Meet the actor who built Happy Skin Co with an influencer army

In many ways, being an entrepreneur can be a lot like being an actor. Some smiles are faked, greetings forced, and handshakes reluctantly accepted. As it turns out, actors make pretty brilliant young entrepreneurs themselves. That's the career trajectory of Dylan Mullan, (pictured right) founder of at-home laser hair removal treat...

iVvy partners with fast growing UK hotel group Village Hotel Club

Tech scale-up iVvy has partnered with Village Hotel Club to implement its white label solution across the UK group's website. Village Hotel Club is a fast-moving hotel group with 30 properties as of the time of writing. The group intends to open additional five hotels in the next two years, with a further 15 planned by 2026. iVvy&...

TRAVLR partners with 8common on business and leisure travel platform

Listed fintech group 8common (ASX: 8CO) has tapped travel disruptors TRAVLR to assist in the development of a new business leisure platform. Called Benefits8 the employee benefits platform has been created to serve the growing business and leisure travel opportunity sector and will leverage 8common's Expense8 business unit. The Ex...

New LGBT influencer hub bringing authenticity back to marketing

A newly launched influencer marketplace hopes to target the difficult to reach (and difficult to convince) LGBT market. Named Joocd.com ("Just Out Of Curiosity Digital"), the platform is a new home for LGBT influencers and brands that want to target the hard to market to segment. Founded by Nigel Hickey and Mark Alexander, t...

Cannabis Doctors Australia launch crowdfunding campaign with big ambitions

The minds behind fast-moving medicinal cannabis clinic chain Cannabis Doctors Australia (CDA) have big plans for their venture, and they begin today with an Australian-first crowdfunding campaign. CDA is the first medicinal cannabis company in Australia to embark on an equity crowdfunding campaign since the method of capital raising was l...

VentureCrowd grows with SMSF Properties Australia acquisition

VentureCrowd is now the largest crowdfunding platform in Australia by volume of capital raised following its acquisition of SMSF Properties Australia. The consolidated group brings together VentureCrowd, a more traditional crowdfunding platform, with SMSF, a crowdfunding model for property investment and development. The deal creates ...

Steve Baxter backs "Canva for video" tech startup

A Brisbane-founded company that brings easy-to-use video editing to the masses has raised $1 million in a seed round led by entrepreneur Steve Baxter, known for his role on the hit show Shark Tank and co-founding PIPE Networks. Launched in April last year, Clipchamp has 6.5 million registered users worldwide, including team members f...

Australia is slipping off the global leaderboard of startup success

In 2015, 'innovation' was the word on the tips of everyone's tongues in Canberra. Now, it barely registers as a passing thought. The turn away from Australia's once world-renowned startup ecosystem is most evident in Startup Genome's Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2019. The report tanks Sydney as the 23rd best sta...

Checkbox: the AI business solution that won't steal your job

If you're a follower of Elon Musk on Twitter you might be starting to develop a certain paranoia: artificial intelligence is coming for my job, my government, and even my planet. Once the realm of science fiction, artificial intelligence and automation is in fact very real, and very advanced in 2019. Though Musk's paranoid lat...

InStyle Solar goes national with Costco partnership

One of Queensland's largest solar retailers and installers is about to broaden its horizons following an Australian-first solar deal. Big-box US retailer Costco has signed a deal with InStyle Solar that will see InStyle's products available to purchase via a kiosk in-store. While the initial plan is to have the kiosks installe...

Jordan Grives' Fone Dynamics scooped up by Uniti Wireless

Emerging telco player Uniti Wireless (ASX: UWL) has picked up Brisbane-based tech startup Fone Dynamics. Founded by serial entrepreneur and Young Entrepreneur of the Year (2016) Jordan Grives, Fone Dynamics is a specialist communications platform-as-a-service ('CPaaS') company. The group focuses on modern inbound voice and bus...

Tritium launches electric vehicle R&D centre in Brisbane

There's no denying it. Car manufacturers around the world are gearing up for an electric vehicles (EV) future, and without an automotive industry of our own, Australia will need to take heed sooner or later.  Queensland based Tritium knows this for a fact, and the company is growing at a remarkable rate< so fast that it's ...

Provenir's mobile abattoir set to revolutionise ag-tech and animal welfare

To change an industry as rooted in its ways as the animal agriculture industry is going to take something seriously disruptive. One such emerging disruptor in the animal agriculture world Provenir is seeking to change the way farms and abattoirs operate as we know them. Co-founded by CEO Chris Balazs (pictured right), Provenir is a ga...

Inside cult women's shoe brand FRANKiE4 Footwear's massive 14 months

Over the last 14 months FRANKiE4 Footwear has been overwhelmed. But co-founder Caroline McCulloch (pictured) swears it's been the good kind of overwhelming. The last time we spoke to FRANKiE4 Footwear was in 2012 back then McCulloch and her husband Alan were selling five types of shoes. But over the last 14 months the company has ...

Fitness influencers launch a FitazFK activewear range

Georgio Batsinilas and Aaron McAllister are well known for their insanely popular fitness guides and gyms, so their latest venture is a sure-fire hit. The winners of the 2018 Influencer award at the Brisbane Young Entrepreneur Awards and founders of FitazFK have released a range of Instagrammable women's activewear. Playing to the...

Space tourism has potential Australia cannot ignore, experts say

Heading to the moon for your summer holiday might sound far-fetched, but Australian researchers and entrepreneurs want to make it happen. Our space industry here in Australia has a bright future. The Federal Government's newly created Space Agency is due to launch in Adelaide any moment now, and entrepreneurs from around the country a...

Little Tokyo Two placed into voluntary liquidation

Serial entrepreneur Jock Fairweather's (pictured) incubator and co-working space Little Tokyo Two (LT2) has been placed into voluntary liquidation. The four-year-old project has apparently suffered from new competition in the space, leading Fairweather to announce the liquidation of the business. In a letter to supporters Fairweat...

MOSH is the new men's health startup backed by the founders of Tinder

Getting men to seek help for their health can often be difficult, but a Sydney startup is hoping to buck the trend. Backed by the founders of Tinder MOSH is an end-to-end digital healthcare hub for men that is putting the power of telemedicine in the pockets of Aussie men nationwide. Founded by two best mates, David Narunsky and Gabe ...

Tammy Hembrow and Michael Huxley team up for iconic collab

It was only a matter of time before these two Gold Coast entrepreneurs partnered up. Tammy Hembrow, one of Australia's most followed Instagram influencers and the mind behind Saski Collection, and Michael Huxley, founder of renowned makeup institute Huxley School of Makeup, are putting their talents together. Saski and Huxley...

Crossing the "Valley of Death" of technology transfer

Only a small portion of patents are actually exploited for commercial gain. If more of them could be put to use in Australia there would be great potential for a lift in the country's economy.  It's a rainy day in Oxford, traditional weather, and an Aussie knocks on my door. Samuel Conway has just landed in the UK after a lon...