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Bret Taylor's Sierra raises nearly $1 billion months after last capital push

Sierra, the enterprise AI agent firm started by Bret Taylor and Clay Bavor, has banked a $950 million Series E with Tiger Global and Google Ventures at the helm, plus Benchmark, Sequoia and Greenoaks.

Also TechCrunch Venture·aivy.com.au·cmswire.com·theaiworld.org·faq.com.tw·groundy.com

Seven ANZ startups that raised $42.8 million this week

Weekly roundup of seven Australian and New Zealand raises totalling $42.8 million, spanning property-investment AI, workforce credentialing, allied-health practice software, conversation analytics, maths learning games, copper processing and holiday-park bookings.

AI-based conversation analysis startup raises $2.3 million for sales insights solution

Twine has raised $2.3 million in an Airtree-led round with three angel backers. The startup analyses business conversations to give sales and product teams actionable insight and plans to grow its AI features.

Also SmartCompany

Transforming the Future of Advertising: Agentio's $12M Series A

Agentio announces a $12m Series A with Benchmark leading and earlier backers Craft and AlleyCorp returning, taking the creator-advertising platform's total funding to $16.25m.

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.

These Are The Most Active And Spendiest Cleantech Investors

Crunchbase data analysis ranking the busiest cleantech investors, led by Lowercarbon Capital, and citing large sustainability rounds at Loam Bio, Our Next Energy, Ohmium and Palmetto Clean Technology.

Linktree is now letting users add Threads on their profile

Linktree launches a feature letting creators embed their Threads profile and posts on their Linktree pages, following its recent Snap partnership and Threads' rapid user growth.

CommBank plants funding in $220 Series A for climate change investor Wollemi Capital

Wollemi Capital, the Sydney climate investor, has closed a $220m raise, past its initial $100m goal, backed by CBA, Trawalla and others; the article recalls its bets on Loam Bio, Pluton Bio and Pachama.

The Ignition Lane Wrap: Life in the fast lane. And calling road service

Ignition Lane's weekly wrap: Tiger Global's losses and past Australian bets, MilkRun and TradeSquare closures, Cyara's Spearline acquisition, a Co Ventures pre-seed fund, Square Peg's partner promotion and LaunchVic's 30×30 picks.

Accel, Square Peg back Chronicle's tool for presentations that won't put you to sleep

Presentation startup Chronicle, based in Sydney and San Francisco, announced a $7.5 million seed round led by Accel and Square Peg, with angels from several major tech companies participating.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany

Successful fintech entrepreneur Michael H. Giles backs Change Financial for global growth

US fintech investor Michael H. Giles has invested A$6.9 million in Brisbane-listed payments provider Change Financial, taking a 19.99% stake via his vehicle FinTech HQ to support its US expansion.

Ignition Lane's Great Big Annual Wrap

Ignition Lane's year-end review of 2022 tech news: shifting VC sentiment, record Australian fund raises, grocery delivery failures and shutdowns, local M&A, crypto fallout, awards, and global stories from Twitter to ChatGPT.

Also AgFunderNews

The Ignition Lane Wrap: Sunrise. Demise. No more pies.

Ignition Lane's weekly tech roundup covering record Australian VC fund raises, several green-tech startup funding rounds, Deliveroo's administration, the FTX collapse, and takeover offers for ELMO and Nitro.

Also Techboard

Daily Crunch: Nigerian startup that stored its 'day-to-day operational budget' on FTX announces staff cuts

TechCrunch roundup: FTX fallout hits Nestcoin and SoftBank's stake, while Quix, Joepegs, Vow, Faraday Future and Butter raise, plus items on Twitter, VLC, DoorDash, Hulu, Google and Apple.

Also AgFunderNews

Daily Crunch: After buying Twitter, will Musk bite back at Apple's in-app purchase fees?

TechCrunch's Daily Crunch roundup covering Musk's Twitter purchase and Apple's fees, Zillow layoffs, LatticeFlow and OTI raises, Square Peg's fund close, and Argo AI's shutdown.

Also Startup Daily

Ignition Lane's Great Big Wrap: VCs court cash, an M&A bash & Canva makes a splash

Ignition Lane's weekly tech roundup covering fresh Australian startup raises, new venture funds and closes, a wave of acquisitions, delistings and a liquidation, executive moves, and Canva's product launch.

Also Centerstone Capital portfolio·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·6clicks.com·ARN (ARNnet)·Centerstone Capital portfolio·Techboard·Startup Daily

Our investment in Vouch

OIF Ventures' note explains why the fund co-led an $8m seed round in video-testimonial software maker Vouch with US-based Stage 2 Capital, profiling the product, founders and go-to-market model.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily

Ignition Lane's Wrap: the state of Cloud, VC advice, Tiger stripes, cattle class crypto, M&A fires up

Weekly tech wrap: cloud-market trends, Tiger Global's cheques into Stake, Shippit and Carma, new VC funds, several acquisitions, grocery delivery startups Send and Quicko collapsing, and Elaine Stead joining M8 Ventures.

Also Startup Daily

MUSK BUY: Tesla boss wins war for Twitter with $61 billion

Startup Daily relays Elon Musk's agreed takeover of Twitter for roughly US$44 billion, including his earlier 9.2 per cent stake purchase, board reactions, and the debt and equity financing behind the deal.

Elon Musk to buy Twitter: Will the trolling stop?

Twitter's board has approved Elon Musk's multi-billion-dollar takeover offer, prompting the author to ask whether the platform's harassment and safety problems will improve or worsen for women under its new owner.

