This Month
Online music platform Melodie banks $1m funding
The Funded blog is the home for news on the tech deals that are done in Australia, as soon as we hear about them.
- Updated
‘Business spends bugger all’: what landmark R&D review aims to fix
Technology industry experts warn a new government review into the R&D system must not cut tax incentives, and must kick-start anaemic business investment.
- Updated
- AI
‘Like AI from the movies:’ New ChatGPT arrives
The launch was not without some snags: after coaching a researcher through solving an algebra problem, it said: “Wow, that’s quite the outfit you’ve got on.”
- Opinion
- Tech Observed
Apple ad fail shows why we fear AI
Apple has apologised for an ad for its new iPads that was so tone-deaf that the creative types, who normally love the company, had an existential fright.
- Exclusive
- Executive shake-up
New Uber bosses to see through gig economy transition
There will be new heads of both Uber and Uber Eats in Australia, ahead of gig economy rules that threaten to significantly raise its cost of doing business.
- Opinion
- Quantum Computing
Answers emerge slowly to government’s $1b quantum questions
Questions are mounting over how PsiQuantum was backed when we have been told so often to marvel at local tech stars.
- Exclusive
- Privacy
CBA beats government to start-up opportunity from data breach scandals
Commonwealth Bank has a new app launching on Tuesday to warn citizens when their identity documents are in the wrong hands.
April
‘Country mile ahead’: How PsiQuantum won a $1b investment
Chief scientist Cathy Foley said US-based PsiQuantum showed it was a “country mile” ahead of other Aussie companies in trying to build a world-first quantum computer.
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
Made in Australia ‘over-due’ as Sydney VC forms $US150m fund in Singapore
Sydney-based VC fund Investible has secured Indonesia’s biggest bank as an investor, its CEO says Australia has ground to make up on regional peers.
Merger shake-up threatens to ‘kill off the start-up sector’
Tech leaders have warned that proposed merger laws will kill deals before they close, starving the sector of the capital it needs to continue to grow.
Insurers told to slash prices for households that reduce risks
Steps could include roof replacement, upgrading garage doors, boosting window protection, tying down sheds, and replacing flimsy hollow doors.
- Exclusive
- Funding
Sydney start-up Honey Insurance lands blockbuster $108m US investment
After 305 meetings Honey has closed a huge series A funding round, but it had to head offshore to find the right investors.
Uber and GoCatch stagger out for round two of court case
Nobody expected a clean fight when GoCatch called out Uber for huge damages, but startling details in the first week of the trial have left both sides wounded.
Founder fights and investor fury exposed as Uber makes its case
Investors in fallen transport app GoCatch were alarmed by its lack of progress and wanted to sack its co-founders around the time UberX launched in Australia, private emails show.
‘Not honourable, but lawful’: Uber justifies using spyware on rival
Uber’s lawyers said taking private data from its rival GoCatch was not like burglary, and compared its lawbreaking to publishers selling Lady Chatterley’s Lover.
Uber admits to illegal activity at launch in Australia
A Melbourne trial to judge if Uber unfairly scuttled a rival’s business has begun with the ridesharing giant admitting it operated illegally in Australia a decade ago.
- Exclusive
- Start-ups
How Macquarie’s $46m investment in an Aussie tech firm turned into $1
Macquarie Capital poured $46m into Plutora, but sold its stake for a dollar, and administrators have met to try to figure out what is left in its operations.
Uber’s ‘espionage plot’ to ‘crush’ Packer-backed rival GoCatch
Well before the ride-sharing giant dominated, it had a big local rival. This week, Victorian courts will hear explosive claims of how it killed the competition.
March
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
Square Peg touts billion-dollar returns as it hits up market for $843m
Square Peg, one of Australia’s biggest venture capital firms, has revealed its returns to shareholders have topped $1 billion
Booktopia vows to do anything to stay afloat
The boss of the book retailer says all options are on the table in a strategic review hastened by a disastrous share price performance.