2019, focusing on early stage startups.
For technology-specific news for the most recent month, visit the Other News section, covering blockchain, artificial intelligence, fintech and cryptocurrency news across the 17 jurisdictions that we cover.
October 2019 • November 2019 • December 2019
October 2019
- Australia: Optus adds to its range of 5G phones, totalling three for now, but without in-building 5G services yet available
- Australia: Member-based angel investor group Investible closes first fund of $22M, with sights set on early-stage startup funding
- Australia: Sempo blockchain startup takes Impact Pitch Night win from Startup Victoria for financial inclusion solution
- Australia: A look at Karst Stone Paper, making biodegradable paper from limestone with 67% less carbon emissions than traditional paper-making
- Australian Computer Society appoints Director of Scale Up and Innovation Labs, former CEO of HashChing fintech startup
- Australia: Payment Logic rolls out Yak Pay in partnership with Visa, with cost-effective payments processing
- Australia: Woolworths tasks WooliesX unit with creating ‘high quality online grocery service’ for business customers, capable of delivering $1BN revenue by 2024
- Australia goes backwards on 63-nation ranking across study’s 3 main criteria: Knowledge, Technology, and Future Readiness
- Australia: Android and Apple iOS users can now create myGovID digital ID to access government services online
- Australia: Proptech startup :Different raises $3.5M, aiming for national expansion with app-based full-spectrum property management
- Australia: Aboriginal Entrepreneur Hub to be established at Lot Fourteen innovation neighbourhood in Adelaide’s CBD by year-end
- Australia: Basiq open banking startup gains Series A funding from Salesforce Ventures, NAB Ventures and Westpac’s Reinventure
- Australia: Immutable, gaming startup, hit by concerted cyber attack for supporting professional gamer banned by Blizzard for endorsing HK democracy protests
- …the scope of the Bills dramatically and inappropriately exceeds Australian’s reasonable expectations to…the right to privacy and freedom of association
- Australia: Decade-long dataset of global cyber-threat landscape unveiled, to enable cybersecurity specialists to mine insights and predict future malicious activity
- Australia: Sydney Knowledge Hub launched by the University of Sydney to create deep connections with STEM entrepreneurs
- Perth Mint launches gold-backed Ethereum token guaranteed by the government of Western Australia
- Australia: Startup Founders Research Report – research into the wellbeing of startup founders and entrepreneurs, from KPMG (pdf)
- Australia: West Tech Fest set for 2-9 December in Perth, celebrating Asia Pacific’s startup ecosystem and showcasing innovation, investment and entrepreneurship
- Australia: WA Health Digital Strategy 2020-2030 unveiled, aiming to transform the healthcare system over the next decade
- Australia: UK’s TrueLayer open banking startup gains expansion footprint with new APAC hub, aiming for growth into Singapore and Hong Kong
- Australia: University of Queensland’s ilab Accelerator opens 2020 program applications, closing November 1st
- Senior members launch campaign against corporatisation proposed for the governance structure at the Australian Computer Society
- Australia: AusTrade unveils new report outlining $7.3BN cybersecurity opportunity in Southeast Asia
- Australia: Median fintech revenue is up 80% but access to capital has shrunk, finds EY FinTech Australia Census 2019
- SingularityU Australia Summit set for October 22-23 in Sydney, aiming to look at the latest in exponential technologies and positive impact
- Download: EY FinTech Australia Census 2019 (pdf)
- Australia: Smart Cities Week 2019 event set for October 30 in Sydney
- Australia: Cyber-security branch established by Parliamentary Services to improve analysis of threat intelligence and detection following February cyber-attack
- Australia: Reimagination Thought Leaders’ Summit 2019 from ACS set for December 4th in Melbourne
- United Nations questions the legality of Australia’s controversial Centrelink robo-debt scheme, and the country’s use of cashless welfare cards
- Australia: Devika tech startup partnererd by HP Australia for end-to-end virtual reality solutions for HP customers
- Australia’s Sound Scouts hearing test startup 1 of 3 to win investment at Fire Pitch Competition in Texas
- Australia: Future Agro Challenge 2019 for agtech and foodtech innovators set for 1st weekend in November on the Atherton Tablelands
