Women's Agenda

The taxpayer-backed AI startup leaving Australia, as women's health founders push to stay

Women's Agenda panel on women's health founders' capital challenges: Harrison.ai took $32m in government funding yet cut local staff, while Oli's CEO resists offshore money that would end its Australian status.

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‘Breakthroughs happen when courage meets scientific excellence’: The women launching game-changing ventures out of labs

Profiles three women translating research into ventures: skin cancer AI, an oncology dosing startup that secured pre-seed backing, and a videophone for aged care; commercialisation program applications open.

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The menopause health gap hiding in plain sight

A founder's first-person account of building Biolae, a women's health startup tackling vaginal dryness in menopause, and preparing to launch Australia's first TGA-listed hyaluronic acid pessary.

Meet the 19 ventures sharing $400,000 to connect women, investors and opportunity

NSW Government grants worth $400,000 across 19 recipients include EnergyLab, Barayamal, Go Remote, Western Sydney Women and Scale Investors, funding events and initiatives aimed at closing the gender funding gap.

Alex Andrews appointed CEO of cultured meat startup Vow

Sydney cultured-meat company Vow has named Alex Andrews chief executive, with founder George Peppou shifting to an executive director role. The piece also recalls Vow's 2022 Series A and Verve Super's acquisition.

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How Tara Croft secured $25 million to tackle one of healthcare’s biggest blind spots

Profile of Oli CEO Tara Croft discussing the company's wearable AI for maternal monitoring, its combined government and private backing, and persistent underfunding of women's health innovation.

Doctor-turned-founder behind Ovum raises $4 million to scale AI women’s health platform

Women's health startup Ovum has secured seed capital to expand its AI platform, with its doctor-founder also due to appear at an upcoming Women's Agenda summit in Sydney.

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Here’s how Remy Tucker is scaling her free period products model

A profile of Remy Tucker, whose Sydney startup ON THE HOUSE funds free period products in public venues through advertising revenue, and which has recently raised seed funding.

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Brisbane startup raises $1.5m to commercialise its ovarian cancer detection blood test

A Brisbane diagnostics venture has banked seed capital to push its blood-based ovarian cancer screen toward clinical lab use, flagging a larger raise ahead.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

The three Australian women named Cartier Women’s Initiative fellows

Three Australian founders — of Platform Zero, Womn-Kind and Everform Therapywear — are named Oceania fellows in the Cartier Women’s Initiative, which grants prize money at its June awards in Bangkok.

Courage, vision, impact: The women leaders who redefined power in 2025

A year-end list profiling women leaders worldwide, from presidents to tech founders; it recalls Airwallex's landmark capital raise and Mira Murati's new AI venture with its record seed round.

Also Forbes Australia

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Female-founded travel startup Heartful to close after cyberattack wipes out early revenue

Accessible accommodation marketplace Heartful will shut down on 22 December after bot attacks destroyed its early revenue; founder Jen Clark is still seeking a buyer and cites funding barriers for female founders.

Parenting retail brand The Memo lands $20 million investment

Melbourne parenting retailer The Memo has received $20 million from investor Pier 12 Capital for a minority stake, money it will use to open more boutiques across Australia.

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How Holly Fowler built the world's first social app connecting neurodivergent people

Profile of Wable founder Holly Fowler, whose Melbourne-based social app for neurodivergent people recently completed a $1.5 million Series A to fund expansion into the UK, US, New Zealand and Canada.

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Indigenous, female-owned food brand Cooee lands Qantas partnership

Indigenous-founded snack brand Cooee lands a deal putting its cookies on Qantas domestic flights, with Ochre Ventures having invested $1.5 million to support its growth.

Also Dealroom

Aged 22 and working solo, Alisa Wu just raised $2 million for her next startup

Profile of 22-year-old solo founder Alisa Wu, whose pre-seed raise for AI startup Lucent drew several backers, plus her earlier tutoring venture's sale and a past engineering role at an acquired ad platform.

