Mr Yum

Me&u takes on American Express and DoorDash as it eyes first profitable year

Me&u launches a new AI-powered reservations platform to compete with Resy and SevenRooms, targeting profitability in 2026 after merging with Mr Yum.

Marketing got faster, strategy didn't: Brainwaves is fixing that.

Startmate profiles Brainwaves, which builds strategy software for marketing teams, ahead of its Demo Day pitch, covering the founding team, early revenue and enterprise traction.

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.

Gabby and Hezi Leibovich-backed Fingertip acquired by rival Linktree – and will close

Linktree has bought Melbourne rival Fingertip and will shut it down in 2026, with its cofounders joining; the piece also recaps Linktree's earlier acquisitions and the Leibovich brothers' failed ventures.

Also Dealroom·Forbes Australia

Queensland R&D finance fintech raises $2.3 million

Equity raise of $2.3m by Advanced, a Sunshine Coast R&D finance startup building a $25m lending fund; backers include Wayne Gerard and Phil Cummins, who joins the board.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily

H1 2024 in Review: $100m invested

TEN13's investor letter celebrates passing $100 million deployed, plus fresh backing for iion and Switchboard, team promotions, AutoGrab's overseas growth and NZ-arm sale, and the Mr Yum–Me&U merger.

Also Startup Daily·thetimes.com.au·SmartCompany

Anzac spirit: hospitality ordering platform HungryHungry merges with New Zealand’s Mobi

Melbourne payments platform HungryHungry and New Zealand's MOBI have merged, with HungryHungry now running the Wellington business; terms undisclosed. The article recalls earlier angel and seed raises and the founders' sale of OrderMate.

Chipper Cash Becomes A Unicorn & Mr Yum raises US$65m Series A led by Tiger Global

TEN13 newsletter reporting Chipper Cash's US$150m unicorn round, Mr Yum's Tiger Global-led Series A, and new investments in Payhippo, Preezie, Pushas and Heaps Normal, plus portfolio updates.

Also Skalata Ventures·Skalata Ventures·Archangel Ventures portfolio·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Beef Central / Grain Central·Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·LaunchVic

2023 in Review 💫

Ten13's year-end post recaps nine new portfolio additions, follow-on support for existing holdings, the Mr Yum and Me&U merger, Go1's Blinkist acquisition, Smileyscope's FDA clearance, and community events.

Also Ten13·OIF Ventures portfolio·TechCrunch Australia·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia

Revealed: Top 20 startups in Australia

LinkedIn's seventh annual ranking of Australia's top startups puts Immutable first and Harrison.ai second; the piece also notes me&u's recent merger with Mr Yum and the Tran brothers' three-year fundraising tally.

Also Startup Daily

QR-code rivals Mr Yum and me&u to merge in major shakeup to Australian restaurant-tech sector

Table-ordering rivals Mr Yum and me&u will combine in a stock deal, with Mr Yum's chief executive leading the merged business; earlier raises by both are recapped.

Pitch VC joins VentureCrowd to democratise startup fund management

VentureCrowd and Pitch VC are launching a white-label platform that lets newcomers run their own startup funds; Pitch VC's two founders join VentureCrowd's leadership to build it.

Linktree cofounders back new $15 million VC fund

Founder-backed syndicate Side Stage Ventures has become a $15 million seed fund, with LocalGlobe and several founders as limited partners, three startups already backed, and portfolio company Joyn acquiring event firm Arinex.

Side Stage Ventures secures $15 million for its launch fund with support from Linktree, Airtasker

SmartCompany reports Side Stage Ventures has completed a $15 million first close of its debut fund, backed by founders of Airtasker, Linktree and Go1 plus LocalGlobe, targeting $30 million and already backing early startups.

Also Startup Daily·Australian FinTech

Liven acquires four startups for $152 million in hope of becoming hospitality’s one-stop-tech-shop

Melbourne hospitality tech firm Liven has bought four software startups, two Australian plus one Singaporean and one American, for a combined $152 million, expanding its all-in-one restaurant technology offering.

