Jim Penman

Jim’s Politics: Why Australia’s franchise king is running for the Libertarians

His daughter probably won’t vote for him. He won’t be premier, but if Jim Penman – the man behind Jim’s Mowing – can make his $10 million home worth less, he’ll be happy. Millionaire lawnmower Jim Penman says his house is worth too much and he wants to see the price come down. The Jim’s […]

Neara

Unicorn watch: Meet Australia’s newest billion-dollar company

What began as a tool to troubleshoot power grids has pushed Neara into unicorn territory, as booming data centre demand reshapes how electricity networks are planned and supplied. Key Takeaways Big number 945 terawatt hours. That’s how much energy the world’s data centres are forecast to be chewing up by 2030, compared to about 415 […]

Sovereign Australia AI founders Simon Kriss and Troy Nielson

After accidentally building ‘Bogan AI’ these Aussies are raising $80M for a local ChatGPT-rival

Following an unpolished, swearing predecessor, the team behind Sovereign Australia AI is securing investment to deploy Australis – a platform built to insulate domestic information from foreign jurisdiction. The first proof of concept at building an Australian large language model came out sounding more like an argument in a North Queensland pub than a trusted […]

Meet the Aussie quietly shaping the Winter Olympics newest sport

World skiing’s governing bodies created a new Winter Olympics sport and put this Aussie in charge, even though he’d never done it before. Lara Hamilton was studying on an athletics scholarship at Boise State University when, in 2020, she saw people “skiing uphill really fast” in Colorado. She’d never heard of ski mountaineering until then […]

Emergence Diraq

Quantum underdog Diraq lands $20 million to take on global rivals

Quantum startup Diraq has secured a $20 million strategic equity investment from the National Reconstruction Fund as the University of New South Wales spinout pushes to outpace global rivals in the race to build a practical quantum computer. Key Takeaways Background Physicist Andrew Dzurak founded Diraq after breaking away from the lab of his more […]

Autonomous Electric Vehicles AEV

Driverless startup goes postal with $30m backing from federal government

The National Reconstruction Fund Corporation has made its first transport investment, backing Melbourne-based autonomous vehicle maker Applied Electric Vehicles with a $30.7 million equity injection as part of the company’s $58 million Series B raise. The money from the federal government’s $15 billion sovereign investment fund will help send 100 Australian/Japanese made vehicles – with […]

Meta deletes 544,000 accounts – but says Australia’s under-16 social media ban is not working

Mark Zuckerberg’s social media juggernaut has pushed back on the federal government’s landmark social media ban, saying that despite wiping more than half a million accounts, the new law is failing to improve online safety and may be creating new risks for teenagers. Key Takeaways Key background Australia’s under-16 social media ban places the responsibility […]

Elvis tribute artist Tristan James

Elvis as business case study: tribute, reinvention, profit

With the annual Elvis Festival kicking off today, and around 50 Elvises set to descend on Parkes, we look at the business lessons behind The King – reinvention, differentiation, and carving out your own Blue Ocean. Tristan James –  “Australia’s number one Elvis tribute show” according to his website – loves the book Blue Ocean […]