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Backed by women, Grace Brown secures $23 million to expand humanoid robotics startup

Grace Brown's robotics startup Andromeda raised a $23m Series A round, mostly backed by women investors including Forerunner Ventures, at a $100m valuation, after a $3m seed round in 2024.

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Smart health: the AI revolution driving breakthroughs in healthcare

Feature on AI reshaping healthcare: Bain's Lucy d'Arville discusses clinical adoption and trust, while Dr Ariella Heffernan-Marks' women's health startup Ovum has landed $1.7 million pre-seed for its app.

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Former Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin joins Airwallex board

Airwallex adds ex-Optus chief Kelly Bayer Rosmarin and four other directors to its subsidiary's board while it pursues an Australian banking licence; the article also recaps the fintech's US$300 million Series F.

Female co-founded Airwallex secures major capital raise and valuation of nearly $10 billion

Payments company Airwallex raised US$300 million at a US$6.2 billion valuation, with half going to early investors selling shares, backed by Square Peg, Airtree and Blackbird as it eyes an IPO.

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Confused about Trump’s tariffs? Use this supply chain calculator for your business

Australian ESG software firm Fair Supply has launched a real-time calculator showing how tariffs accumulate across supply chain tiers; the piece notes its January raise exceeding $12 million, with Five V Capital leading.

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How Ovum AI could transform the $1 trillion women’s health gap

Profile of Ovum, Dr Ariella Heffernan-Marks's AI health assistant for women, covering its $1.7 million pre-seed raise and her bid to close the gap in health outcomes for women.

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Three practical tips for women seeking startup funding from UrbanYou's Noga Edelstein

UrbanYou co-founder Noga Edelstein offers tips for female founders pitching investors on a Women's Agenda podcast, touching on funding gender gaps, her company's raise and its acquisition by OneFlare.

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A CEO has a relationship with a subordinate and wants to 'get back to work'

Commentary on Dovetail's CEO being sued by the company's in-house lawyer, with notes on the startup's near-billion-dollar valuation and its Blackbird and Grok Ventures backing.

Geospatial tech startup Terria receives backing from billion-dollar tech investment fund

Terria, a geospatial data platform started by two ex-CSIRO staffers, has closed a seed round backed by deep tech investor Main Sequence to scale its mapping tools globally.

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Canva appoints Kelly Steckelberg as new CFO

Canva has hired ex-Zoom finance chief Kelly Steckelberg as its next CFO, starting November 26, as the design software company prepares for an initial public offering.

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Ten leading entrepreneurs to know this Women's Entrepreneurship Day

Profiles ten Australian women founders across prosthetics, sustainable materials, wellness, mental health and AI, including three recipients of a Xero award program and a Cartier fellowship.

Also SmartCompany

Founder Nicole Gibson's world-first AI technology could help us better understand our emotions

Profile of founder Nicole Gibson, whose emotion-tracking wearable startup InTruth has raised $9.5 million to date, including a $9.1 million non-dilutive grant from a UK family office, ahead of a planned launch.

‘We believed in what we were building’: Canva’s Melanie Perkins on raising capital and achieving big goals

Women's Agenda interview with Canva co-founder Melanie Perkins on her SXSW Sydney conversation with investor Mary Meeker, covering Fusion Books, Silicon Valley rejections, and the early backers who funded the design platform.

These rural women took the leap with their business ideas. Now they’re encouraging others to do the same

Profiles two women whose business ideas won AgriFutures bursaries of $7,000 each for 2024 — one on home food growing, one mentoring vets — with the next grant round's applications closing soon.

‘Atlassian is hiring’: Atlassian goes head to head with Amazon over flexible work

Atlassian has rolled out Team Anywhere, a remote-friendly policy pitched at staff resisting Amazon's office mandate; an Atlassian executive blames 'fake work' for poor productivity, and Australian home-working data is cited.

