Startup 360

This week on Startup 360, we talk to two founders who presented at Cicada x Tech23.

Engineer Nick Hazell is back with his second climate tech startup, Algenie, having previously raised $120 million as cofounder of plant-based meat venture v2food.

Also on the couch is Ana Belgun from CSIRO-developed digital twin pioneer Terria.

They were among 23 founders who shared their startup stories at the annual deep tech expo, in Sydney.

Cohost Simon Thomsen was there and keen to share their ideas with the Startup 360 audience.

Cohosts Simon and Majella Campbell talked to Nick, an engineer who came from R&D in the food sector, about the lessons be brought to a second go, at tackling the problem of carbon emissions. Algenie is an algae biotech company using groundbreaking technology for algae production at scale at an affordable price. The term describes everything from plankton - a vital part of the marine food chain - to seaweeds, and as well as being a major oxygen producer, it also soaks up CO2.

His hope is that Algenie can help replace fossil fuels and last year the startup raised $1.1 million in pre-Seed funding.

Nick talks about gardening leave from v2food, going from a startup in a "hot" sector for investors, to having to go back an educate people from scratch; why he's driven to tackle big problems and the nexus between engineering and science and how "innovation of having different voices in the room sort of looking at the same problem from different angles and solving it together."

Ana spent nearly a decade at CSIRO's Data61 before cofounding Terria in late 2024.

Terria makes it easy to build advanced maps and digital twins, for faster, smarter decision-making, and she talks about their potential for big ideas, including Australia's much talked about high-speed train.

Ana also explained by the Terria team banned all meetings on a Wednesday, and why having "a really good product mindset and go to market and brand" is essential to be a successful deep tech startup commercialising research.

Simon and Majella also talked about the big news of the week - PsiQuantum's $1.5 billion raise. When Majella asked him what he'd do with $1 billion, Simon said he'd share it among the startups at Tech23.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta and is a SmartCo Media production.

Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and don't forget to read StartupDaily.net.

When you talk to Pete Horsley about his career in tech, it doesn’t take long to see that his work is deeply personal.

His eldest sister, Jo, was born blind, autistic, and with an intellectual disability. That experience shaped the way he views the world, as he explains to Majella Campbell.

As a child, Pete loved showing off Jo’s talents, like her uncanny ability to tell you the day you were born from the date. It taught him an important lesson: value doesn’t always look the way society expects.
Pete is the founder of Remarkable, the accelerator backed by the Cerebral Palsy Alliance supporting startups building technology for people with disabilities.

He’s also a passionate voice for inclusive design, reminding us that technology we take for granted — the keyboard, speech-to-text, touchscreens — were first created to solve accessibility challenges.

Pete shares why disability isn’t about “some of us”, it’s about all of us. When we design for diversity, we don’t just build better products, we build a better world.

One of the latest startups supported by Remarkable is Hailo in Brisbane, cofounded by Santiago Velasquez.

Born blind, he quickly discovered that public transport wasn’t designed for people like him. Buses would pass by because he couldn’t hail them, or he’d be dropped off at the wrong stop late at night with no easy way to get home.

Hailo is an app that will transform the way people with disability navigate public transport. A major trial in Victoria is about to get underway and as Simon remarks, the idea has the potential to make public transport easier for everyone.

Santi's visual impairment inspired his life as an entrepreneur - the only blind startup CTO in the Southern Hemisphere, he jokes. After failing a uni subject in his electrical engineering degree because the course materials weren’t available in an accessible format, he sent out to invent a solution. It was the spark that lit his first startup and set Santi on the path to solving problems not just for himself, but for millions.

His ambitions are boundless, including being the first blind person on the Moon. If anyone can, Santi will.

Also this week, Simon and Majella discuss the latest data from Blackbird on investing in female founders, and the end of the Sydney Startup Hub as we know it.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

Episode 28 of Startup 360 is a little different, with cohost Simon away at a company offsite and Majella moving Fishburners out of the Sydney Startup Hub.

So we've picked out two of our favourite interviews of the last six months to shine a light on them once again.

