JP Morgan Chase

Morgan Stanley says Firmus could be worth as much as $128b

Morgan Stanley research values AI chip rental firm Firmus at up to $128 billion ahead of its planned IPO next month; four banks will manage the float.

Macquarie's Future Secure AI nears pre-IPO raise at $1.8b valuation

Future Secure AI's pre-listing round, led by Robin Khuda, Square Peg, Yarra Capital, Firetrail and Macquarie Asset Management, is nearing completion, with notes converting at a US$1.3 billion ceiling before an ASX float.

Canada's Element cuts a U-turn at $860m auction for FleetPartners

Element Fleet Management, the sole bidder yet to lodge a revised offer, has quit the race to buy Australian car-leasing firm FleetPartners.

Australia's Firmus raises $505M from Coatue and Nvidia at $5.5B valuation ahead of $2B IPO

Firmus, an Australian builder of AI data centres, has banked $505 million from Coatue and Nvidia at a $5.5 billion valuation, with a $10 billion debt facility already secured and a sharemarket float planned.

Also Startup Daily·SMH Business·The Age Business

9fin raises $170m Series C at $1.3bn valuation

Debt-data platform 9fin has banked a $170m Series C valuing it at $1.3bn, with HarbourVest leading and CPP Investments joining four returning backers, lifting lifetime funding beyond $250m.

Here are 19 startups sharing in $2.28 million as part of the Summer ’26 Startmate accelerator

Nineteen early-stage companies join Startmate's Summer '26 accelerator intake, each receiving $120,000 for 7% equity — $2.28 million overall — spanning construction, healthcare, fintech, energy and manufacturing.

Klarna to raise USD1.3b in New York IPO

Swedish BNPL firm Klarna is preparing a renewed New York float, seeking as much as USD1.27 billion at a valuation a source puts at USD12.5-14 billion, after earlier delays.

Beewise, Inc. Secures $50 Million in Series D Funding to Advance Bee Conservation Technology

M&As and AI are in the spotlight, but there's still capital left for quick commerce and more

Weekly deals roundup: Typeface buys two AI startups, Workday and IBM also acquire, Flink, Intezer, GreenLite and EasyDMARC raise, and Era Ventures gathers $88 million for its debut fund.

Constantinople co-founder Di Challenor on the power of grit and how she pulled off the largest seed round raise in Australia

Interview with Constantinople co-founder Di Challenor on her banking career and the record $32 million seed round she and Mac Duncan raised from Square Peg, Airtree and Great Southern Bank.

The Week in AgriFoodTech: New climate tech deals in Europe, banks urged to stop funding livestock

Weekly roundup: European climate and food startup raises, an Australian biotech's funding, Rappi buying Fountain9, Motif FoodWorks shutting down, a new Certis CEO, and a letter pressing banks over livestock lending.

Deals in brief: HongShan raises RMB 18 billion fund, Partior and Miridih secure funding, four China deals, and more

KrASIA roundup: HongShan closes an RMB 18 billion fund, Partior and Miridih raise Series B rounds, Packworks gets a government grant, four Chinese startups raise, and Nika.eco, Validus and Airs Medical win funding.

2024 – The year of scaling up for real world asset tokenisation

DigitalX's outlook on real-world asset tokenisation: market growth since 2022, institutional pilots by major banks and asset managers, regulatory frameworks, and its DxART Fund's expansion plans for 2024.

Jonny Dawson

Dom Pym discusses his journey from engineering to founding Up Bank and now investing via Euphemia, focusing on social good and underrepresented founders.

Six Aussie startups that raised $45.1 million this week

Weekly roundup of six Australian startups raising a combined $45.1 million across energy, e-commerce, design software, cloud security, climate tech and insurtech, plus Awayco's acquisition of Barcode Solutions and nVest winning SmartCompany's Pitch.

Also SmartCompany·LaunchVic

Sydney cybersecurity startup banks $5.1 million from American tech heavyweights

Kivera, a Sydney-founded cloud security startup now headquartered in New York, has raised a $5.1 million seed round with Round 13 Capital and General Advance leading, and last month hired a new CEO.

Cloud security start-up Kivera raises $5.1M

Cloud security company Kivera has raised a seed round to hire talent and expand overseas, drawing investment from two funds plus angel investors, and has appointed a new CEO while moving headquarters to New York.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·ARN (ARNnet)

SAP to acquire leading provider of working capital management solutions, Taulia

SAP announced its intention to acquire a majority stake in working capital management provider Taulia, which will keep its brand and CEO, while J.P. Morgan maintains its alliance and equity stake. Financial terms undisclosed.

The Super Seven: Meet Blackbird's Seven New Associates

Blackbird presents its seven new investment associates, profiling their varied backgrounds across elite sport, science, banking, consulting and startups, plus prior roles at firms including Sprint Ventures, NZ Growth Capital Partners and AustralianSuper.

Investment Notes: Forage

Blackbird's investment note announcing it led Forage's US$25 million Series B alongside Lightspeed, Funders Club and new backers, with Tom Humphrey joining the board, plus a profile of Forage's preskilling platform.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia

Workplace skills edtech Forage raises $35 million series B

Skills-training platform Forage, which builds virtual work experience programs with employers, has raised a US$25 million Series B led by Blackbird Ventures, roughly a year after its US$9.3 million Series A.

Also Startup Daily

Global FinTech supplier Sandstone Technology appoints new CFOO

Sandstone Technology has named Katherine Dziaman, formerly Group CFO at Tonic Health Media, as its Chief Financial and Operating Officer, replacing Pow-Chuan Lee, who recently departed the company.

Incomlend is offering investors yields via credit receivables (100% covered by credit insurance) with a 120 day maturity

Wholesale Investor profiles Incomlend, an invoice trading platform offering credit-insured short-term receivables to investors, recalling its USD20 million Series A led by Sequoia India and later backing from Singapore's EDBI.

Also Wholesale Investor

InfiniGold raises $6.25m and rebrands as Trovio ahead of wider expansion into the commodities industry

Commodity tokenisation firm InfiniGold, now renamed Trovio, has raised A$6.25 million in Series B funding co-led by Blockchain Valley Ventures and Amherst Holdings to grow its CommoditiesPass platform.

Also Cut Through Venture

Investment notes: Deci US$9.1m Seed

Square Peg co-led a US$9.1 million seed round in AI startup Deci, whose AutoNAC engine optimises deep learning models for hardware, and profiles founders Yonatan Geifman, Joe Elial and Ran El-Yaniv.

Also Square Peg Capital portfolio

5 things you should know about tech today

Daily tech roundup covering WeWork's cash crisis, Airbnb handing host data to the tax office, an iPhone USB malware flaw, a government-funded RMIT research centre, and two fintechs entering Suncorp's incubator.

NAB Ventures backs smart terminal startup Poynt in US$100 million Series C round

Payment terminal maker Poynt raised a US$100 million Series C, with NAB Ventures joining Elavon among investors. NAB Ventures general partner Melissa Widner also joined Poynt's strategic advisory board as part of the deal.

Blackstone closes $8bn real estate debt fund as market rebounds

Blackstone has finished gathering $8bn for its latest commercial property debt vehicle, BREDS V, which will buy loans and originate new ones spanning North America, Europe and Australia as banks retreat from property lending.