October, November & December 2020
Australian tech news
The quarterly round-up of Australia’s tech startup news below provides a single source for Q4 2020 technology headlines from Australia, drawing on Startup News Asia’s monthly Australian startup news summaries.
As with our monthly tech news round-ups, the headline items listed below are linked directly to the original free-to-read online article behind each headline – no middleman, no misappropriation, and providing readers with direct access to the news platforms that each article sits on, along with providing exposure for the tech journalists who wrote them.
October 2020 | November 2020 | December 2020
December 2020
- Video intro’s to 13 of the startups that presented at Antler Australia’s recent virtual Demo Day
- Shouta launches with ‘micro-gifting’ app for small presents, to let friends and family know you’re thinking of them
- A collection of the past month’s tech, startup and funding news, gathered from Startup News Asia’s daily news feeds
- Nextgen Funds Management launches country’s first AI-specific fund
- ExSitu aged care startup lands 2nd place in WomenTech Global Awards with platform to help with advance care planning
- StartupWA gains $160K over 2 years to further build local start-up and technology sector in Western Australia
- Australian Prudential Regulation Authority new cybersecurity strategy expands to 3rd-party IT suppliers, fund managers, payments companies in bid to safeguard financial systems
- HealthMatch healthtech startup raises $18M with focus on placing patients into clinical trials
- AWS to open second infrastructure region in Australia with plans for AWS Asia Pacific (Melbourne) Region to be available in H2 2022
- Cashless welfare payments program trial extended for 2 years after Government fails in attempt to make it permanent in some communities
- Banks ordered to adopt proactive stance to cyber security, including hiring independent ‘red team’ hackers to deploy techniques to expose weaknesses
- National Australia Bank partners Slyp Smart Receipts to automatically store consumer receipts in the NAB banking app
- ICYMI: Near 2 in 3 Australians say they would support introduction of Universal Basic Income concept, according to new poll
- Melbourne Water and City West Water partner Collective Campus for Water Works corporate-startup program, aiming to boost innovation in the water sector
- Immediation online disputes resolution platform gains $3.75M Series A with focus on legal needs of SMEs
- A brief intro to the 11 agtech startups selected to present at Australian leg of THRIVE Global Accelerator, set for December 17th
- US and Australia join for Cyber Training Capabilities Project Arrangement, bilateral international agreement enabling Australian Defence Force feedback to US Cyber Command
- Consumer watchdog to take court action against Facebook and 2 subsidiaries over Onavo Protect VPN service due to misleading data privacy claims
- A video chat with Rick Baker of Blackbird Ventures VC firm focusing on the ANZ startup ecosystem
- Morse Micro gains CES Innovation Award Honoree status with Wi-Fi HaLow system-on-chip, providing 10x range, 100x area, 1000x volume of traditional Wi-Fi
- Australian Strategic Policy Institute to host the Sydney Dialogue, a virtual summit for emerging, critical and cyber technologies
- SydWest Global Connections Tech Startup Accelerator Program now open for applications, a 6-month growth program for tech startups
- Ethitrade takes win at Canberra Innovation Showcase with blockchain-backed platform solution showing consumers where products are made or grown
- Download: The Robots are NOT Coming (And why that’s a bad thing…) via the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute (pdf)
November 2020
- A brief intro to Significant Capital Ventures, focused on early-stage tech startups and innovations coming out of the university sector
- Carsales platform launches Placie transport app, allowing consumers to plan and book trips across multiple transport modes using real time data
- Reserve Bank of Australia boosts Wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency Research Project with collaboration with 3 major banks
- Advanced Capture of Water from the Atmosphere takes win at Bridge Hub Water Challenge with nano-scale moisture collection
- Auctus – Allens Legal Accelerator applications now open, aiming to help law-focused startups scale solutions focusing on contracts and risk
- Beforepay raises $4M with pre-paycheck wages access, providing advances and automatic repayments
- UTS Women in Entrepreneurship Scholarship applications close January 18th for those already enrolled in the MBA in Entrepreneurship
- Planet Protector Packaging wins Ocean Impact Pitchfest, replacing polystyrene with insulated packaging made from sheep wool waste
- Video: Ocean Impact Organisation Pitchfest 2020 winner, Australia’s Planet Protector Packaging