- Australia: Canva raises $85M led by Mary Meeker’s Bond Capital VC firm, taking valuation to $3.2BN and making it one of the most valuable female-led startups globally
- Australia: Code Barrel acquired by Atlassian for automation tooling on Atlassian’s Jira team ticket tracking product
- Australia: Applications now open for the 2020 Fashion360 Accelerator Program from QUT’s Creative Enterprise Australia
- An intro to FlexCareers, platform connecting talented individuals, entrepreneurs, carers, adventurers and others seeking a balanced life, with progressive employers
- Australia: AirTree Ventures closes Au$275M fund
- Australia: An intro to Pellar, white label blockchain solutions firm with applications currently used by 21 car manufacturers globally
- The Things Conference Asia Pacific On Tour 2019 – Adelaide, November 19th
- Australia: 5 student startups from Australian National University recognised at InnovationACT 2019 Awards Night, sharing $50K of grants and other support
- Australia: Humanitix NFP ticketing platform which redirects booking fees for events to charities gains events ticketing partner integration with Facebook
- Australia: National facial recognition system plans in disarray after bipartisan committee orders legislation redraft due to privacy and transparency concerns
- Australia: eftpos to launch public API program in early 2020, and will partner Stone&Chalk to build closer relationships with the Australian fintech community
- Australia: An intro to Strong Room, methadone dispensing software with facial recognition-based patient verification, patient alerts and stock management
- Australia: An intro to 4 women-led startups working on eliminating food waste
- Australia: Government aims to meld driver’s licence databases with facial-recognition technology, now claiming identity theft crimes as reasoning
- Australian Computer Society members vote for organisation to become a company in major governance overhaul
- Australia: An intro to the winners of the Perth leg of NASA’s Space Apps Challenge – SciTech’s data-driven VR game, and Oceanth Generation’s low-cost ‘net access
- Australia: Meet Refueler, allowing users to pre-purchase fuel when the price is low, then pump it into their vehicle later
- Australia: A brief look at how recruitment startups are preparing for Uber’s entry to the recruitment space with Uber Works
- Australia: Devika tech startup partners with Equalution health-tech app to deliver AI-driven customised health plans
- An intro to Australia’s Okra Solar, aiming to eradicate energy poverty using solar minigrids, starting in Cambodia
- Australia: Frankly Co prep for $2.5M equity crowdfunding campaign for women-focused coworking with childcare and fitness options
- Australia: Medical Device Partnering Program aims to foster collaborations between researchers, industry, end-users and gov’t for medical tech with global potential
- Australia: “…most surprising thing about the failure of…planned facial recognition database…is that there hadn’t been broader debate and outcry…”
- Australia: An intro to 4 clean energy startups selected for EnergyLab incubator
- Australia: ACS Australia Digital Pulse 2019 report – a snapshot of Australia’s digital economy, workforce and policy landscape
- Australia: Activate Angels initiative launches to help South Australian startups to access private sector funding
- Australia’s Power Ledger partners Malaysia’s Sustainable Energy Development Authority to trial peer to peer energy trading
- 4 startups selected for BlueChilli Australian accelerator’s inaugural Singapore healthtech accelerator
- Good Life X, Sri Lanka’s first international startup accelerator program, launches in partnership with Hatch coworking and Australia’s iAccelerate
November 2019
- Australia: An intro to the FOMENT accelerator focusing on the wine tourism industry, and the 7 agtech startups selected for the pilot program
- Australia: SpaceX starts regulatory process for permission to operate Starlink satellite broadband service, with intended initial launch of 12K satellites
- Australia: The Freelancer API Hackathon set for November 22-23 as part of StartCon 2019 in Sydney
- Australia: Westpac bank selects UK’s 10x Future Technologies for build of standalone banking-as-a-service platform
- Australia: Muso live music marketplace secures Au$1.5M to connect venues and musicians
- Australia: Block2 blockchain firm implements EY’s OpsChain Tesseract blockchain for 2Mota vehicle services marketplace
