#Capital
Uni startups face funding withdrawals, Stoic Venture Capital steps in
Due to the current climate, university startups, research projects and jobs, have experienced funding withdrawal. They are being given the vital boost needed with prominent early-stage venture capital fund Stoic Venture Capital, as they increase their investment in startups that specifically commercialise university research and innovation. Stoic is seen to be bucking the trend of […]
Crowd funding hopes for Demand.film expansion
The world’s largest cinema-on-demand chain, Australia’s Demand.film, is giving its 100,000 strong community an opportunity to share in the company’s success when it opens up to investment through equity crowdfunding to help fund its growth and expansion plans. Hot on the heels of ride sharing app Shebah’s record breaking $3 million in crowd sourced equity […]
National research reveals SMEs’ top five funding frustrations
Around 9 out of 10 Australian SMEs are frustrated about their business funding, naming onerous loan conditions, having to provide property security and a lack of flexibility as their major concerns. These are the findings of the latest SME Growth Index, conducted independently by banking market analysts East & Partners, on behalf of national working capital […]
Crowdfunding tips from Audeara headphones founder
Dr James Fielding founded Audeara Headphones in 2014 with Dr Chris Jeffrey – two doctors who saw patients with hearing issues and decided to act to solve a problem. In the public system, the wait for an appointment could be six months or longer – and then people could be turned away because they didn’t […]
Four tips for raising early stage capital
Know when to cut your losses if an investor is not committing.
ASIC tightening regulation on ICOs is a positive move for the industry
Fortnightly column on cryptocurrency.
Federal Budget: startup wish list, part two
Ahead of the 2018-19 Federal Budget, which will be released on Tuesday (8 May), Dynamic Business spoke to a cohort of business leaders about the measures they hope to see from the Turnbull Government. In this article, the second in a two-parter, Julius Wei (BMYG), James Lynch (CastleCoin), Michael Jankie (PoweredLocal), Trevor Townsend (Startup BootCamp), […]
New inquiry into international initiatives that provide SMEs affordable access to capital
The Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Kate Carnell, has commenced an inquiry into international initiatives designed to address the funding gap for small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs). [Related: Small Business Ombudsman calls for Govt to consider UK approach to boosting SME finance, Major barriers to SME investment explored by new report from […]
Ice breaker: MarketLend’s CEO on his mission to release SMEs from the ‘stranglehold’ of banks
After spending decades working in the ‘big end of town’, Sydney barrister Leo Tyndall turned his efforts to the ‘smaller end’, eager to help promising SMEs deprived of finance by traditional lenders. In the four years since he founded MarketLend – an online lending platform inspired by international peer-to-peer (P2P) offerings – Tyndall (CEO) […]
LaunchVic snapshot reveals $790 million has been raised by 385 startups over five years
A review of publicly available data on capital raises undertaken by Victorian startups and scaleups over the past five years shows that 385 firms closed 510 investment deals, worth a combined total of $790 million. Commissioned by LaunchVic, the dandolpartners review also found that: The median seed investment was $100,000 while the median angel investment […]
Why more people should take on a monopoly industry and transform it for the better
Choosing a monopolised market to enter with a new business idea is tough, most people find industries with a major dominant players and high barriers for entry an instant turn off. For instance, the NSW rice industry is the last remaining government controlled monopoly in Australia, meaning rice farmers don’t have control over where their […]
Fintech lender Waddle heads to NZ to offer funding solutions to high-growth sectors
Sydney fintech startup Waddle is expanding into New Zealand due to strong interest for its cloud-based funding software technology amongst SMEs from the neighbouring nation, its co-founders explained. Founded in 2014 by high-school friends Simon Creighton, Leigh Dunsford and Nathan Andrews, the SME lender integrates with accounting software platforms and provides businesses with a real-time view […]
Securing your SME’s future through capital
The mantra of many successful entrepreneurs is the idea that you must spend money to make money. It is also one of the biggest reasons that some people fail to act on their business aspirations, because they believe that they don’t have the money required to take their business to the next level. I believe […]