- An intro to the 15 food and agtech startups selected for Rabobank’s FoodBytes! Pitch 2020 virtual competition, including firms from Australia, India and Singapore
- Quadpay instalment payments firm acquires Australian company behind fashion search engine, The Urge, and Schnap ‘Shazam for fashion’ app
- Download: Future of payments in Australia – The future of transaction banking and payments in 2020, from pwc (pdf)
- Extreme Tech Challenge, competition for entrepreneurs which addresses global challenges, set for December 1st as part of WA’s West Tech Fest
- A brief look at 5 satellite startups using AI to process images, optimize communications and more, including Australia’s LatConnect 60
- Instagram Australia to launch InstaNight Shopping, world-first in-app shopping event, alongside launch of new Shop tab, on December 3rd
- The Australian EdTech Directory now online, provided by EduGrowth and AusTrade
- Victorian gov’t announces details of $20M Small Business Digital Adaptation Program, offering rebates up to $1200 to aid SMEs in going digital
- An intro to Flave, 100% vegan meal subscription startup, with food prepared by local chefs and delivered to your door
- Lawcadia takes wins at global LegalTech Breakthrough Awards with matter and spend management solutions for in-house legal teams and law firms
- A 16-item video snapshot of recent tech and startup news headlines from Australia, QR coded from screen to each full online article
- SPUR program unveils 4 winners of annual accelerator program, alongside winners of First Nations grant and Landgate, Curtin Research grant
- Australian Public Sector Blockchain Network, a community of practice for blockchain enthusiasts in the public service, launches to support National Blockchain Roadmap
- Link4 e-invoicing startup gains pre-approval for software to be used across 187 federal gov’t departments after successful trial with Treasury
- AGL Energy Services awarded $2.9M for large scale EV charging trial across NSW, Queensland, Victoria and SA, installing smart chargers in owners’ homes
- Victorian gov’t to launch $25M venture growth co-investment fund in effort to keep startups in the state
- Zoomo launches e-bike subscription service from $4.14 per day and allowing riders to rent and keep the bikes at home
- An intro to some of the fast-growing startups in Australia’s alt-protein sector
- Nuheara earbuds selected as 1 of 100 Best Inventions of 2020 by Time Magazine, for noise cancellation and audio-processing for the hearing-impaired
- Australian Border Force partners Singapore Customs and Singapore Infocomm Media Development Authority for trial of blockchain-backed digital verification in cross-border trade
- Women In AI Awards 2021 Aus-NZ now open for applications, closing December 14th
- Freo Startup Fest 2020 set for December 3rd in Fremantle, part of Perth’s West Tech Fest
- Muru Music Health music streamer partnered by Universal Music Australia, focusing on over-60s with AI-driven tech to combat effects of brain ageing
- OwnHome takes $150K win from Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s fintech incubator Xccelerate2020 Awards with alternative method for property ownership
October 2020
- Australia’s FluroSat takes $100K Future Food Asia Award with crop cycle analytics across all aspects of crop performance and health
- A month-end collection of Australian tech, startup and VC funding news, drawn from Startup News Asia’s daily updates
- Western Australia launches the country’s first whole-of-government Cyber Security Operations Centre to boost visibility of cyber threats to agency networks
- WeMoney gains $2M with app helping people to manage their finances which includes a social component
- CSIRO’s Data61 and Monash Blockchain Technology Centre unveil protocol claimed as secure against quantum computers while protecting user and transaction privacy
- A brief look at technologies set for funding under $575M coronavirus recovery plan, including blockchain, accelerated 5G roll-out and SME tools
- Bolter legal firm launches Little Giant Startup Grant to identify and promote selected business – EOIs close November 13th
- Tech23 Deeptech Festival 2020 applications open for tech startups to participate in online/offline event
- Startup Gippsland Pitch Final set for November 27th, presenting the 12 startups on the 12-week program
- Find a Co-Founder Pitch Night set for October 16th at Fishburners in Sydney
- AgriFutures Australia and startupbusiness partner for entrepreneurship education program teaching rural and regional high school students how to solve agriculture problems
- Curtin Accelerate applications close October 30th, free 10-week program for students, staff and graduates of the university
- Academy for Enterprising Girls program to expand to give girls and young women skills and opportunities to start businesses in the digital economy
- A brief intro to 5 startups shortlisted for Rabobank’s FoodBytes! Virtual Pitch 2020, food and agriculture startup discovery program
- Australia’s SEA Electric partnered by Toyota’s Hino truck division to work on electric and hydrogen powered trucks
