Catch

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #179, 26th September 2026

Weekly roundup recording a dozen raises and acquisitions, Firmus's scheduled float, a new $50m venture fund, a founder share sale, grant winners, an accelerator intake, and an AI agent's government breach.

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Blobfish appoints former Coca-Cola executive to spearhead US expansion in $4b sampling market

AUDC Continues Leadership Expansion for Stablecoin Growth

AUDC, issuer of the AUDD stablecoin, has hired Andrew Kitchen as CFO and José Barroso as growth general manager, deepening its executive bench amid rising demand and its recent New Zealand token launch.

AUDC continues leadership team expansion to support rapid growth and regional stablecoin rollout

Stablecoin issuer AUDC hires Andrew Kitchen as CFO and José Barroso as growth chief, extending an executive build-out to support rising demand for its digital-money and settlement services across Australia and New Zealand.

🇦🇺 This Week in Australian Startups #160, 10th May 2026

Roundup: three startups raised $5.71m combined; Canva's local revenue passed $4.1b with profit and IPO plans; Sweden's Legora bought Melbourne regulatory-tech firm Graceview; Fishburners went into administration.

Cashback platform Cashrewards to close after 11 years

Cashrewards, a shopping rebates platform once bought by ANZ's venture arm, is shutting down and returning member balances. It had earlier acquired Little Birdie, previously backed with $30 million by Commonwealth Bank.

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Meet the Aussies on the 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list

Catch: A business timeline, in their words

Retrospective timeline of Catch's journey from its 2006 launch through Tiger Global's investment, the Menulog and Luxury Escapes deals and Wesfarmers' $230 million acquisition, to Wesfarmers' announced wind-down.

The one that got away: After paying $230 million for Catch, Wesfarmers is shutting it down

Wesfarmers is closing Catch, the online retailer it bought for $230 million in 2019, citing local ecommerce competition; the story also recalls Catch's venture backers and Little Birdie's $30m stake, pause and rescue.

Also Startup Daily

Smart50 alumni Cashrewards acquires Little Birdie

Cashrewards has bought Little Birdie, the deals startup backed by Commonwealth Bank that went quiet in May; the piece also recalls Cashrewards' 2017 Smart50 nod, 2020 ASX float, and later takeover by 1835i Ventures.

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Algolia acquires Sydney startup Search.io

Search technology firm Algolia has bought Sydney startup Search.io, formerly Sajari, and plans one API combining keyword and vector semantic search. Its founders and 2020 backer Tidal Ventures stand to gain.

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Former Catch CEO’s wholesale marketplace raises $28 million from Tiger Global

TradeSquare, a B2B wholesale marketplace co-founded by ex-Catch CEO Nati Harpaz and Einat Sukenik, has raised $28 million from Tiger Global to scale its Australian platform.

Also SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily

Ignition Lane's Weekly Wrap: Unicorns galore, online marketplaces put on notice, VC pyramid schemes

Weekly roundup reporting Invoice2go's sale to Bill.com, raises by Go1, Employment Hero, InDebted and others, Rokt's secondary sale, Wildcard Ventures' launch, plus global deals including Zoom-Five9 and Salesforce-Slack.

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Ignition Lane's Weekly Wrap: CBA's cash splash, NZ's Hi-Tech awards, the biggest tech news from around the world

Weekly roundup covering CBA's strategic stakes in Little Birdie and Amber, several Australian funding rounds, Zip's BNPL acquisitions, Tritium's planned NASDAQ listing, Amazon's MGM purchase and other global tech news.

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Ignition Lane's Weekly Wrap: Netflix comparisons, ScoMo's digital epiphany, Bitcoin's face-off

Weekly technology roundup covering Australia's digital economy budget, multiple startup raises including SafetyCulture's unicorn round, Data Republic's administration, TikTok's new permanent CEO, and Bill.com's purchase of Divvy.

Also Startup Daily

Luxury leather goods retailer Mon Purse collapses into liquidation

Handbag customisation startup Mon Purse has entered liquidation and stopped trading, with Wexted Advisors appointed and seeking buyers, while the article recalls the company raising roughly $9 million from backers over six years.

Also Startup Daily