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Friday, Dec 12

07

Cheque-in: 6 startups banking a whopping $568.1 million two weeks before Christmas

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With 12 more sleeps to Christmas, Melbourne-born Airwallex wins the 2025 Australian capital raising stakes with a massive $498 million Series G that values the fintech at $12 billion. Meanwhile, cybersecurity startup Kasada and sole trader…

03

GAMING: The Switch 2 is fantastic, but Nintendo still doesn’t get the internet

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Of all the games to make me question the Nintendo Switch 2 ecosystem, I never could have guessed it would be remake of Yooka-Laylee. Made by some of the team behind the Nintendo 64 classic Banjo-Kazooie, Yooka-Replaylee has been on my…

02

Digital food safety startup Squizify lands in Japan after $10 million Series A

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Digital food safety platform Squizify has continued its Asian expansion, launching a subsidiary in Japan following a $10 million Series A earlier this year. The Brisbane startup, founded in 2018, by CEO Daniel McDouall, helps restaurants,…

Thursday, Dec 11

00

Research reveals the government is on a major political winner with the u16s social media ban

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Nearly three-quarters of Australians aged 18-14, and eight in every 10 adults have backed the federal government’s social media ban for children under 16. While support for the ban was lowest among young adults (72%), it rose to 80% for…

07

Team Techstars Sydney: Meet Briefcase, the case-management platform speeding up legal decisions

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In celebration of the TechStars Sydney ‘Demo the Future’ evening, Startup Daily is profiling the 12 startups and their founders in the 2025 cohort. Next is Briefcase – helping the justice system to streamline with tech, without…

06

Albanese government scraps AI advisory board plan

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Australia will not proceed with a permanent AI advisory board, after the federal government confirmed it has abandoned the plan despite growing pressure for stronger oversight of the technology. As reported by InnovationAus, recent answers…

03

When King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard quit Spotify, an AI rip-off turned up – and the streaming platform’s algorithm promoted it

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Imagine this: a band removes its entire music catalogue off Spotify in protest, only to discover an AI-generated impersonator has replaced it. The impersonator offers songs that sound much like the band’s originals. The imposter tops…

01

Data-scraping bot blocker backed by Malcolm Turnbull pockets $30 million

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Data-scraping bot blocker Kasada has raised US$20 million (A$30m) in a round that values the business at $300 million. The round was backed by Swedish private equity giant EQT, with support from existing investors, including Malcolm…

Wednesday, Dec 10

10

Everything startup founders need to know about moving to San Francisco – by an Aussie who did

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I’ve spoken to over 100 founders over the past 18 months about the pros and cons of moving to San Francisco (SF), so I decided to compile everything into this post. Why it’s worth moving to SF? Firstly, SF is not for everyone. SF is for…

08

From broke at 16 to billionaire: Airwallex CEO Jack Zhang says 2025 is the year his global fintech finally stopped ‘almost dying’

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The arc of a tech company’s success is often sprinkled with near death experiences. And according to Airwallex cofounder Jack Zhang, the business, which raised $498 million Series G raise, had so many lives in its first 10 years, it should…

05

Which Bank just got smacked with a record $792,000 penalty for open banking breaches

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The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has paid $792,000 in penalties following action by he ACCC over breaches of the Consumer Data Right (CDR). It’s the second time in six months that a major bank has been busted for dragging its feet over CDR,…

04

The u16s social media ban doesn’t solve the biggest issue for everyone – how to make online platforms safer

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The tech industry’s unofficial motto for two decades was “move fast and break things”. It was a philosophy that broke more than just taxi monopolies or hotel chains. It also constructed a digital world filled with risks for our most…

02

While the Australian government says the u16s social media ban is vital for mental health, experts and new research suggests otherwise

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Warning: this article contains mention of suicide. Ten months after Australia’s teen social media ban passed parliament, Communications Minister Anika Wells brought together 20 of the country’s top mental health groups to talk about the…

01

Australia’s social media ban is here – and the world is watching to see what happens next

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After months of anticipation and debate, Australia’s social media ban is now in force. Young Australians under 16 must now come to grips with the new reality of being unable to have an account on some social media platforms, including…

Tuesday, Dec 9

09

Fishburners launches The Ascent Project to back women founders

Fishburners is addressing the women founder funding gap with a free program to help them succeed. The pioneering startup coworking space has collaborated with more than 30 organisations, from venture funds to corporates, to launch The…