Irish-Australian teenager Liam Fuller starred on Startup 360 in April, as one of our most watched and listened to episodes. He was 17 at the time, and came to Australia, birthplace of his equally entrepreneurial dad, Shane, for a holiday after being suspended from high school over a viral photo taking a client call sitting in a toilet cubicle.

While here, he started cold-calling local VCs to raise for his second startup QuickFind AI, an agentic AI ordering system for retail procurement, and made a three-hour train trip to Sydney for a 20-minute meeting with Square Peg’s Paul Bassat.

Liam ended up banking a A$2.15 million pre-Seed round led by Square Peg - not a bad 18th birthday present.

The 10x we wanted to share once more was from episode 3 with high-performance coach Veronica Mason. She's a member of the NSW LGBTIQ+ Advisory Council and last year organised Australia’s first Pride Pitch Night for founders from LGBTQIA+ backgrounds.

After being outed in high school, Veronica broke her back in several places, aged 23, learnt to walk again, and now focuses on helping others.
She's a font of wisdom, from what to look for in a mentor to how your mindset shapes the world. It's a wonderful, inspirational conversation.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

Subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and don't forget to read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free!

Startup360 is a SmartCo Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson.

Nicole Gibson is a remarkable founder who thinks deeply about what it means to be human in the world of tech.

The CEO of inTruth Technologies, the world’s first emotion bio-tech, is a very special guest on Startup 360 this week, sharing her journey from teenage student struggling with serious health issues and the profound impact one educator had on her life, to how she hopes we can all be better people by coming to understand who we are using tech.

She's on a mission to reshape the future of personal well-being, leadership, and human connection, having served as the youngest Commonwealth Commissioner for Mental Health, and also founding Love Out Loud (also writing a book with that title), a movement dedicated to fostering authentic human connection and conscious leadership.Nicole's conversation with cohosts Majella Campbell and Simon Thomsen is one of the rawest, most authentic and generous discussions Startup 360's seen in 27 episodes as she talks about bridging the gap between AI, emotional intelligence, and human potential.

Meanwhile, Simon takes the chance to quiz Majella about her day job as CEO of Fishburners, as it prepares to move out of the Sydney Startup Hub, which is being shut down by the NSW government, and the new direction and vision she has for the Fishburners community of hundreds of startups, as well as the broader ecosystem.

Also joining them for 10x, the show's rapid-fire questions, is David "Dutchie" Holland from Employment Hero. The man in charge of talent solutions at the HR tech unicorn has been there since it was a team of 12 back in 2016, which has now grown to more than 1,600 people. Dutchie shares his insights into scaling a startup, and the joy of nicknames.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

Startup 360 cohost Majella Campbell is making her own news, with the Fishburners CEO releasing a manifesto on new ways of nurturing early-stage startups.

It comes as Fishburners prepares to move out of the Sydney Startup Hub after seven years, as the NSW government shuts it down.

This week's guests are Paloma Newton, cofounder of Elita, a pet genetics and stem cell therapy startup; and Aakash Gupta, cofounder of boostrapped remote work team building and wellness startup Hooray Teams.

Motivated to by the health issues her own dog, Edgar Allen Paws, faces, she launched Elita (which raised $1.1m, pre-Seed) with her partner-in-life, biomedical engineer and dog coparent Jackson Gritching.

Paloma talks about her varied career - from hospitality to deep tech navigation startup Baraja, and cofounding the workplace advice site Grapevine - the leadership challenges of going from manager to founder, and how to get on with your cofounder when you also go home with them at the end of the day.

She's a powerhouse of ideas, but as a proud and focused feminist, reveals some telling moments in what she's experienced as a female founder, and how to cope on those days when you "feel like a genuine failure".

Meanwhile, Aakash is dealing with one of the great issues of modern workplaces - managing remote teams and keeping everyone inspired.
He launched Hooray Teams, which runs virtual team-building events for remote, distributed and hybrid teams two years ago.

His global customer base includes one company with people in 23 locations, and Aakash shares his tips on how to get everyone getting along - trivia is popular - and the challenges of dealing with diverse cultures.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta.