Tim Draper, one of America’s most successful startup investors, has backed drone reforestation startup Lord of the Trees in $1.67 million pre-Seed

US investor Tim Draper has led a pre-seed round in Australian drone reforestation startup Lord of the Trees, raising US$1.25 million (A$1.67 million) at a A$7 million valuation.

Also AgFunderNews

Ignition Lane's Weekly Wrap: Super-fast unicorn, VC funding boom, put another founder on a Barbie

Ignition Lane's weekly roundup: Zip's deal for Sezzle, Zeller's unicorn raise, several Australian funding rounds, Startmate backing Provvy, a space manufacturing grant, NZVC's first close, and tech's response to Russia.

Ignition Lane's Weekly Wrap: The Great Reengagement, backing Web3, riding the markets & the big local raises

Ignition Lane's weekly tech roundup: AirTree raises $700m across three new funds, dozens of Australian startups announce rounds, a wave of acquisitions including Block completing its Afterpay buy, plus Web3 commentary and US market moves.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily

This Silicon Valley crypto startup, founded by a Brisbane entrepreneur, is now worth $2 billion

Crypto exchange CoinList, founded by Brisbane-born Graham Jenkin, raised US$100 million in Series A funding led by Agman and Accomplice, reaching a US$1.5 billion valuation, after a Dorsey-led US$10 million round in 2019.

Ignition Lane's Weekly Wrap: Crypto moves, the future of Facebook, VC moat gloats, Zero Co's record week

Weekly roundup reporting Australian raises including Zero Co, MOBI and CipherStash, Cashrewards' takeover agreement, Shebah's collapse, WeWork's NYSE listing, crypto regulation recommendations and SiteMinder board appointments.

Also Australian FinTech·Cut Through Venture·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany

Insurtech Cover Genius hits unicorn after $100 million series C raise

Sydney insurtech Cover Genius raised a $100 million Series C led by Sompo Holdings to reach unicorn valuation, with G Squared participating, capping a strong month for Australian startup funding rounds.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany

Ignition Lane’s Weekly Wrap: Kiwi ‘funtech’, buying Maccas with BTC, Aussie exits, Twitter’s Facebook move

Weekly venture roundup covering Scalapay's giant series A, numerous Australian raises, acquisitions of Clipchamp, Paidy and CipherTrace, Houseparty's closure, crypto regulation developments, and Atlassian appointing a Cloudflare founder as director.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

It's a Square deal: Afterpay proves the critics wrong and Canberra will benefit

Columnist and longtime Afterpay critic Stephen Mayne reacts to Square's agreed all-share takeover of the Melbourne BNPL company, valuing it at $43 billion, and notes the windfall for its founders and federal tax coffers.

Afterpay to be acquired by Square in $39 billion deal

Australian buy-now-pay-later firm Afterpay has agreed to a US$29 billion acquisition by Square, with founders Nick Molnar and Anthony Eisen expected to join the payments company once the deal completes in early 2022.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Australian FinTech·Australian FinTech·Australian FinTech

Square makes $39 billion Afterpay takeover bid

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.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany

Founders Stories Podcast: Ben Pfisterer on taking on the big four

Square Peg's podcast interviews Zeller chief executive Ben Pfisterer about building the Melbourne payments fintech, his path through NAB, Visa and Square, and challenging Australia's major banks.

Ignition Lane Weekly Wrap: M&A mania, Tesla trademarks, African fintech, another SoftBank implosion & NFTs explained

Weekly roundup covering ANZ trade sales including A Cloud Guru's multibillion-dollar sale, several Australian raises, Tenacious Ventures' agritech fund close, Xero and Cochlear appointments, and global deals such as Etsy buying Depop.

Also SmartCompany

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.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Women's Agenda

Ignition Lane's Weekly Wrap: Intersekt highlights, $100m Kiwi exit, tech sucker trade, the week in raises

A weekly technology roundup reporting a New Zealand booking software firm's sale, an Australian beauty retailer's acquisition, several venture raises, executive share sales at an e-commerce firm, and a new government fund committee.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

Ignition Lane's Weekly Wrap: Airwallex's culture concerns, CSIRO's $100m plan, crypto trolls

Ignition Lane's weekly roundup reports Tyro buying Medipass, several startup raises, ASX listings, Hey Tiger shutting down, Airwallex culture complaints, CSIRO's technology spending plan, and Musk's bitcoin antics.

Also Startup Daily

Your 90-second guide to the day in tech

Daily tech briefing: Facebook reviews Trump's suspension, Microsoft admits selling Xbox consoles at a loss, Tiger Global seeks more capital, MedAdvisor banks fresh equity, and Marqeta teams with Afterpay on in-store payments.

Fresh funding values Clubhouse at US$4 billion, even as Facebook and Reddit unveil rival platforms

Audio app Clubhouse has reportedly closed a Series C round valuing it at US$4 billion, just as Facebook and Reddit launch competing live-audio products and Twitter expands Spaces.

Also Startup Daily

Ignition Lane’s Weekly Wrap: Canva’s rise, Clubhouse plays Twitter, Slack’s Australian slog

Ignition Lane's weekly roundup covers Canva's US$71 million raise, several Australian payments acquisitions and mergers, local raises by Cyble, Enboarder, Rendr and Basiq, plus overseas deals including Plaid, Box, Ramp and Coinbase's listing.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily

TrueLayer raises US$70m to build the world's most valuable Open Banking network

UK open banking platform TrueLayer has raised a US$70 million Series D led by Addition, with existing backers joining, to fund global expansion and grow its engineering and commercial teams.

Also Australian FinTech