Australian women’s healthtech startup Femtek rebrands to Kyri

Menstrual-health startup Femtek has rebranded as Kyri, citing a trademark block; the piece also looks back at its seven-figure raise with Arcanys Ventures and Techstars leading earlier in the year.

Also Forbes Australia

The profound benefits of supporting breastfeeding during the first week postpartum

For World Breastfeeding Week, Lactamo's founder discusses why the first week after birth is decisive, citing hospital trials across two countries and survey data showing most new mothers face breastfeeding difficulties.

The opportunity for workplaces to better support carers

Panel hosted with Carers Australia explores workplace support for caregivers, featuring Like Family co-founder Jenna Leo, plus executives from Parents at Work, Carers Australia and NAB sharing their caring experiences.

CEO of Resparke Alison Harrington on how music can help us improve dementia care

Interview with Resparke's founder-CEO on music therapy for dementia care, recalling her 2023 public grant via Ariia and her new Cartier Women's Initiative fellowship.

From research to entrepreneurship: How Dr Josephine Muir and Dr Mary Webberley are transforming our gut health for the better

Profile of Noisy Guts founders Josephine Muir and Mary Webberley, who credit CSIRO programs with helping them network and seek $2.5 million in seed funding for their IBS diagnostics startup, despite mostly male investors.

Meet Abi, a robot designed by Grace Brown – and your new best friend

Purpose Ventures led a $3m seed round in Andromeda, Grace Brown's Melbourne robotics startup, to scale production of Abi, a companion robot trialled in aged care and children's hospitals.

Also SmartCompany·Women's Agenda·Startup Daily

Cartier’s Women’s Initiative soars in 2024 with 33 global impact entrepreneurs showcased

Cartier’s 2024 Women’s Initiative honoured 33 women entrepreneurs with tiered grant prizes, including Australians Alison Harrington of Resparke and Frances Bilbao of Mums Matter Psychology and New Zealand’s Simran Kaur of Girls That Invest.

Avani Prabhakar appointed as Chief People Officer at Atlassian

Atlassian has named long-serving HR executive Avani Prabhakar its next Chief People Officer, with her remit spanning HR, talent and diversity as headcount growth continues.

Peeplcoach books $1.3 million raise to expand innovative executive coaching platform

Leadership coaching platform Peeplcoach raised $1.3 million from angels including Jacinta McDonell, plus LaunchVic's Alice Anderson Fund, to fuel expansion. Co-founders Christine Khor and James Chisholm lead the venture, previously a Smart50 finalist.

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Diversity Atlas raises $6 million following ‘unprecedented demand’ for its diversity analytics platform

Melbourne-based diversity analytics firm Diversity Atlas has landed a bridge round from Canada's Gener8 VC, its first outside money, and plans to double its 35-strong team while pushing into European and North American markets.

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Olivia Orchowski's Femtek raises $1 million for cycle tracking ring you wear to bed

Australian women's health startup Femtek has raised $1 million, led by Arcanys Ventures and Techstars, for its overnight cycle-tracking ring; the round stays open alongside a past Kickstarter campaign.

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The ten richest women in Australia, according to the AFR

Profiles Australia's ten wealthiest women from the AFR's new list, alongside Canva's in-progress share sale, a large gift to a global gender-fund vehicle, and one backer's earlier healthtech round.

Also quadrantpe.com.au·Forbes Australia

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Meet the 34 grant recipients sharing in the $11.6 million Boosting Female Founders Initiative

Round three of a federal grant program backs 34 women-led startups, with individual awards listed from $133,740 to $480,000 drawn from an $11.6 million pool run by DISR.

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All-male startup Kiki apologises for girls only club in New York

Kiki co-founder Toby Thomas-Smith apologised for the startup's girls-only club announcement in New York, while Blackbird general partner Samantha Wong defended the firm's earlier investment and addressed venture capital's gender imbalance.