- Centre for Augmented Reasoning to be established at the University of Adelaide supported by $20M gov’t investment, aiming for national centre for machine learning
- Australia’s GoMicro lands funding and major partnership to test its AI assessment app on tuna for Sri Lankan supermarket chain
- An intro to Carapac, developing substitutes for petrochemical-based plastics using chitosan, sourced from the shells of prawns, shells and crabs
- JOLT charging infrastructure startup and Ausgrid electricity supplier propose converting roadside electricity distribution boxes into EV charging stations
- A podcast intro the woman behind The Koorie Circle and Clothing the Gap, indigenous-run and -focused social impact businesses
- Startmate secures backing for next six climate-focused cohorts from Clean Energy Innovation Fund, amounting to total investment of $300K over 3 years
- ACT the first jurisdiction to push back against gov’t national facial recognition database, declining to provide citizen biometrics info without legislation in place
- Global Ag-Tech Ecosystem virtual event set for October 28th, showcasing Australian ag-tech opportunities and GATE projects
- IKEA furniture giant to build Australia’s largest grid-connected commercial microgrid, aiming to power its retail operations and to store energy in on-site batteries
- New Zealand’s Spark telco and Australia’s National Narrowband Network Co LoRaWAN network operator partner for trans-Tasman IoT network access
- Initial coin offerings and crypto-assets – guidance information from the Australia Securities and Investments Commission
- Australia’s Power Ledger to expand into US market following trial of blockchain-enabled energy trading with American PowerNet, a private electricity provider
- Indigenous Angel Investor and Entrepreneur Program launches in Western Australia, with backers including WA government
- ‘Retail Central Bank Digital Currency – Design Considerations and Rationales’, a speech by the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Head of Payments Policy
- Tech-xit: can Australia survive without Google and Facebook? Discussion paper now available to download
- Intersekt Festival 2021 now set for May 19-20 in Melbourne, showcasing the country’s fintech ecosystem
- Australia’s v2food raises US$55M with plant-based meat, setting sights on Asia expansion and entering China
- A quick intro to the 14 startups selected for the 2020 Future Minds Accelerator program from Rio Tinto, BlueChilli and AWS
- ‘Tech-xit: can Australia survive without Google and Facebook?’ issues paper available to download (pdf)
- ‘Exploring the Potential for Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain to Enhance Transport’ report available now to download
- An intro to Hearoes, app helping cochlear implant and hearing aid recipients learn new sounds
- Government releases Critical Technology Supply Chain Principles paper to aid organisations in securing supply chains in AI, quantum computing and more
- Bridge Hub 2020 Water Challenge Finale set for October 30th, running online and showcasing startups impacting water sustainability across the agri-system
- A closer look at the eligibility issues with government’s Boosting Female Founders Initiative for women-led businesses
- NNNCo IoT and LoRaWAN network operator expands National Narrowband Network across Greater Sydney to cover 2700 km2
- YBF launches YBF Immersion entrepreneurial program with Victorian Government, focused on re-skilling corporate talent for economic recovery
- Linktree raises $10.7M Series A with simple link-listing microsites
- Two Australian startups among 10 selected for Plug and Play program focusing on agtech and animal health – Ceres Tag and ProAgni
- Komo Energy launches equity crowdfunding to develop mid-scale community-owned solar projects
- The 2020 Finnies Award winners, showcasing the best of Australian fintech and financial innovation
- STAX platform client, West Coast Aquaculture Group to be first business to launch an IPO accepting a blockchain-powered token, the Tether stablecoin
- Artificial Intelligence Action Plan discussion paper available now, with public input sought
- India’s ETgarage partners Australia’s VeriDoc Global with blockchain-based verification solutions aimed at eliminating counterfeit products and preventing fraud
- Critical technologies and the Indo-Pacific: A new India-Australia partnership – available to download now
- India–Australia Circular Economy Hackathon set for December 7-8, organised by India’s Atal Innovation Mission and Australia’s CSIRO and focusing on 4 broad themes
- Australia, Japan, India and the US set to agree to jointly counter disinformation campaigns by authoritarian states and to secure critical tech supplies and minerals
Asia’s tech news, today
All-day technology news looking at 17 primary locations in South & Southeast Asia, Australia & New Zealand:
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