Australian tech news round-up (November 2013)

Matthew Ho is a co-founder of Nativetongue, a language learning game company. You can find him on Twitter as @inspiredworlds.

I’ve realized something recently – many of my friends and peers in the startup industry are doing awesome things like winning pitching competitions, raising money, getting traction and running high-profile events. This is great for the startup scene in Australia. It’s a sign that my peer group is quickly growing up and starting to succeed. But I do realise for every success there are probably 1,000 or more failures out there. However, more failures will also equate to more success stories as well. It’s important to surround yourself with like-minded, positive entrepreneurs who are kicking ass. And did I mention there’s a startup Christmas party coming up?

1. Pocketbook raises $500,000, now looking for growth hackers and developers

Pocketbook is a personal financial management tool whose launch we wrote about in August. It is Australia’s version of Mint, a popular personal finance tool in the US. I know the founders, Alvin Singh and Bosco Tan, as I went to high school with them and also co-worked out of their apartment for five months. The Pocketbook team has announced that it has closed a AU$500,000 ($469,000) investment round led by Tank Stream Ventures. Also part of the round is consumer finance personality David Koch, former chairman and chief executive of Investec Geoff Levy, Dimension Data Australian founder and former CEO David Shein, and SydStart founder Peter Cooper. Pocketbook will be using this funding to hire growth hackers and developers.

2. Telstra launches muru-d incubator program

Australia’s largest telco has launched an incubator program, muru-d, that offers startups $40,000 seed capital for six percent equity in your company. Muru-D provides mentoring and tailored accelerator services to help startups become investor-ready. The incubator will be run by Mick Lubinskas, formerly of Pollenizer incubator and well-known in the Australia startup space, along with Ann Parker, who previously led Telefonica’s Wayra incubator program in Europe. I will also be a mentor for muru-D for the upcoming intake of startups.

3. Looking for backers: Ninjasphere

Ninjasphere is a combination of a Leap Motion and Nest type device that can monitor your household and inform you when something isn’t right. You can control your house lights and temperature with the flick of your hand. It can also inform you when your valuables’ location has been changed. Ninjasphere is now seeking backers on Kickstarter. Also, check out Vtalk, another Aussie kickstarter project that aims to revolutionize the desk phone.

4. Sydney Opera House to kick off “Hack The House” hackathon

Sydney Opera House has launched a new hackathon competition. It’s the most iconic location in Australia and visited by many tourists. Although I’ve lived in Australia all my life, I’ve never been inside for a concert. I understand that’s the problem the venue faces – lots of younger people do not interact or visit the Opera House other than for school excursions. This hackathon competition is an opportunity to connect with a younger audience by having them help build the next app for the Opera House. Developers, designers, and entrepreneurs are invited to join the event. The winning app takes away AU$4,000 ($3,800) and the app will be used to promote the Sydney Opera House. It runs December 7 to 8 (updated to correct the date).

5. Stashd makes catwalk debut

iPhone developer Pete Neill has launched Stashd which is a Tinder for fashion. I’ve played with the app and it’s great – you can easily flick through different clothing images. If you don’t like the item, flick it to the side to have it “trashed” and keep the items you like as “stashed”. When it’s in your stash, you can choose to go to the original website and buy the item. It’s quite a fun app to play with as you can go through an infinite wardrobe of items.

6. Pixc wins Digital Summit

Holly Cardew, founder of Pixc, won the Telstra Digital summit. The judging panel was comprised of Robert Scoble, Shel Israel, and Brian Solis. Cardew recieved the Telstra Digital Scholarship to go on a two-week trip to Silicon Valley and the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas.

7. Sydney startups party