We need 'intention, integrity, courage' on climate: Sophia Hamblin Wang at the World Economic Forum

Clean tech executive Sophia Hamblin Wang discusses her Davos panel appearance, urging climate action, and recalls MCi Carbon's 2021 federal government grant for its Newcastle carbon-to-materials demonstrator plant.

AI-based sewerage maintenance: Women-led startup from Sydney raises $5 million

VAPAR, a Sydney startup using AI for sewer pipe inspection, has secured $5 million in Series A backing from PureTerra Ventures and Autodesk to grow its North American presence and expand its team.

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Female-founded startup Alt. Leather secures $1.1 million backing from investors

Melbourne biomaterials startup Alt. Leather closed a $1.1 million seed round, oversubscribed past its $750,000 target, with backing from Startmate, Wollemi Capital Group, the Alice Anderson Fund, The Austin Group and angels.

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Female-founded sunscreen brand Ultra Violette gets $15 million investment

Melbourne sunscreen brand Ultra Violette has taken its first outside capital, $15 million from US investor Aria Growth Partners, to enter North America; the piece also recalls Aesop and Bondi Sands exits.

Also Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Forbes Australia

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Why have five men started a "girls only" club in New York City?

Kiki, a five-man founding team's subletting startup, is pivoting to a women-only New York club, prompting criticism of funding double standards; the piece recalls its 2023 raise, valuation and Blackbird's stake.

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Shark Tank's Dr Catriona Wallace invests in startups by women and young people

Shark Tank panellist Dr Catriona Wallace reveals she has backed six ventures from the show's 2023 season, five led by women or young founders, spanning drinks, retail, beauty, swimwear, embroidery and audio.

Also SmartCompany

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All-women founded Verve Super's acquisition is the business story we need

Future Super is buying Verve Super, a women-led super fund whose co-founders stay in charge as it joins the Future Group; the piece also recalls the startup's oversubscribed $3 million mid-year raise.

Also Startup Daily·SmartCompany

“It feels like I’m selling my third baby”: Edwina Sharrock reflects on her business, Birth Beat being acquired

Birth Beat founder Edwina Sharrock reflects on the maternity-education company's acquisition by Device Technologies, recalling its awards, accelerator stint and seed round, and outlining plans to back female founders.

Also SmartCompany·Startup Daily

How Helena Turpin and GoFIGR are filling the career development gap in employee turnover

Profile interview with GoFIGR founder Helena Turpin, recalling her pre-seed raise via an Antler application and this year's $2.8 million seed round for her internal talent marketplace platform.

'A turning tide': Marisa Warren and Kate Vale's venture fund will level the playing field for female founders

Profile of ALIAVIA, the venture fund Marisa Warren and Kate Vale run from California to back women founders across Australian and US markets; also covers its backers, early investments, and Warren's ELEVACAO program.

'We want more female-led billion dollar startups': Robyn Denholm and Carol Schwartz back female-led VC

Female-led VC ALIAVIA has closed a US$8.7 million fund, backed by Robyn Denholm, Carol Schwartz, Cynthia Scott, Tattarang and Dom Pym, to invest in female-founded startups across Australia and the US.

Verve’s $3 million raise shows power of women founders creating women-focused financial products

Verve, an all-female-founded financial services firm, has announced a $3 million pre-Series A round for its Verve Money app, led by family office Alberts, after a $2.6 million raise in 2021.

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The FinTech led by women and proving startups can play too on paid parental leave equality

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Franklin Women awarded funding boost from NSW Health to support women researchers

NSW Health has granted social enterprise Franklin Women two years of support to grow its team and systems, backing its community and mentoring program for women in health and medical research.

Founder of Teach Well, Ingrid Sealey wins first-place in the Cartier Women’s Initiative for Oceania

Teach Well founder Ingrid Sealey has taken first place for Oceania in the Cartier Women's Initiative, earning a US$100,000 grant for her teacher-training platform, and the program has opened applications for its 2024 cohort.

Also SmartCompany·Techboard