Capital Brief

Firmus Technologies is pushing ahead with a $2.9b capital raise despite growing community opposition to its proposed AI factories in Tasmania and South Australia. Co-founder Tim Rosenfield’s attempted charm offensive earlier this month in Firmus’ proposed AI factory locations of Tailem Bend, South Australia, and Bell Bay, Tasmania, wasn’t entirely well received. Now fellow co-founder Jonathan Levee has been sent to deliver drop-in sessions in Latrobe and Moriarty, near another of Firmus’ planned sites in Wesley Vale, Tasmania. Latrobe mayor Peter Freshney has already witnessed an outpouring of “community angst” since the company announced plans to set up shop in his town. “Ideally, we — the local government, the community, the general public — would prefer the guidelines were in place before applications were made,” he told Capital Brief. Read the full story by Hugo Mathers 👉https://lnkd.in/eQYG89fQ

Two of Australia’s most active alternative lenders, Tractor Ventures and Kashcade, have formalised a partnership they expect to channel more than $200 million to technology founders in its first year. This comes as a prolonged pullback in venture funding pushes more startups towards debt. Under the deal, Tractor, a non-bank lender that provides growth capital and lines of credit to tech companies, will direct clients towards Kashcade, which specialises in R&D Tax Incentive lending. And Kashcade will send founders needing growth capital or lines of credit exclusively to Tractor. Read the full story by Bronwen Clune 👉https://lnkd.in/eVQiM-aX 

EchoIQ CEO Dustin Haines says he knew the company’s technology was a winner from the start, and a more than 500% share price surge was always going to happen. Speaking to Capital Brief at 4:00pm local time Arizona, Haines had just clocked in for the second half of his day to wrangle Australian investors and analysts, the prolonged working hours doing little to subdue his enthusiasm. “When I joined the company back in January of 2025, I was very confident, given the sophistication of the technology, my understanding of what the US landscape and the commercial landscape looks like, and my kind of just overconfidence in knowing we were going to build a team to be successful,” he said. On the day he started at EchoIQ, the stock price closed at 26 cents. At last close, the stock was up 504% at $1.26. Read the full story by Brandon How 👉 https://lnkd.in/dqCXMAYr

Chris Andrews, CEO of the country’s oldest, and largest, non-bank lenders, La Trobe Financial, says the Albanese government’s tax changes have not hurt his business, and actually may be benefiting it Andrews said the company has experienced “zero slowdown in loan applications” since the budget and the changes are providing a “strong tailwind” for the many key segments. “For owner occupied loans — people are now incentivised to double down on owner occupied homes. That’s a real win for us,” he told Capital Brief. Read the full story by Jassmyn Goh 👉 https://lnkd.in/egRa4zXS

Holding her first press conference as ASIC chair on Wednesday, Sarah Court put banks on notice after uncovering systemic offset account failures. She revealed borrowers had been shortchanged by the big banks because of malfunctioning offset accounts linked to their mortgages. “We at ASIC have not forgotten the lessons of the Royal Commission, and that is why we have made, as an enduring enforcement priority, systemic failures by large financial institutions where they cause customer harm,” Court said, staring down a room of TV cameras and radio mics. While the new ASIC chair would not rule out litigation, it appears unlikely the matter will end up in court. Read the full story in today’s Edition by Jack Derwin 👉https://lnkd.in/epW9JDWb

Auckland-founded microgravity startup Outlier Space has raised $10.5 million in one of New Zealand’s largest-ever pre-seed round. The company wants to build a reusable satellite capsule designed to carry pharmaceutical, biotech and advanced materials payloads into microgravity — the near-weightless condition experienced in low orbit, about 160 kilometres above the earth’s surface — before returning them safely to the ground. Molecules that separate by weight on earth stay evenly distributed in microgravity, producing drug compounds and crystal structures that are otherwise impossible to make. “It can lead you to a drug that previously was an intravenous drip that you had to sit on in a hospital for four hours, and now it can be an injection,” Jamie France, founder and chief executive told Capital Brief. Read the full story by Bronwen Clune 👉https://lnkd.in/eSbPSv-W

This week, we’re bringing in a special guest to On The Call. Eucalyptus co-founder Tim Doyle joins Capital Brief's John McDuling, James Hennessy and Harshdeep Kaur to talk about his career journey, his stance on the government’s CGT reform and the road ahead for Eucalyptus. Join us 12pm Thursday 30 July. In a one-off, we’re opening the line to all readers, including non-subscribers. Activate Special Access via this link, and we'll send you the calendar invite 👉 https://lnkd.in/eqskYkYY

KPMG is facing renewed criticism after another independent board director quietly resigned, as the embattled firm appoints a former NAB whistleblower to review the way it mishandled internal allegations. Independent board member Patty Akopiantz resigned at the end of June, according to documents released this week by a parliamentary committee investigating the firm. Akopiantz is the second Australian member of KPMG’s South ASPAC board, which governs its activity in this country, New Zealand and Singapore, to resign in the wake of the whistleblower scandal. In response to Akopiantz’s resignation, Labor Senator Deborah O’Neill, who chairs the committee, said in a statement that PMG’s independent board director model is “little more than window dressing”. Read the full story by Jassmyn Goh 👉https://lnkd.in/ddDsArDT

AI-powered cow collar startup Halter has drawn an unusually wide range of attention, from an unusually wide range of places, in a short space of time. The New Zealand company has enjoyed a reasonably high profile in startup circles for a while now, but it shot to major prominence in financial media March this year, when it raised $315 million at a $2.9 billion valuation. The deal also strangely resulted in the company becoming a target for both conspiracy theorists, who are convinced there is something nefarious about its cow tracking collars, and AI-hype merchants who think the same technology could revolutionise agriculture. Read the full story by Bronwen Clune 👉 https://lnkd.in/dQgzXWFz

Multi-affiliate funds firm Pinnacle Investment Management Group considered a play for Perpetual Limited in 2025, adding a new layer of intrigue to the long running saga involving the storied investment house. Pinnacle’s passing interest has emerged after Perpetual announced it had fielded an improved $2.6 billion takeover offer from its longtime suitor, Swedish private equity firm EQT Group, on Monday and as market speculation over possible rival bids mounts. Read the full story by Brandon How 👉 https://lnkd.in/di98esCH