Australia
UK’s Digital Markets Unit starts work on pro-competition reforms
A new UK public body that will be tasked with helping regulate the most powerful companies in the digital sector to ensure competition thrives online and consumers of digital services have more choice
Google starts trialing its FLoC cookie alternative in Chrome
Google today announced that it is rolling out Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), a crucial part of its Privacy Sandbox project for Chrome, as a developer origin trial. FLoC is meant to be an altern
Virgin Galactic debuts its first third-generation spaceship, ‘VSS Imagine’
Commercial human spaceflight company Virgin Galactic has unveiled the first-ever Spaceship III, the third major iteration of its spacecraft design. The first in this new series is called “VSS (V
Google promises better 3D maps
Google is announcing a handful of major updates to Google Maps today that range from bringing its Live View AR directions indoors to adding weather data to its maps, but the most tantalizing news R
‘Link-in-bio’ company Linktree raises $45M Series B for its social commerce features
If you browse Instagram, you are probably familiar with the term “link in bio.” Links aren’t allowed in post captions, and users are only allowed one URL in their bios, so many create a
While other startups develop alt-proteins for meat replacement, Nourish Ingredients focuses on fat
Plant-based meat replacements have commanded a huge amount of investor and consumer attention in the decade or more since new entrants like Beyond Meat first burst onto the scene. These companies have
Cross-border fintech Airwallex raises $100M Series D extension at new valuation of $2.6B
Airwallex, the fintech company for cross-border businesses, announced today it has added $100 million more to its Series D round, bumping its valuation up to $2.6 billion. The extension was led by Gre
Trading platform eToro to go public via SPAC merger in $10B deal
Multi-asset investing and trading platform and Robinhood competitor eToro announced Tuesday it will go public via a merger with SPAC FinTech Acquisition Corp. V in a massive $10.4 billion deal. Once t
Zeller, a fintech founded by Square alumni, raises $25M AUD Series A led by Lee Fixel’s Addition
Zeller, a payment and financial services startup founded by former Square executives, quietly raised a $25 million AUD (about $19.4 million USD) Series A last year, it announced today. The funding was
Hackers are exploiting vulnerable Exchange servers to drop ransomware, Microsoft says
Hackers are exploiting recently discovered vulnerabilities in Exchange email servers to drop ransomware, Microsoft has warned, a move that puts tens of thousands of email servers at risk of destructiv
Australia-based Employment Hero raises $45M AUD for its global expansion
Businesses, and the tech platforms that support their operations, had to adapt quickly to the pandemic. Ben Thompson, co-founder and chief executive officer of human resources platform Employment Hero
Customer data platform Lexer raises $25.5M Series B for global expansion
The massive shift to online shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic means retailers need to analyze customer data quickly in order to compete against rivals like Amazon. Lexer, a customer data platform
After Facebook’s news flex, Australia passes bargaining code for platforms and publishers
A week after Facebook grabbed eyeballs globally by blocking news publishers and turning off news-sharing on its platform in Australia, the country’s parliament has approved legislation that make
Facebook to restore news sharing in Australia after government amends proposed law
Facebook said it will begin restoring news sharing to Australian users’ feeds in “the coming days” after reaching an agreement with the country’s government. The social media g
Facebook applies overly broad content block in flex against Australia’s planned news reuse law
Outrage fast-followed Facebook’s announcement yesterday that it was making good on its threat to block Australian users’ ability to share news on its platform. The tech giant’s inte
Facebook restricts users in Australia from sharing or viewing news links
Australian Facebook users will be forced to go elsewhere to read news after the company announced Wednesday that they will be restricting users in the country from sharing or viewing news links on the
DesignCrowd raises $10 million AUD to grow its DIY platform, BrandCrowd
DesignCrowd announced today it has raised $10 million AUD (about $7.6 billion USD) in pre-IPO funding. The capital will be used on hiring and product development, with the goal of accelerating the gro
Google threatens to close its search engine in Australia as it lobbies against digital news code
Google has threatened to close its search engine in Australia — as it dials up its lobbying against draft legislation that is intended to force it to pay news publishers for reuse of their conte
Singapore-based Volopay raises $2.1 million seed round to build a ‘financial control center’ for businesses
Volopay, a Singapore-based startup building a “financial control center” for businesses, announced today it has raised $2.1 million in seed funding. The round was led by Tinder co-founder
Zipmex, which aspires to build the Asia Pacific region’s largest digital assets exchange, raises $6 million led by Jump Capital
Zipmex, a digital assets exchange headquartered in Singapore, announced today it has raised $6 million in funding led by Jump Capital. The startup, which plans to become a digital assets bank, says th