- Australia: Facial recognition system trial now underway in 5 schools, raising privacy, surveillance and data security fears
- Australia: An intro to BlueVolt, owner-installable, self-designing solar system startup focused on urban environments in the Mirvac/INCO Impact Accelerator program
- Australia: An intro to AI-powered Sortal, a trainable and personalised digital asset management system
- Australia: Lawpath legaltech firm secures Au$4.4M with online legal solutions
- Australia: StartCon Pitch for a Million applications close soon, so get in quick – Australian regionals take place at StartCon, November 22 and 23 in Sydney
- Australia: John McAfee, founder of McAfee AntiVirus, to speak at StartCon, Australia’s premier startup conference and expo, set for November 22-23
- Australia: An intro to HealthMatch, health-tech startup that recently raised $6M to match patients with clinical trials
- Australia: Former Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, to speak on innovation policy at StartCon Conference and Expo in Sydney, November 22-23
- Australian Government releases AI ethics principles document, outlining 8 recommendations when designing, developing, integrating or using AI systems
- Australia: Greenfield MC Global medicinal cannabis startup launches equity crowdfunding round aimed at smaller-scale investors
- Australia’s Skyy Network makes it to semi-final list of New York’s GENIUS NY competition unmanned aircraft systems traffic management system
- Australia: Growave startup to commence trials using microwave tech to control herbicide-resistant weeds
- Australia: A look at the recent Innovation Bay and ARENA event, and the 5 renewable energy startups that pitched
- More on the Blue Dot Network, led by the US, Japan and Australia, and how it differs from China’s Belt and Road Initiative
- Australia: Power Ledger to integrate Virtual Power Plant energy trading application with Powerclub electricity wholesaler, giving users wholesale pricing and more
- Australia: DayTek Capital to launch Infinity challenger bank by mid-2020, aiming to deliver unique products and services to retail and business
- Australia: SheStarts program a likely casualty of BlueChilli restructure in the firm’s move away from early-stage startups towards scale-ups and established outfits
- Australia: New Venture Institute at Flinders University takes top place in UBI World Benchmark Study focused on university-linked incubators and accelerators
- Australia: An at-a-glance infographic of 188 of the country’s proptech firms
- Australia: A look at SimpleKYC, reg-tech startup aiming to take its AML compliance solution to global markets
- Australia: Adelaide Startup Resource List – 250+ accelerators, incubators, investors, and more, from Founder Institute
- Australia: Startmate Climate Cohort launches, seeking 10 teams or solo founders for 12-week program
- Australia: Zoom2U on-demand courier startup raises $4.2M on e-commerce roots, with sights on services expansion
- Australia: Vygo peer-to-peer mentoring startup to back soon-to-launch Mentor Academy platform for training domestic and international student mentors
- Australia: EY Foundry unveils 4 startups selected for accelerator program, focusing on the accounting, tax, fintech, legal-tech and regulatory sectors
- Australia: NASA’s Christyl Johnson to keynote at StartCon 2019 in Sydney next week, outlining vision for 2024 moon mission
- Australia: An intro to SILVR, bringing seniors together through shared experiences in virtual reality
- Australia: Nokk proptech startup – over 7K customers, 3K properties and a $1M fundraise whilst still in Beta
- Australia: Carly, a flexible monthly car subscription service, inks $2.2M deal with SG Fleet, offering an alternative to car ownership
- Australia: Blockchain Australia National Meetup Roadshow’s Perth edition set for December 3rd
- Australia: Federal government Clean Energy Finance Corporation and Atlassian’s Mike Cannon-Brookes to back new $30M VC fund targeting agrifood sector
- Australia: An intro to Powershop’s Your Community Energy project, allowing customers to boost energy payments to benefit charitable organisations
- Australia: A look at the University of Queensland’s recent development in performance around image processing and algorithms in digital pathology
- Australia: Hometime Airbnb property management startup raises $6.7M on top of May fundraise of $6M, in part from NAB Ventures
- Australia: Tyro payments services provider files domestic IPO prospectus aiming to raise as much as Au$252M
