James Harkness

Melbourne-based EduTech startup Typsy is on track to reach 500% year-on-year sales growth this year after successfully courting its largest client to date – Switzerland’s prestigious hospitality management school, Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL). Launched in May 2016, Typsy – an online hospitality training platform – is the brainchild of serial entrepreneur Jonathan Plowright, whose […]

Finding that seven in 10 Australians are now active social media users, Hootsuite has called on the nation’s small businesses to capitalise on an opportunity to ‘unlock critical revenue streams’. The social media management platform has released Digital in 2018, a report of social media and digital trends globally. Representing 239 countries and territories, the […]

The NSW Government is investing $2 million in a university-led cyber security network, with the aim being to protect the public sector and industry against cyberattacks. Announced by Minister for Finance, Victor Dominello, the NSW Cyber Security Council will bring together leading scientists and engineers from seven of the state’s universities to: harness the expertise […]

The Federal Government will “carefully consider” a strategy, prepared by Innovation and Science Australia (ISA), to transform Australia into a “top tier innovation nation” by 2030, Minister for Jobs and Innovation, Michaelia Cash has announced. Released this week, ISA’s Australia 2030: Prosperity Through Innovation report contains 30 recommendations for creating a high performing innovation system, […]

Michael Burton’s love affair with beer started when his wife Brooke put him onto the ‘good stuff’. Since then, the Wollongong duo have made it their mission to protect the bottom lines – and reputations – of local and international brewers. Their technology startup, Binary Beer, has developed an Internet of Things (IoT) platform that enables breweries to […]

The peak body for Australia’s fintech industry has urged Federal Parliament to prioritise a ‘vital new source of funds’ for SMEs by expediting the approval and implementation of private company equity crowdfunding legislation introduced in September 2017. According to FinTech Australia chair Stuart Stoyan, the Corporations Amendment (Crowd-sourced Funding for Proprietary Companies) Bill 2017 has […]

Leading companies across a range of sectors – including finance, utilities, government, education, automotive and telecommunications – need to lift their game when it comes to customer experience (CX), a new study reveals. CX consulting firm, Customer Service Benchmarking Australia (CSBA), studied 3000 customer interactions with 136 companies in Australia, assigning each a score out of 100 […]

With just over three weeks until mandatory data breach reporting laws come into effect, the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO), Kate Carnell, has urged small businesses to ensure they are prepared as a matter of urgency.   From 22 February, organisations with personal information security obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 will be […]

Blockchain, cryptocurrencies and e-wallets. Wearables such as Google Glass and fitness trackers. Sharing economy platforms. ConstructionTech. Machine learning and artificial intelligence. Bots, smart home devices and self-driving cars. Virtual and augmented reality. Big Data. Internet-connected fridges and other IoT gadgets. Depending on who you ask, some of these technologies are either ‘hot properties’ or ‘hot […]

Named Australia’s ‘Accelerator of the Year’ at StartCon 2017, SheStarts returns for its sophomore series tomorrow (Tuesday, 30 January) with nine female founders, representing eight early-stage tech startups, taking part in the BlueChilli-backed program. The second SheStarts cohort includes Dr Annie McCauley (Talk-i-Wear), Andrez Coco (Knowlly), Karen Hind (Recall App), Danielle Owen Whitford (Pioneera), Laura […]