08

Women founders cannot be collateral damage as LaunchVic leaves the scene

In a week when Victoria’s startup community is reeling, it would be easy to believe the story is only about loss. The Victorian Government has confirmed it will wind down LaunchVic as an independent agency and consolidate its functions…

07

With LaunchVic vanishing after 10 years, Melbourne’s innovation moment is now or whatever

With LaunchVic now dissolved into Breakthrough Victoria, it feels like the right moment to revisit the themes I explored in Melbourne’s innovation crisis is about culture – and what comes next and take a more personal look at what went…

Team Techstars Sydney: Fintech Our Leg Up wants a win/win solution to home ownership

In celebration of TechStars Sydney’s ‘Demo the Future’ event, Startup Daily is profiling the 12 startups and their founders in the 2025 cohort. Next up: Our Leg Up – helping Australian homeowners turn their equity into income – while also…

03

Blackbird announces 2026 Sunrise Sydney date – and cuts ticket prices, with early-stage founders going for under $100

Venture capital firm Blackbird’s annual startup Coachella, Sunrise Australia, will be held on Thursday, April 30, next year. That shaves a day off the annual “love letter to Aussie startups”, with the VC promising “one massive day + one…

02

Breast milk substitution biotech raises $10 million amid French deal for global push

A Sydney-based alternative proteins startup fermenting “cow-free dairy” alternatives has raised $10 million in a convertible note. The round for All G was supported by LSE-listed clean food investor Agronomics, an existing investor, as…

01

PsiQuantum’s Brisbane build is already running very late

PsiQuantum, the US startup backed by Blackbird, and the Queensland and federal governments, is already running several months behind schedule on plans to build its Brisbane facility and deliver the world’s first quantum computer. Founded…

Monday, Dec 8

09

Airwallex jags a massive $498 million Series G as its valuation cranks up another 30%

Melbourne-born fintech Airwallex has seen its valuation increase by 30% in just six months following a second raise for 2025 – US$330 million (A$498m) in a Series G. The round led by a new US VC investor Addition, supported by T. Rowe…

Now you’re hallucinating – OpenAI denies there are ads on ChatGPT, after users complain about seeing them

OpenAI insists it is not running ads inside ChatGPT. However, after multiple paying users reported seeing what looked like promotions for Target and Peloton, the company has been forced to clarify what, exactly, is happening. Over the…

07

Dr Ian Oppermann named ACCC commissioner, with open banking expert Scott Farrell replacing him as Digital ID and CDR chair

The federal government has appointed data scientist Dr Ian Oppermann as a commissioner of the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC). Dr Oppermann, the keynote speaker at this year’s Startup Daily Best in Tech awards, was…

03

Team Techstars Sydney: Discover how MuseAI is a second brain for music creators

Ahead of the TechStars Sydney ‘Demo the Future’ evening, tonight, December 8, Startup Daily is profiling the 12 startups and their founders in the 2025 cohort. Our next profile is MuseAI – empowering music creators and harnessing human…

Around 3 in every four Australians see AI has a threat to people, business and national security, ANU survey reveals

Threats relating to technology, disinformation, economic security and foreign interference are overshadowing traditional security concerns in Australians’ minds, according to data released by the Australian National University National…

01

Remittance fintech Bless Payments raises $3.75 million Seed round

Perth fintech Bless Payments raised $3.75 million in Seed funding in mid-2025. The round, completed in July, was backed by billionaire Khalil (Charlie) Shahin and London’s Forte Securities, and was finally revealed as the global payments…

Friday, Dec 5

09

The annual Startup Muster survey reveals that AI is transforming how Australian founders build tech

Australia’s startup landscape is undergoing its most dramatic shift in a decade, with data from the annual Startup Muster report revealing that founders are investing in artificial intelligence rather than headcount. The 2025 edition of…

08

‘This is devastating; this is crazy’: the Victorian government is killing off its successful startup agency, LaunchVic, to save money

The Victorian government will wind down startup support agency LaunchVic and rework technology investment fund Breakthrough Victoria as part of broader public sector reforms set to save the state $4 billion. The decision has rattled the…

06

Cheque-in: 6 startups kicked off December raising $24.2 million this week

This week saw more $24 million in VC funding go towards AI onboarding tools, seaweed tech and more. Keep reading to learn more about the six Australian startups with fresh capital to deploy. Bodd: $15 million 3D body scanning platform Bodd…