‘OpenAI can’t mark its own homework’: Optus ex-CEO says rogue AI is an inevitability
Kelly Bayer Rosmarin’s Aigentsphere startup raised $4 million from VC Main Sequence earlier this year.
Entrepreneurs
Australian AI lab caps $10 million pre-seed raise to run in global AI race
Metacognition AI raised $10 million from Main Sequence in a round ten times the size of Australia’s pre-seed average.
OpenAI inks deal with $14 billion Australian data centre player Firmus
OpenAI will be a foundational customer of two AI Factory data centres Australian company Firmus is developing. Key Takeaways Key Background Founded by Oliver Curtis and Tim Rosenfield, Firmus has rocketed almost out of nowhere to become Australia’s third largest data centre company by valuation. It has raised US$2.5 billion ($3.5 billion) so far this […]
Canva takes the fight to Microsoft and Google for enterprise subscribers
As it reshapes its core creativity products around AI, Canva is also hoping more prosaic productivity features can drive subscriptions.
Brandon Capital’s $60m taypayer-funded biotech bets
Around $60 million in taxpayer funds has been deployed by Brandon Capital to startups working on cancer cures, infection prevention, fibrosis treatment and more. Brandon Capital has deployed around $60 million of National Reconstruction Fund capital across 10 biotech startups over the past year, championing the NRF as helping to keep promising technology in the […]
Diraq pushing its quantum computer to the cloud amid commercialisation race
The Sydney startup will setup a basic quantum computer in an Equinix data centre by October, it said on Tuesday, as it moves to commercialise a technology that’s been in R&D phase for decades. Key Takeaways Key Background Proponents of quantum computing say it could be a US$200 billion industry that will enable fundamental breakthroughs […]
Inside alcheMe: Rebecca Judd’s new formula for tween skincare
As the global tween skincare market charges toward $8.1 billion, entrepreneur Judd joins startup alcheMe to protect Gen Alpha’s skin barrier.
Xero investors protest CEO’s new $25.5m pay pack
Over 70 per cent of eligible shareholders voted against the Xero board’s decision to award Sukhinder Singh Cassidy a target pay package of $25.5 million amid the company’s stock struggles. Key Takeaways Key Background Earlier this week Xero’s board rewarded chief executive Sukhinder Singh Cassidy with a 22 per cent pay rise, lifting her target […]
Blackbird closes record $1 billion fund, but turns ‘cautious’ on AI
Blackbird has raised $1.05b from prestigious global institutions like Morgan Stanley and Schroders to establish the biggest Australian VC fund yet.
Millennials came of age in hustle culture. Now they’re turning to ‘boring’ businesses
Opinion: Millennials grew up during the startup boom. Now, MYOB CEO Paul Robson argues, many are taking a more measured path to business ownership, favouring dependable service businesses with recurring revenue. For much of the past two decades, entrepreneurship has been synonymous with disruption. For many, success was measured in funding rounds, rapid scaling and […]