INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY – AUSTRALIA

Tech fund rush to hit $1b

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Original article by Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 2-Nov-15

Square Peg Capital will launch a $A200m venture capital fund that will invest in technology start-ups. Square Peg Capital was co-founded by Paul Bassat, who was also the joint founder of jobs website SEEK. Other recent initiatives in Australia’s venture capital space include a $A200m fund launched by Blackbird Ventures and Atlassian Software founder Michael Cannon-Brookes. Brandon Capital also launched a $A200m fund earlier in 2015.

CORPORATES
SQUARE PEG CAPITAL PTY LTD, SEEK LIMITED – ASX SEK, BLACKBIRD VENTURES PTY LTD, ATLASSIAN SOFTWARE SYSTEMS PTY LTD, BRANDON CAPITAL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, AUSTRALIANSUPER PTY LTD, HEALTH EMPLOYEES’ SUPERANNUATION TRUST AUSTRALIA LIMITED, STATEWIDE SUPERANNUATION PTY LTD, HOST-PLUS, THE GROUP OF EIGHT LIMITED, AIRTREE VENTURES PTY LTD, ACCEL PARTNERS, 99DESIGNS PTY LTD, CARSALES.COM LIMITED – ASX CAR, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE CHIEF SCIENTIST, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE, GOCATCH, ROCKT, VEND LIMITED, SCRIPTROCK PTY LTD, JETSTAR AIRLINES PTY LTD

TripAdvisor for property agents raises $6 million

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Original article by Paul Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 30-Jun-15

South Africa-based Hollard Investments will provide some $A6m of funding to real estate website OpenAgent.com.au and gain a seat on the start-up’s board. The website allows consumers to rate the performance of real estate agents and compare statistics on property sales. OpenAgent.com.au has previously raised $A2m from a number of angel investors.

CORPORATES
OPENAGENT.COM.AU, HOLLARD INVESTMENTS BV, TRIPADVISOR LLC, TRULIA INCORPORATED, McKINSEY AND COMPANY, HOLLARD FINANCIAL SERVICES PTY LTD, GREENSTONE LIMITED

Listing to fast-track expansion for Reffind

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Original article by Vanessa Desloires
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 22-Jun-15

Reffind is slated to list on the Australian sharemarket on 9 July 2015, after issuing shares at $A0.20 in its IPO. The group, which specialises in the provision of technology solutions for the human resources industry, will have a market capitalisation of around $A20m on debut. Clients include Coles, AMP, Coca-Cola Amatil and Pacific Brands.

CORPORATES
REFFIND LIMITED – ASX RFN, COLES GROUP LIMITED, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, COCA-COLA AMATIL LIMITED – ASX CCL, PACIFIC BRANDS LIMITED – ASX PBG, 1-PAGE LIMITED – ASX 1PG, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, MORGAN AND BANKS, MONSTER.COM, FOSTER STOCKBROKING PTY LTD

Dell goes on Australian hiring spree

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Original article by Paul Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 24 : 9-Jun-15

The Australian division of global IT group Dell plans to hire at least 30 additional executives across its operations. The MD of Dell in Australia and New Zealand, Angela Fox, adds that the group intends to significantly increase its global headcount. Dell aims to lift its market share at the expense of industry rivals such as Hewlett-Packard, which plans to shed 5,000 employees worldwide.

CORPORATES
DELL COMPUTER CORPORATION, DELL COMPUTER PTY LTD, HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY, NASDAQ

Patrick Grove, 40, cracks the Rich List with $286m

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Original article by John Stensholt
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 9 : 26-May-15

The 2015 edition of the "BRW" Rich List includes 12 new technology entrepreneurs, including iFlix founder Patrick Grove. The company offers streaming video services for mobile phone users in Asia, which Grove notes is a market of up to 250 million people. Grove has previously listed a number of companies on the Australian sharemarket, including iProperty and iCar Asia, and he says an iFlix IPO is possible in the future.