- Australia: Theatrix VR takes Gold eNVIe at Flinders University’s New Venture Institute eNVIes Awards
- Australia: thingc Robotics to commence trials of electric agriculture robot, aiming to deliver autonomous vehicles for farming
- Australia: Government proposes national cyber regime for IoT and smart devices based on 13 principles – but makes it a voluntary scheme
- Australia: Westpac partners Microsoft for Data Driven Experience Platform, AI/ML-driven banking hub to provide more personalised services to customers
- Australia: A brief intro to the 8 tech startups that received funding under the government’s Accelerating Commercialisation grants program
- Australia: Video interview with NASA’s Dr Christyl Johnson on plans to put the first woman, and the next man, on the moon by 2024, as also outlined at StartCon
- ICYMI: SheEO, global women’s organisation providing funding to female founders opens Australia applications for 2020 Venture Funding program
- Australia’s Linktree makes CNBC list of the world’s 100 most promising startups of 2019 with social media ‘front door’ management
- Australia: Canngea to establish Australia’s largest pharmaceutical-grade indoor facility to grow and manufacture high quality medical cannabis products
- Australia: More on Tenacious Ventures agri-foodtech VC firm’s $16M fundraise, and an interview with TV co-founder Sarah Nolet
- Australia: How to get more VC investment into WA companies – Techboard Roundtable event set for December 3rd in Perth
- A video interview with Dan Lok from Australia’s StartCon 2019 event, held in Sydney on November 22 and 23
- Australia: Rio Tinto to unveil $10M program to identify education providers to work with Amazon Web Services, aiming to boost skills in STEM subjects
- Deloitte Australia partners ioTium, California-based IoT startup, to explore opportunities in industrial IoT in Australia
- Australia: Sydney Quantum Academy soft-launches, a government-funded collaboration between 4 universities focusing on quantum computing research and applications
- Blocking Huawei from Australia’s 5G network may not mitigate risks around the company’s telecommunication gear being used elsewhere, says defence strategist
- Australia: ‘The AI Dilemma – is it possible to perfect ethical decision making?’ Lucy Lin’s talk from the recent StartCon Conference and Expo in Sydney
- Australian Strategic Policy Institute launches China Defence Universities Tracker, detailed resource on defence/security links of 160+ Chinese universities & research institutions
- Australia: Attorney-General says social media platforms should be held legally accountable in the same way as publishers for defamatory comments posted
- Australia: Monash University launches Monash Blockchain Technology Centre, building outwards from faculty-level internal research lab
- Australia: A look at LaunchVic’s new delivery strategy following changes in the state budget allocation for the body
- Australia: Power Ledger unveil 2 new wins – one expanding into National Energy Market, another to trial P2P energy marketplace in India’s Uttar Pradesh state
- Australia: Stone & Chalk coworking space formally launches in Adelaide’s Lot Fourteen, and opens applications for startup residencies
- Australian Navy to deploy SPEE3D metal 3D printing in trial program aimed at streamlining patrol vessel maintenance
- Australia’s TravelByBit startup to launch cryptocurrency-based payments and travel rewards card in partnership with Binance global crypto exchange
- ICYMI: Fresh Equities wins Australasian Startup Award for Best Fintech Startup of 2019 at StartCon Conference and Expo in Sydney
- Australia: Applications open now open for the Sydney edition of Founder Institute pre-seed accelerator
- Australia: Impact Investment Group launches BOLD, loans with positive action in mind, rewarding businesses for policies that benefit society and the environment
- Australia: Each of the Big Four banks agree to $100M participation in Government’s $520M SME-focused Business Growth Fund
- A look at why Australia’s mining giants are racing for automation
- Australia: Kasada anti-bot startup raises $7M Series A from US In-Q-Tel VC fund with solution that combats malicious automation
- Australia’s ‘robodebt’ debacle – algorithmically-generated notices to welfare recipients around alleged income discrepancies, or repayment of alleged debt
- A brief intro to the 12 Australian and New Zealand tech startups chosen to compete in the $1M Ingram Micro Comet competition
December 2019
- Australia: AgriFutures EvokeAg Conference set for February 18-19 2020 in Melbourne