Everyone knows the startup-founded-in-a-garage origin story, but Kinde cofounder David Berner can top that.

He was in a caravan travelling in outback NSW with his family, with his two cofounders in Sydney, when they built their developer platform, which takes care of "the boring but essential stuff" to help founders move faster.

Kinde in a rare-breed, with two technical cofounders, and Dave adventures led him to settle in the hinterland behind Byron Bay to raise his family of three kids, which the startup's team also stretches from Sydney to London.

Episode 25 of Startup 360 discusses his love of music, the importance of creativity for founders, and life as a country dad running a high-tech business - he keeps his kids well away from screen addiction, arguing that if his parents can get proficient on an iPhone, there's no need for their grandkids to be early adopters.

Cohosts Majella Campbell and Simon Thomsen also caught up with industry legend Murray Hurps from UTS Startups and the founder of the annual national ecosystem survey Startup Muster.

There's a songline between Murray and Majella as the former and current CEOs of Fishburners, and how evolving technology is transforming the role of founder.

For a kid who dropped out of school to play around with software, and now runs a thriving university startup community, Murray has some firm views of learning and education, as well as  entrepreneurship as the "exploitation of privilege".

Majella asked him for advice on how to be a successful founder and Murray turned to the wisdom of Fishburners cofounder Pete Davidson.

"Find someone that shares your circumstances, that has done what you're trying to do, figure out how they did it, and then copy them quickly and do it better," he said.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

Happy horse's birthday!

The way the cofounders of podcasting community engagement startup Dome met is positively old-school in an era of swiping left and right.

Sophie Greiner and Bella Filacuridi met at an International Women's Day event in Sydney, and the mutual love for the pop culture podcast Shameless launched their friendship.

Six months later, their idea for Dome became the Australian entry in the global final of the Red Bull Basement startup competition and they were headed to Tokyo.

Sophie and Bella are the first duo to sit on the Startup 360 couch and share their stories.

Both in their early 20s, they discussed the yin and yang of being cofounders, explained the problems they're looking to solve in the $130 billion podcasting industry, and talked about the influence of family - Sophie's grandfather is a former NSW Premier - and the appeal of being a startup founder (while trying to finish a uni degree).

Startup 360's second guest, for 10x, our rapid-fire questions, is Will Hayward, CEO of Private Media, the independent publisher that last week acquired Startup Daily and assets of its publisher, Pinstripe Media.

British-born Will, whose wife is Australian and works in tech, has spent his life in media, working on the admin side at prestigious titles such as The Economist and Wall Street Journal, as well as next gen brands such as Buzzfeed.

Startup 360 cohost Simon Thomsen couldn't resist asking his new boss about the nexus between tech and media, his advice for Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos as the paper comes under fire from readers and key staff depart the loss-making title, and, perhaps went too far in bringing up the Melbourne Demons after the side's shambolic loss lass weekend.

Cohost Majella Campbell wanted to know how Will stays chilled, especially when a billionaire from the Murdoch family is gunning for you.
It's a chance to hear more about the future of media from someone on the frontline.

Simon and Majella also discuss Gilmour Space's first attempt to launch Vegemite into space on a home-grown rocket, Build Club's massive win with Swedish vibe coding platform Lovable, and the Australian government's YouTube ban for under 16s.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

Usually the one doing the reporting, Startup Daily and its parent company Pinstripe Media is in the spotlight this week, having been acquired by SmartCompany’s Private Media. AJ Koch fills in for Simon to share how it came together. 

We also keep the celebratory theme going with two phenomenal guests behind some significant raises from the past week. 

Chris Wirasinha is the founder of Linkby, the mediatech that just closed a $23M Series B raise. After a successful exit from his first venture, youth media business Pedestrian.tv, Chris shares how different the experience is the second time around. Not only is he at a different stage of life, Linkby is already an international business, having setup already in New York and aggressively growing in the US market. 

The conversation with Chris spanned everything from hustle culture to NBA teams to founder fashion. 

