Capital Brief

This Australian biotech startup has just raised $178 million in one of the biggest funding rounds of 2025 so far. AdvanCell is developing nuclear medicine technology designed to treat tumours. And it has attracted significant attention from offshore and Australian investor circles as interest in radiopharmaceuticals grows. The round was led by SV Health Investors, Sanofi, Abingworth, and SymBiosis, with Australian funds Tenmile and Brandon Capital also tipping in. Bronwen Clune spoke to Bill Ferris, the chair of Brandon BioCatalyst and AdvanCell, on the renewed investor interest in biotech, as well as chief executive Andrew Adamovich on how AdvanCell is tackling the biggest challenge in nuclear medicine, manufacturing. Read the full story 👉 https://lnkd.in/gYbj6dgn

An Australian startup think it's "cracked the code" on significantly increasing supply of one of the key minerals for the clean energy transition. Banksia Minerals Processing, led by former Rio Tinto executive Leigh Staines, believes it has found a way to extract copper from reserves that giants like BHP and Rio Tinto can’t touch. More than half the world’s remaining copper sits in deposits that are too complex or low-grade for traditional extraction methods. “We've created an alternative way of being able to increase the copper supplies across the globe and meet the demand needs of the energy transition,” Staines told Hugo Mathers. A The University of Queensland spinout, Banksia has locked in just over $1 million in seed funding from UK-based IP Group plc and the Australian government’s critical minerals hub. Read the full story 👉 https://lnkd.in/g3f5BDS4

Scoop: News Corp has banned staff from using DeekSeek over ‘security and privacy risks’. According to an internal memo obtained by Capital Brief, the company said it made the decision after its cybersecurity team conducted a review of the platform. Read the full story by John Buckley 👉 https://lnkd.in/gZzSGr4q

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Data centre operator IREN may have been founded and headquartered in Australia, but none of its bitcoin mining or AI data centres are located in the country. And it says it's not for a lack of trying. On Thursday, the company reported US$163.1 million in half-year revenue from Bitcoin mining operations overseas. It also announced two new AI data centre facilities in Texas, a state with similar natural advantages to Australia. Iren cofounder Daniel Roberts told Daniel Van Boom that Australia needs to adapt faster if it wants to compete in AI. Read the full story 👉 https://lnkd.in/gVVRGjgM

2024 may have been crypto's best year ever, but it certainly wasn’t the same for crypto startups. VC investment in crypto startups dropped 40% in Australia in 2024, while it remained flat in the US. Daniel Van Boom spoke to two of Australia’s most crypto-keen VCs, Zeb Rice from King River Capital and John Henderson from Airtree, about the sector's challenges and prospects. Read the full story 👉 https://lnkd.in/g39hgbC8

Iress’ stockbroker customers are banding together after the company ‘blindsided’ them, and even the ASX with price-hikes. In late January, Iress raised prices for its stockbrokers clients at the ‘eleventh hour’, saying they’d need to foot the bill for a technology upgrade. Meanwhile, Iress’ competitors have absorbed the cost of such upgrades rather than pass it onto customers. With negotiations under way between Iress and its customers, Jack Derwin looked into what stockbrokers have to say about the issue. Read the full story 👉 https://lnkd.in/g4EC8P5Z

As a high-profile lawsuit against Dovetail and its CEO Benjamin Humphrey unfolded last week, corporate governance experts highlighted concerns about the customer research startup’s unusual board structure. The $960 million company is overseen by just two directors, Humphrey and co-founder Bradley Ayres, who no longer works at the company. This has put a spotlight on oversight and governance in the Australian startup ecosystem. Bronwen Clune spoke to Australia’s top VC firms to understand their approach to board positions. Here's what they said 👉 https://lnkd.in/gAXtZYSQ

#banks have no friends in Canberra but they've agreed to hike funding of Australia Post's Bank@Post agency service in a bid to stave off yet another random bank tax, a regional banking "levy". AusPost too has walked back its previous position of charging the same, flat fee for the majors. Banks have also conceded a freeze on rural bank closures but the reality still looms, as it does globally: less people using branches, higher costs to run them, costs of cash rising as use falls ANZ Katherine Bray Paul Graham Westpac NAB Andrew Irvine Australian Banking Association (ABA) Macquarie Group Bendigo and Adelaide Bank The UK has an interesting public-private rural banking model, anyone seen a model which works? + don't forget Capital Brief's weekly #financialservices and #fintech newsletter Capital Gains - subscribe for free here https://lnkd.in/gC65-jXq

Last week, a messy lawsuit against Dovetail and its CEO Benjamin Humphrey became public. Now, the customer research startup is facing deepening scrutiny over its unusual board structure. And some in the startup ecosystem think there's a broader issue with founders' attitudes towards their boards. Read the full story by Bronwen Clune and Laurel Henning 👉https://lnkd.in/g6i2bdc5