- An overview of Australia’s Sendle and its launch in the US, providing low-cost, carbon-neutral delivery services by placing items in underutilised shipments
- Australia: Gov’t releases AI tech roadmap, built around 3 specialisations – health, ageing, disability; cities, towns, infrastructure; natural resources and environment
- KPMG rolls out KPMG Origins, blockchain-based track-and-trace platform for trade, in Australia, China and Japan
- Australia: A brief intro to Melbourne’s Hatch Quarter, coworking hub focused on migrant and refugee entrepreneurs
- Australia: Okra Solar takes Hardware Battlefield champion prize at TechCrunch Conference in Shenzhen in November with plug-and-play smart grid technology
- Australia: StartupAus Crossroads Report 2019 now online and available to download
- Australia: Blockchain and the creative industries – how cultural institutions would cooperate to build shared infrastructure to grow this segment of the economy
- Australia: ICYMI – Minimum Viable Product grants are available to qualifying NSW startups, providing funds to progress from POC stage to MVP
- Australia: Remarkable Accelerator Program applications open to February 2020 for disability-focused tech startups
- Australia: CivVic Labs unveils 3 startups from inaugural 3-month program, working in health, and transport
- Australia: Upcoming Finder personal finance-focused app aims to help you find better rates, less fees and more savings automatically
- Australia: An intro to Upcover, delivering pay-as-you-go insurance with a focus on the gig economy, domestically and overseas
- Australia: CAASie ad-tech startup launches open marketplace aiming to make out-of-home advertising accessible and flexible for small and growing businesses
- Australia: Invest Wollongong launches, a partnership between NSW Government, Wollongong City Council and the University of Wollongong
- Australia: Startupbootcamp Australia unveils the 10 startups selected for third edition of Smart Energy Accelerator
- Australia: Another look at SilVR Adventures, providing tailored VR to groups of seniors in aged care facilities to aid mental health issues resulting from isolation
- Australia: QUT’s CEA Fashion360 Accelerator Program applications close 16th December
- Australia: RMIT University to launch Cyber Ready Cloud Innovation Centre in 2020, in partnership with federal gov’t and Amazon Web Services
- Australia: Quicka invoicing startup aims to capitalize on the fact that business owners would rather lose a portion of revenue and simply get paid on time
- Australia: A podcast interview with founder Liam Scanlon of Eat Your Water, independent surf brand, on New Economy Media
- Australia: Welcome to Day One, a podcast amplifying the stories of regional startups and founders
- Australia: UBank and Basiq partnership focuses on open data banking, leveraging machine learning to give customers a more complete picture of their finances
- Australia: Optus partners with Ericsson to make its first 5G data call over 2300MHz spectrum in what is claimed to be a world-first by a telecoms carrier
- Australia: An intro to Avertro, startup aiming to ensure executives fully comprehend the risks their digital front line faces
- Australia: Adelaide China Biotech Investment Fund launches with $45M corpus, for commercialisation of health and biotech research
- Australia: Pod & Parcel launches barista-quality compostable coffee pods in the US via e-commerce platforms
- Australian companies operating in China to be forced to allow Chinese gov’t access to encrypted data, described as legalising in-country theft of trade secrets
- Australia: “…we will arrive at a situation in which unelected bureaucrats will decide what is real and what is fake, what is fit for public consumption and what is off-limits…”
- Australia: A look at Freighty, new insurance product offering point-of-sale insurance on goods purchased online
- Australia: A quick intro to OrigoFarm, IoT-based agtech providing real-time data monitoring, data analysis and automatic map generation
- Australia: The Melt launches, country’s first industrial prototyping lab, collaboration between Slingshot accelerator, Dantia economic dev company and Ampcontrol
- Australia: An overview of Victorian International Container Terminal in the Port of Melbourne, the country’s first fully-automated facility of its kind
- Australia: An intro to AirRobe, luxury fashion resale platform focusing on consumers who want to dress with sustainability in mind
