Episode Summary:
In this week's episode of The Startup Retro, hosts, Will & Gemma delve into Canva's acquisition of Leonardo AI and feature an interview with Elli Hanson from Side Stage, one of Leonardo's investors. The hosts also discuss the South Australian Venture Capital Fund and the state government's independent report on its effectiveness and uncover the secret termination of the federal government's Boosting Female Founders (BFF) grant program. And to wrap up Gemma & Will highlight the latest startup raises, including Monty Compost, an industrial composting tool, and Slice, a bootstrapped fintech in the travel industry.
Headlines
• Canva Acquires Leonardo AI
• SAVCF Government Report
• Boosting Female Founders Program Termination
Episode Sponsors:
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:28 Canva Acquires Leonardo AI
05:02 South Australian Venture Capital Fund Report
09:00 Boosting Female Founders Program Termination
15:37 Weekly Startup Raises
28:31 KaaS Recommendations
Resources:
To get all the links to the stories we mentioned in this episode, you can read this week’s Overnight Success newsletter. https://newsletter.overnightsuccess.vc/p/aussie-startup-vc-summary-3rd-august-2024
Startup Raises
Monty Compost
Founder: Ashley Baxter
Monty Compost, an organic waste recycling/composting IoT device with analytics software, has secured $1M from Skalata and Antler (QIC).
Slice
Founders: Yannick Darmalingam and Farouk Ismail
Slice, a Sydney-based fintech, has raised $7.5M in Seed funding from Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India & SEA) and a $10M debt facility from Roadnight Capital.
KaaS - Knowledge as a Service
Gemma’s Pick 💁🏻♀️
Podcast: The Journal - "Alexa is in millions of homes and Amazon is losing billions"
Will’s Pick 💁🏻♂️
Blog: The Big Guide to Fusion by Ben James
Send feedback to the hosts
• Gemma on LinkedIn
• Will on LinkedIn