“We have a huge way to go”: Why Sleeping Duck declined to share their mattress with a shark
The engineers behind rapid-growth mattress startup Sleeping Duck dived into the Shark Tank this week, but surfaced without a deal, after knocking back offers, worth half a million, from both Andrew Banks and Steve Baxter. As they told Dynamic Business, the ‘deal breaker’ wasn’t the equity each shark demanded; rather, they weren’t convinced either could […]
Car Next Door seeking to double funding to accelerate roll-out of its sharing platform
Peer-to-peer car sharing platform Car Next Door is seeking to raise $5 million from investors to capitalise on rapid growth over the last 18 months, during which it expanded from Sydney and Melbourne into Brisbane. Co-founder and CEO Will Davies told Dynamic Business that his start-up, which enables car owners to rent out their vehicles when they’re […]
IT security ‘unicorn’ gains investment from Telstra Ventures; CEO talks APAC growth
In the process of completing a $100 million Series D round, US cybersecurity start-up CrowdStrike, which expanded into Asia Pacific last year, has onboarded Telstra Ventures as a new investor. Led by existing CrowdStrike investor Accel, the Series D Round brings CrowdStrike’s total funding to $256 million, with a valuation of over $1 billion dollars, […]
Marketing tech start-up Sinorbis raises $2.3m to help businesses engage Chinese consumers
Pre-Series-A technology start-up Sinorbis, which assists Australian companies and marketing agencies to engage Chinese digital customers, has closed an oversubscribed $2.3 million bridging round, bringing its total capital raise to $3.9 m to date. In a press release announcing the raise, co-founder and CEO Nicholas Chu explained that Australian companies have ‘traditionally struggled’ to market […]
“They get what success takes”: HealthEngine’s CEO on the Aussie start-up’s major new investor
Online healthcare marketplace HealthEngine has now raised close to $50m after closing a $26.7m Series C funding round. Sequoia India, which has worked closely with Apple’s Steve Jobs, Google’s Larry Page and LinkedIn’s Jeff Weiner and other high-profile founders, led the round. The VC firm, which counts HealthEngine as its first direct investment in an […]
HR start-up Employment Hero lands third Series A investor and sees funding balloon to $4.5m
Cloud-based HR automation platform Employment Hero has added AirTree Ventures to team of Series A investors, bringing its total funding to $4.5 million. The Series A round was already over-subscribed after the freemium Service attracted $3 million from OneVentures and AMP New Ventures in June to finance growth, including an expansion into the UK market. […]
Five things start-ups should ask potential investors before signing the dotted line
Entrepreneurs start businesses to solve problems facing customers or to improve the way customer needs are satisfied. In the event that on-hand funding is insufficient to fully realise the potential of their proposed business, an entrepreneur will need to seek assistance from investors. Finding the right financial partner can be challenging. There are key things you should ask to […]
Strategic partnership empowers SME lender GetCapital to expand into New Zealand market
GetCapital, a local fintech lender to SMEs, has entered into a strategic partnership that enables it to service the New Zealand market. Jamie Osborn, GetCapital’s founder and CEO, said the expansion into New Zealand was the ‘next logical step’ for the company given its success in Australia. “With the large number of SMEs in […]
Three avoidable causes of start-up burnout
Most business owners start their business with a dream. They envision calling the shots (rather than being told what to do), remuneration in line with their efforts (rather than receiving a capped salary from an ungrateful boss) and working when they want (not when they have to). In short: more freedom, more money, more time. Sounds idyllic, right? Then […]
Raising capital – what are your options?
Building and growing a business requires a lot of effort + a little luck + investment capital. Effort is hard work over a period of time and luck is often a by-product of effort. This leave’s investment capital: deciding how to raise investment capital is not an easy decision. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to […]
Before getting hitched, solidify your business: Oneflare’s CEO on securing the right investors
It was 2010 and I needed to find someone that could build shelves for my apartment. What seemed like a simple task, proved more stressful than I had imagined. I relied first on word of mouth from family and friends but then turned to the internet. The process was arduous and several days passed before I […]