From founder we move to investor, welcoming Brendan Hill from Ten13 into the hot seat to discuss two of his portfolio companies who were in the news this week. Everlab, a medtech with a fresh $15M raise, and Liam Fuller, the 17 yr-old Irish sensation who had a whirlwind tour of Australia that helped him land $2M seed capital for his startup Source.

Brendan’s inner database of startups, raises, and investors in unmatched, and the discussion gives a good insight into how an investor goes about their business, builds community, and stays in the loop. 

This week’s episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

Kish Modi had a rule with friends and family once he was out of intensive care and began his treatment for leukaemia: no crying when they came to visit.

His mum , a 157cm (5' 2") powerhouse, laid down the law to everyone who came to visit Kish in hospital.

"She's like, no tears, zero emotion, rational conversation only positive thoughts only. No one's allowed to cry in front of Kish," he recalls of his life and death battle with blood cancer on Startup 360 this week.

Kish, now in remission after 18 months of brutal treatment, including a bone marrow transplant, is preparing to launch a new startup, Hey Buddy, with longtime collaborator Stevan Premutico (me&u, Dimmi).

Cohosts Majella Campbell and Simon Thomsen were left in awe of Kish sharing his story.

His career moved from management consulting to startups with HelloFresh, me&u and now Hey Buddy, an AI concept for hospitality that's still in stealth mode.

Kish talked about what drives him and how he sees the world after facing a life-threatening illness, his passions and love for his partner, Paul, in a moving conversation about founder life and the fight for life.

Majella and Simon discuss this week's news, including ASX-listed Scalare Partners acquiring Tank Stream Labs, Elon Musk's Grok going generative Nazi, and Linkby's $23 million Series B raise.

Their guest for 10x, the rapid-fire questions, this week is Jack Rathie, cofounder of DDLoop.

The AI-based legal due diligence platform helps lawyers make sure all bases are covered when doing a deal and when Jack shared the story of how they pulled up the details for StrongRoom.AI when it imploded, revealing a range of tells that flagged problems, Simon's mind was blown.
A science fiction fan, Jack also shared three books he recommends sci-fi fans should read.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

This episode of Startup 360 is supported by Vanta helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.

Aubrey Blanche has been part of building culture at two great Australian tech companies, Atlassian and Culture Amp.

The self-confessed "proudly woke" data nerd, who believes that bringing empathy to the numbers is vital, sat down with Startup 360 cohosts Simon Thomsen and Majella Campbell to talk about workplace inclusion, how business is dealing with the impact of Trump's war on woke, and her own experiences as a former US citizen who now calls Australia home.

It's a fascinating conversation about creating kinder workplaces and how she thinks about DEI - it has a branding problem - and her business Mathpath, a combination of math and empathy.

Aubrey had "a front row seat" as Atlassian listed on the Nasdaq and became a force across the Pacific, and the cultural differences.

"I learned so much about the deceptive levels of difference between American and Australian business culture. And it was something that really took me by surprise when I first came to Sydney," she said.

"One thing to note is that Americans come across as incredibly arrogant to Australians, but it's really important to say to Australians that it's not necessarily that we're all sociopaths, but rather that there is such a level of competition that self promotion is a survival strategy in American business in a way that there's just a different set of norms here."

Aubrey believes you need to measure to management and talks about the asking the right questions to get the best out of your teams and how focusing small details can make a big difference for everyone.

Simon and Majella also discuss the latest VC funding numbers, which saw women founders receive just $1 in every $200 invested in Australia in the June quarter.

On a brighter note, accessible beauty tools startup ByStorm is collaborating with celebrity Celesete Barber's makeup brand Booie, to ensure sisters are doing it for themselves.

Joining Simon and Majella for 10x, their 10 rapid-fire questions is founder turned VC investor Ben Chong from Right Click Capital, who talks about why he launched the Founder Institute in Australia, and how asking the hard questions early on reaps bigger rewards for founders and investors down the track.

Startup 360 is more founder fund than founder mode. It’s all about finding out what makes people tick and staying human.

This episode is supported by Vanta, helping startups unlock market opportunities through automated compliance.