This Month
This ex-Macquarie banker toned up Brazil – and made a fortune
When Declan Sherman moved to the Latin American country with the investment bank, he was inspired to show the locals a new way to exercise.
- Yolanda Redrup
Vegan chain collapses amid lack of appetite, Rich Lister dispute
Flave, started by Stuart and Samantha Cook in 2020, wanted to bring plant-based meat to the masses with a chain of vegan restaurants, but it struggled to attract customers.
- Yolanda Redrup
August
Josh Foreman’s InDebted in Series C funding round, US expansion eyed
With a toehold in the US market, which now accounts for 80 per cent of total revenue, the company has its eye on huge addressable market.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Why this start-up thinks it can succeed where Uber failed
Drive Mate says it has had a 39 per cent increase in vehicles listed to rent on its platform since news broke of Uber’s plan to close its car sharing service.
- Paul Smith
- Exclusive
- Superannuation
AustralianSuper takes billion-dollar hit on venture capital failure
The country’s largest superannuation fund had extended loans and capital to education start-up Pluralsight. But lenders have moved in, wiping its investment.
- Paul Smith
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
How this research institute turned cancer success into a $66m VC fund
After banking $US325m from co-developing a blockbuster cancer drug, WEHI has begun making start-up investments seeking scientific breakthroughs from a new $66m fund.
- Tess Bennett
Credit and payments fintech Shift raises $35m
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
- Paul Smith
Element Zero co-founder recalls smooth flight with Fortescue top brass
Michael Masterman says executives from the mining giant raised no concerns about his green iron technology when they spent hours together on a private plane.
- Brad Thompson
Uber targets car rentals after Carshare failure
Uber has blamed a blow-out in operational costs for the failure of its Carshare service, which will cease business from September 12.
- Paul Smith
- Exclusive
- Public transport
Uber scraps $105m Aussie car-sharing division
Uber will shut down its Carshare business, bringing the end to an Australian experiment it began in 2022 with the $105 million acquisition of Car Next Door.
- Paul Smith
- Exclusive
- Commercial real estate
The faces behind Sydney’s new $10m members’ club
For $20,000 a year, members of Australia’s new tech and funding community club can take an ice bath, or breastfeed, in a space of their own.
- Michael Bleby
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
Investors back ‘unicorn’ Go1 CEO swap, as IPO plans emerge
The founding CEO of $3b Queensland tech firm Go1 will step down in a move backed by its early investors, with his co-founder taking sole charge of the run to an IPO.
- Tess Bennett
John Hewson resigns from DomaCom amid new funding and NDIS closures
John Hewson has resigned as DomaCom chairman as the company contends with a deal to keep it afloat and revelations NDIS investments it promoted are being forced to wind down.
- Max Mason and Jonathan Shapiro
Why an Aussie firm spent $1.5m on a ‘Drive to Survive’-like rally doco
In a branding strategy inspired by the success of influencers such as MrBeast, SafetyCulture founder Luke Anear is using YouTube to increase audience reach.
- Paul Smith
This Auckland venture firm wants $55m, promising mega returns
WNT Ventures is raising up to $NZ60 million for its fourth fund, targeting family office and high-net-worth types in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
- Exclusive
- Venture capital
Start-up founder sues Victoria’s VC fund
The Victorian government’s troubled venture capital fund Breakthrough Victoria faces a multi-million dollar legal battle.
- Patrick Durkin
- Exclusive
- Executive shake-up
Canva recruits from big tech ahead of IPO, but five execs have left
Five senior Canva executives with years of experience at technology giants including Meta, Adobe and Google have departed over the past 18 months.
- Nick Bonyhady
Billionaire Salesforce boss tips into Sydney biotech incubator
Along with Marc Benioff, World Bank president Ajay Banga and Melbourne’s Churchill Asset Management all put in for a round that values the firm at $90 million.
- Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
- Exclusive
- Food bowl
Cannon-Brookes, Benioff-backed start-up lays off staff in US pullback
Loam Bio, a start-up that has raised more than $150 million from high-profile investors, has laid off the majority of its staff in the US.
- Tess Bennett
Supermarkets try new tack for vegan meat: price it like the real thing
Start-ups in the sector have been failing and demand forecasts have been slashed, leaving a company born out of a meat product maker an unusual beneficiary.
- Nick Bonyhady