Also Startup Daily·Australian FinTech·Forbes Australia

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.

A temporary dancefloor and no plans for layoffs: Canva celebrates new Melbourne office through tech sector downturn

Canva has opened a converted Collingwood warehouse as its new Melbourne office and says it has no layoff plans, citing six consecutive profitable years while hiring continues despite widespread tech sector job cuts.

Restaurant ordering platform Mr Yum cuts another 40 jobs

The hospitality-tech firm Mr Yum has axed 40 more staff as it pushes toward profit; the article recalls the $89 million Series A that Tiger Global led in November 2021.

LaunchVic's hunt for the next wave of tech unicorns is on again

LaunchVic reopens expressions of interest for its 30×30 program aiming to create 30 Victorian unicorns by 2030, recalling last year's nine participants, while July appoints Joanne Smith as its first chief financial officer.

The Antler Investor Memo Series: How Liively is becoming UberEats for stadium seats

Antler Australia's investor memo profiles Liively, a pre-seed in-venue delivery startup founded by Norbert Herrmann that brings food and drinks to stadium seats, with major Australian venues taking notice.

Zero Co, Ofload and Mad Paws: The startup winners of the 2022 Smart50 awards

SmartCompany names its 2022 Smart50 winners: July tops the list, Ofload ranks second after a $60 million raise, and Mad Paws, Zero Co, Code Like a Girl and Hero Packaging take out category awards.

How this young entrepreneur is changing the hospitality industry

A profile of Clipboard co-founder Brendan Leeds, whose hospitality careers platform has drawn backers such as Gerry Ryan and Neil Wilson, with attention to worker mental health.

Australia’s hospitality industry embraces technology to support staffing crisis with a 92% uptake in QR code let table orders

Doshii reports rapid uptake of QR code table ordering among Australian hospitality venues, with order volumes up sharply as operators adopt apps to cope with staff shortages; the Commonwealth Bank-backed platform integrates venue apps.

Agtech investment momentum continues, despite economic downturn

Coverage of AgFunder and AgriFutures' new Asia-Pacific investment report, which found Australian agrifoodtech startups attracted $565.5 million across 55 deals in 2021, plus Lyro's raises and evokeAG 2023 applications.

Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily

AirTree joins leading VCs Square Peg and Blackbird in cutting Canva's valuation by a third

Australian venture firms Airtree, Square Peg and Blackbird have written down their Canva stakes, valuing the design company well below its last raise, amid wider market corrections hitting Klarna and other late-stage startups.

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

Mr Yum completes first major acquisition, obtaining MyGuestlist to help restaurants build personalised marketing to diners

Hospitality tech firm Mr Yum has bought customer data platform MyGuestlist in a cash-and-stock deal worth tens of millions, its first acquisition, following an $89 million raise led by Tiger Global.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Forbes Australia

Linktree founders back creative startups with new venture fund

Linktree's co-founders have launched Side Stage Ventures, a collective investing in very young creative-tech companies; it has already backed several startups, and associate Ben Grabiner's music platform Platoon was bought by Apple.

Also Australian FinTech

Rokt raises $458 million, as Aussie startups continue to cash in

Rokt's Series E tops a week of Australian raises including Dovetail, Inventia, DiviPay, Atomi, 6clicks, Replica Studios and ProForm Foods, with SimPro's recent raise noted.

Also Startup Daily·Techboard·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily

Tiger Global places another Aussie bet, this time on Assignar

Tiger Global led a US$16.5m secondary funding round in construction software firm Assignar, co-led by SecondQuarter Ventures, with Fifth Wall and HighSage taking part; past backers and a $20m Series B are recalled.

Also OIF Ventures portfolio

Mr Yum raises $11m in post-seed raise

Herbert Smith Freehills advised QR ordering and payments startup Mr Yum on its $11 million raise, which TEN13 and AirTree Ventures led; the company cited strong pandemic-driven growth.

Also SmartCompany