Less than a decade after launching AirTrunk, Robin Khuda is building data centres on a scale once unimaginable — and says the next decade’s AI infrastructure build-out will be “the biggest gold rush in human history”. AirTrunk founder and CEO Robin Khuda is set to announce a one-gigawatt data centre in the Asia Pacific in […]
What began as two mates drinking at the Opera Bar wondering how to afford their watch habits turned into Panzera – a Sydney-based brand making Swiss and Australian timepieces selling around the world. By his own admission, Andrew Herman had no business starting a watch company. He wasn’t a watchmaker, he wasn’t Swiss, and he […]
Once a Melbourne university spin-out, now a billion-dollar U.S. medtech, Synchron has secured $308 million to accelerate brain-computer interfaces — and Australia’s government is paying to bring it home. Key Takeaways Key Background Synchron’s brain computer interface was developed by founders Tom Oxley, a neurologist and brain surgeon, and Nick Opie, a professor of bio-medical […]
Fourth-generation winemaker Emma Brown says aluminium wine bottles are landing with consumers… as one of Australia’s oldest family-owned wineries tests the market for the eco-friendly, but expensive, containers. 136 years since her great-grandfather first bottled wine in Victoria’s King Valley, Emma Brown is spearheading an innovation her ancestors couldn’t have imagined: prosecco in aluminium bottles. […]
Sydney-based Hullbot, maker of autonomous underwater robots that scrub ship hulls, has raised $16 million in a Series A round led by climate-focused funds. Key Takeaways Key Background Hullbot CEO Tom Loefler founded the company based on recognising that biofouling was a persistent, costly problem in global shipping. Traditionally, vessels are cleaned infrequently in dry […]
Anduril, the company that opened a submarine factory in Sydney today, sits somewhere between a sovereign capability saviour and a sci-fi character. Anduril’s Asia Pacific CEO David Goodrich asked his board to start building a submarine factory in Sydney 18 months before any contract was signed. “I had a lot of sleepless nights,” he says […]
From its noir origins to its newfound elegance, Manly Pacific’s transformation mirrors a broader renaissance sweeping through Sydney’s northern beaches. Brisbane property developer Adam Flaskas looks out across Sydney Harbour from his new Felons bar, like he kinda just can’t believe it. “I sound like a broken record with my kids, always saying that old […]
The Brisbane-based inventor and Rolex Laureate behind Vaxxas and WearOptimo is betting on skin as the future of medicine. Mark Kendall has moments “where things sort of stand still”. There is absolute lucidity and, “click”, he sees things. It’s a process that has seen the Brisbane biomedical engineer take out more than 160 patents, – […]
Two CSIRO spinouts — NextOre and MRead — have merged to form MagnaTerra, uniting mining innovation and humanitarian purpose in a $150 million deal. Nick Cutmore’s career as a CSIRO scientist saw him commercialise some 14 tech breakthroughs – mostly helping the coal, iron ore and gold mining industries – but now he’s focused on […]
Born in a Sydney hospital, ResMed turned a clunky sleep aid into a global sleep-tech empire. Now it’s facing the next big test — the age of Ozempic and digital health. This story appears in Issue 19 of Forbes Australia, out now. Tap here to secure your copy. It all began when fourth-year medical student Colin […]