On the eve of Sunrise, the country's biggest startup festival, the government announced the biggest single investment into a startup in memory. But not everyone is enamoured with that.
Venture capital
Biotechnology executives fear Australia is not making the most of its natural strengths in the highly lucrative industry, where we have a long history of success.
Many VCs believe crowdfunding platforms don't protect retail investors and have called for more regulation. But those in the sector insist it provides a vital source of funding.
A lot of startups have recently announced enterprise products as a way to boost growth. It's an unusual focus for the startup sector, so what's driving this interest?
The VC firm's cofounder Paul Naphtali believes Australian venture capital will 10x over the next decade.
Startup founders and the lobby group representing the tech sector have expressed caution on changes to merger laws that could make it harder for entrepreneurs to exit.
The success of Canva is made of legendary stuff. But questions remain whether the rest of the ecosystem can shine against such a bright outlier.
Western Australia's first early-stage venture fund has made its first follow-on investment, a year after its inception.
Canva has officially completed one of the biggest secondary share sales in global startup history.
The thawing of the IPO market in the US will have implications for the Australian startup ecosystem and, potentially, the ASX.
While entrepreneurs-in-residence at venture capital firms are fairly common, VC Curt Shi has taken on an artist-in-residence, hoping to boost creativity and lateral thinking across his funds.
Risk-taking is core to the world of startups and those who invest in them. So there are always going to be issues when governments get involved, especially when they're investing directly.
The investing group, which is hurtling towards $100 million under management without raising a fund, has appointed two new partners.
Insight Partners' Gary Survis says the hype around artificial intelligence has reached a peak – and the trough of disillusionment is likely to follow.
Australia's deep tech startups have the potential to become global leaders — if they can get adequate funding and support to commercialise their innovations.
In what might retrospectively look like an obvious union, prominent VC Elaine Stead is joining the CSIRO-backed venture capital fund.
Smaller startup investors say super funds' support for a limited number of Australian firms risks creating a "VC oligopoly".
“If you're going to invest in startups, you've got to accept that they're going to do disruptive things" Employment Hero founder Ben Thompson said of Hostplus, one of the country's biggest VC LPs.
The Canva IPO will release a lot of liquidity into the market, but it's also likely to release a lot of experienced founders into the ecosystem's talent pool. The Valley had the 'Paypal Mafia' — could Australia have the 'Canva Cartel'?
While state governments are coming to the party to support innovation, there is a cost. The fragmentation of our startup ecosystem is escalating as we build silos around an already fragile epicentre.
Hostplus helped grow the Australian VC sector to what it is today. So it was surprising to see Employment Hero, one of the country's most hyped startups, hit out at the super fund.
Submissions to the government's review of managed investment schemes, which could affect 'sophisticated investor' qualifications, have been made public. The startup sector is not holding back.
Canva is known as a great place to work, but some are now wondering whether its culture is, in a way, too upbeat.