CORPORATES
IFLIX LIMITED, IPROPERTY GROUP LIMITED – ASX IPP, ICAR ASIA LIMITED – ASX ICQ, IBUY GROUP LIMITED, REV ASIA BERHAD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, HULU LLC, CATCHA GROUP, PHILIPPINE LONG DISTANCE TELEPHONE COMPANY, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, STAN, REA GROUP LIMITED – ASX REA, ANDERSEN

Westpac banks on cloud push to rein in costs

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Original article by Paul Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 23 : 12-May-15

Westpac anticipates significant cost savings from a proposal to shift many of its IT systems to a hybrid cloud environment. Chief information officer Dave Curran says the banking major aims to capitalise on the efficiencies that can be derived from shifting to cloud technology. Westpac also aims to reduce its cost-to-income ratio, which rose from 41.6 per cent to 42.5 per cent in the first half of 2014-15.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AMAZON WEB SERVICES LLC, MICROSOFT CORPORATION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED

Banks to put out welcome mats for the disruptors

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 17 : 4-Mar-15

The New South Wales Government has unveiled plans for a financial technology hub in the Sydney CBD. The Stone & Chalk hub will receive financial backing from a range of companies, including major banks, insurers, retailers and technology groups. The hub will provide financial technology start-ups with subsidised office space and facilities to work with financial and technology companies to further develop their business

CORPORATES
NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, MACQUARIE GROUP LIMITED – ASX MQG, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, SUNCORP BANK, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, VEDA GROUP LIMITED – ASX VED, AMERICAN EXPRESS COMPANY, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, INTEL CORPORATION, ORACLE CORPORATION, FINZSOFT SOLUTIONS (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, ALLENS, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CAPITAL MARKETS CO-OPERATIVE RESEARCH CENTRE LIMITED, CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL FINANCE AND REGULATION, FINANCIAL SERVICES INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALASIA, AWI VENTURES LIMITED, SOCIETYONE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, LEVEL39, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Embrace telematics or lose share, insurers told

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Original article by Ruth Liew
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 10-Feb-15

Brian Wallace of IT group CSC believes that the introduction of telematics technology in Australia’s insurance industry is inevitable. He says car insurers in particular will need to implement telematics in order to protect their market share. Insurance Australia Group has ruled out offering such products, but QBE Insurance Group says its telematics product has resulted in cost savings of up to 30 per cent for some customers when renewing their policies

CORPORATES
COMPUTER SCIENCES CORPORATION, INSURANCE AUSTRALIA GROUP LIMITED – ASX IAG, QBE INSURANCE GROUP LIMITED – ASX QBE, ACCENTURE, CELENT COMMUNICATIONS LLC, NRMA LIFE LIMITED, CGU INSURANCE AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Tennis event goes high tech to deliver smoother service

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Original article by Vanessa Desloires
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 20-Jan-15

A record 49,041 people attended the first day of the Australian Open in Melbourne on 19 January 2015. IBM launched its revamped SlamTracker platform on the first day of the tennis tournament. As well as providing data to spectators, the platform will assist Tennis Australia with staffing decisions to handle long queues. SlamTracker is making use of the two data centres opened by IBM in Sydney and Melbourne in 2014

CORPORATES
IBM CORPORATION, AUSTRALIAN OPEN TENNIS, TENNIS AUSTRALIA, TWITTER AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, DEAKIN UNIVERSITY

Tech start-ups flood in through the back door

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Original article by Sally Rose
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 3-Dec-14

A growing number of emerging technology companies are electing to list on the Australian sharemarket via a so-called "backdoor listing". More than 20 such companies have done so in 2014 or propose this means of listing, although the Australian Securities & Investments Commission has some concerns about the trend. However, the ASX’s Eddie Grieve stresses that every company that lists on the market is subject to the same level of scrutiny

CORPORATES
ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, GTT VENTURES PTY LTD, CIRRUS NETWORKS PTY LTD, XTV NETWORKS, COVATA LIMITED – ASX CVT, SKYFII LIMITED – ASX SKF, GRAYSONLINE AUCTIONEERS, GRT PTY LTD, MPIRE MEDIA PTY LTD, DIGITAL CC LIMITED – ASX DCC, STREAM GROUP LIMITED – ASX SGO, DECIMAL SOFTWARE LIMITED – ASX DSX, ZIPTEL LIMITED – ASX ZIP, YONDER AND BEYOND LIMITED, ENVERRO LIMITED – ASX ERR, BIG REVIEW TV LIMITED, CROWD MOBILE, YPB GROUP, INTERGEN (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, MIGME LIMITED – ASX MIG, 1-PAGE LIMITED – ASX 1PG, ECP ASSET MANAGEMENT PTY LTD