- Mastercard launches digital ID pilot program with Australia Post and Deakin University, cross-referencing from mobile to bank or government for verification
- Australia: An intro to the 9 startups selected for the University of Queensland’s 2020 ilab Accelerator program
- Australia: Opera Queensland and Google Creative Lab partner to create prototype AR app with a version of The Magic Flute, aiming to open opera to new audiences
- Australia: An intro to ColourSpace, social enterprise sourcing artwork from local and emerging artists, leasing them to corporate and communal spaces
- Australia: An intro to 9 startups and entrepreneurs that hit their stride in 2019
- Lime, US e-scooter startup, launches LimePass weekly subscription plan in Australia and New Zealand, giving users unlimited unlocks for e-scooters and bikes
- Australia: CoverHero insurtech firm launches Hustle Cover product, providing instant, customisable income protection insurance for gig workers
- Australia: Macquarie University researchers develop device to turn electric vehicles into EV charging stations
- Australia: Enlighten Imaging gains gov’t funding with simple eye test that detects signs of Alzheimer’s disease
- Australia: La Trobe University Bendigo campus adds VR and AR to help students better understand the intricacies of human anatomy
- Yume surplus food reselling platform partners Suez global waste management giant on installation to demonstrate the scale of Australia’s food waste problem
- Australia: SendGold peer-to-peer platform gains pre-A investment to allow individuals to build and transfer wealth outside of banks
- Australia: AUSTRAC anti-money laundering agency revokes licences of three cryptocurrency exchange operators due to alleged criminal ties
- Australia: Find out more about The Studio, in Sydney’s Startup Hub, in January 2020 – a workspace for Australian media-tech and creative-tech startups
- Australia: An intro to PeepsRide, platform for care and transport providers to manage transport services for people with a disability, the elderly or those in care
- Australia: A brief intro to the new board of Blockchain Australia
- Australia: Duct Tape magazine launches inaugural issue, a joint initiative by Victoria University and StartupVic, supported by Australian Landing Pads
- Australia: Deakin University reportedly to be first offering fully-accredited cybersecurity qualification under country’s first cybersec course accreditation scheme
- Australia: Somehow, Brisbane’s Cross River Rail Authority contracts China’s Huawei for digital signalling system, ignoring federal government ‘high-risk vendor’ status
- Australia: SoldierLy tech startup a winner in global finals of Pitch @ Palace 2019 in London with military PTSD-focused IDSTRESS app
- Australia: An intro to Groupee, social payments startup with real-time payment app allowing groups to share purchase costs anywhere that accepts Visa tap-and-go
- Australia: An intro to investment platform Wholesale Investor and its focus on connecting companies and startups with potential investors
- Australia: An at-a-glance infographic outlining the country’s entrepreneur support organisations, by state
- Australia: Blockchain and the Creative Industries, from RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub (pdf)
- Vodafone Australia to launch 5G services in H1 2020 on network comprising end-to-end Nokia equipment, an alternative, economically viable Huawei-free model
- Mapping more of China’s tech giants: Australian Strategic Policy Institute update on companies mainly in the artificial intelligence and surveillance tech sectors
- MIT Review unveils Innovators Under 35 list for the Asia-Pacific region, featuring 20 innovators, inventors and pioneers
- India: Uttar Pradesh, state with over 200M inhabitants, testing blockchain-powered solar energy trading platform, with participation from Australia’s Power Ledger
- India’s Ola ride-share giant rolls out ‘Guardian’ AI-enabled safety feature in 16 cities across India, and Perth in Western Australia
- India-Australia Waste to Wealth Design Comp applications close January 5th, student-focused and seeking sustainability, circular economy and waste mgmt concepts
- Australia’s :Different property management startup doubles down on Sri Lanka team investment in local engineering culture and talent pool
- Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City reiterates goal of becoming a strategic partner of Australia in innovation and education in recent state-level visit
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