Last Week in Australian Startups #89, 21st October 2024
A big week for Australian tech, plenty of news circulating on all that happened at SXSW and the Startmate demo day which I won’t repeat. I was fortunate to be able to attend the Remarkable Tech Demo Day where 5 startups from the 2024 Global Cohort were able to showcase what they’ve been building.
If you’re not familiar with Remarkable and the work they do - their mission is to empower Disability Tech innovations by providing the training, capital and networks they need to create a future that is accessible, equitable and inclusive for all.
Some of the stats shared during the keynote by Matt Pierri;
Only 4% of companies in the world are building for disability tech
~$43TN globally is controlled by people with disabilities or their family and friends
80% of disabilities are acquired rather than people being born with them
Inventions like the touch screen were actually invented by disabled people who wanted a better way to touch a button
There was plenty more shared but the above really stood out to me. Imagine a world without touch screens? Maybe we’d all still be using Blackberry’s, although I’m sure eventually we’d arrive at this innovation - but the key takeaway is that it was someone building for a minority group that created this invention, but it’s now used and loved by everyone.
A lot of the perception is that Disability Tech is perhaps only relevant or needed for people with disabilities. I walked in with a similar view, but walking out I now realise that could not be farther from the truth.
If we are able to incorporate more groups into our design thinking we’ll come up with far greater innovations that will benefit a significantly larger user group. Whether you’re a founder or investor doing so would increase your TAM and ability to drive more enterprise value. The unfortunate truth is that people with disabilities are often after thoughts in most cases and in others only thought of when someone raises it as an issue or concern.
There were 5 incredible startups that presented, who you can learn more about and connect with here - they were all examples of companies thinking bigger than just a disabled persons use case, although it was the primary focus.
The best example for me of incorporating a fully inclusive design thinking process was Clu - perhaps the one I also understood best given my background in HR and Recruitment tech. Whilst they have designed a software that helps to increase the accuracy, inclusiveness and ROI of any companies hiring process - the wider case use is to help companies with skills based hiring, which almost every established employer is looking to do.
Top News
Australian VCs will deploy about $500M over the next 12 to 24 months as the investment window closes for funds raised during the pandemic (The Australian)
Drone delivery startup Swoop Aero, which raised more than $26 million in VC funding, has been placed in administration as cofounder Eric Peck claimed pressure from investors placed the business in that position (Startup Daily | Eric Peck)
Australia’s Top 100 Innovators of 2024 revealed (The Australian)
DermR Health wins SXSW Sydney 2024 Pitch, heads to Austin, Texas (SmartCompany)
Adelaide healthtech Presagen sells its Life Whisperer IVF embryo technology to Japan’s Astec (BNA)
Blackbird named #2 VC in the world based on Preqin returns data (LinkedIn)
CBA fined $7.5M for breaching spam laws with emails that lacked unsubscribe options (BNA)
Collapsed plant-based meat start-up Fenn Foods acquired by Smart Foods (AFR)
NEXTDC pays $353M for Western Sydney site, laying plans for its largest data centre yet (BNA)
Paladin Space has received a $100K SA Government grant to progress its work into reducing the risk posed to spacecraft by space debris including defunct satellites, rocket parts and much smaller items floating in the Earth’s orbit (StartUp ScaleUp)
Sequoia spinoff PeakXV ready to write big cheques for Australian startups (Capital Brief)
The government is under pressure from the unions to regulate AI strongly to ‘embed workers’ rights’ with a standalone AI Act (The Australian)
Atlassian calls for AI ‘clearinghouse’ instead of a new regulator to deal with AI issues related to consumer law (The Australian)
Australian fintech Slyp introduces its AI-powered all-in-one loyalty platform Go Rewards (Australian FinTech)
Netwealth targets younger investors through $2.46M acquisition of Flux Corp platform (BNA)
1,547 attendees pack Sydney’s State Theatre to see pitches at record Startmate Demo Day (SmartCompany)
Linktree says it has learnt its lesson from 2021 tech bubble (AFR)
The next big thing in AI isn’t what you think, says Blackbird (The Australian)
Canva hits 21 million paid subscribers (Capital Brief)
Forbes Australia releases its inaugural 30 under 30 list (Forbes)
Investment banking expats launch $50M VC fund Admiralty Capital Group (AFR)
James Warburton joins HCF-backed sportstech VC XT Venture (AFR)
OneVentures gears up for $1B milestone with key hires and new growth fund (Capital Brief)
SEEK eyes potential $42M takeover of HR and recruitment tech firm Xref (BNA)
SunDrive signs MoU with Chinese PV maker for Sunshot bid (InnovationAus)
Funding Rounds
Byron Bay Bio, which makes innovative non-alcoholic craft beverages and organic cannabis products with a focus on sustainability and unique flavour experiences, has raised $400K in an equity crowdfunding campaign on Birchal (SmartCompany)
Viridian Renewable Technology, Australia's first large scale Insect Protein Manufacturing plant, has raised $2.5M from Breakthrough Victoria (Capital Brief | Startup Daily)
ClearVue Technologies, which has developed a clear solar glass that generates renewable power on site improving a building's energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions, has raised $7.5M on the ASX (InnovationAus)
Green Gravity, which repurposes disused mines for green energy storage, has raised $9M from HMC Capital, BlueScopeX, Pacific Channel and SCAP H (InnovationAus | BNA)
Appen, which provides high-quality training data to confidently deploy world-class AI, has raised $50M on the ASX (Capital Brief)
WollemAI, an audit-grade climate reporting for land and agricultural portfolios, has raised an undisclosed amount in a Seed round (DigFin)
Lumachain, a platform gives everyone involved in food production – including primary and secondary meat processors – full visibility of every step in the supply chain, has raised an undisclosed amount from Chipotle (QSR Media Australia)
Eugene, Atmo Biosciences, Immunosis, Metabolic Health Solutions and Humanetix have raised $650K each from the Medical Research Future Fund (InnovationAus)
Caligra, which is looking revolutionise workplace productivity by designing a new high-end computer that strips away digital distractions, has raised $1.9M from Blackbird and Euphemia (Capital Brief)