Technology, Innovation & Science

Two Perth-based resources companies are planning to switch sectors with the acquisition of cancer-based biotechnology firms, with one planning a backdoor listing and the other seeking support for an IPO.

A balancing act between the science of plant breeding and consumer preferences has produced a new apple variety, developed in Manjimup, in WA’s South West.

In the 1970s and 1980s WA was at the vanguard of battery research. Just a flicker of hope remains from the bright future that was offered. 

WHEN a truck drives over one of Mike Kenny’s units he knows all about it, or at least a customer of his North Coogee business does. The same goes for a car, a motorcycle or even a bike.

The state government has released details of its new digital innovation framework on the same day the auditor general slammed the state for letting its ICT strategy fall behind the rest of the country.

Murdoch University has partnered with a Perth company which plans to use cannabis as a medicinal product, a day after scientists from the University of Western Australia said cannabis use could damage a person’s DNA.

Israel-based materials company Dotz Nano has joined the wave of tech firms from that country seeking to raise capital in Australia via a listing on the ASX.

PerthMining.com is an online marketplace for all things mining – tenements, commodities, equipment, consumables and services.

iiNet’s mass outage in Perth this week was the fourth time in eight months that Lisa and Jason Spark’s business Quality Printers & Cartridges has been cut off.

Outgoing migme chairman Howard Dawson plans to become a director of a Singapore-founded fantasy sports company that is seeking an ASX listing through Nevada Iron, as another Perth company backed out of a tech acquisition because of an ASX ruling.

The shift in consumer behaviour brought on by technology is having a profound effect on established business models, particularly in advertising.

A Perth-based fintech startup has been named one of the top finalists in Silicon Valley Forum’s World Cup Tech Challenge, while the winners of a hackathon hosted by BHP Billiton and Unearthed have been revealed.

International firm Katalyst Data Management has opened a new data centre at its Perth operation in Leederville to service oil and gas companies in the Asia-Pacific region.

Listed companies have made up a strong contingent of this fortnight's hottest startups and tech companies, with the top five spots all taken by ASX-listed or soon-to-be listed companies.

Online screening and verification company CVCheck has entered the international market through the purchase of New Zealand company Resume Check in a deal worth nearly $2 million.

A Subiaco-based asset management technology company is seeking an ASX listing through the reverse takeover and backdoor listing of Power Resources.

Subiaco-based Lithex Resources will make a second attempt at a backdoor listing, announcing plans to acquire an Israel-based battery technology company in a deal worth $28.7 million.

A local company using high-tech camouflage to protect swimmers from shark attacks has made a strong debut on the ASX.

The use of complementary and overlapping technologies is providing valuable data, particularly for agriculture.

More than 800 Western Australian real estate agents have signed up to join followit, an app designed to bring a social media-style interface to property advertising.

The search is on again for local innovators and entrepreneurs to participate in the 10th anniversary of the WA Innovator of the Year program.

A Leederville-based company that makes camera and lighting accessories for cyclists is seeking an ASX listing through the reverse takeover of Voyager Global Group.

A US-founded tech company specialising in counter-drone systems has launched its prospectus for a $5 million initial public offering, with plans to list on the ASX by next month.

A growing uptake of technology for farming practices is likely among the state’s agribusinesses in coming months, according to the latest Commonwealth Bank Agri Insights survey.

Creditors of movie streaming service Quickflix changed administrators to Deloitte, just two weeks after the company voluntarily appointed partners from Ferrier Hodgson.

Tech entrepreneurs must be free from the pressure to avoid failure, or else they may never take the chance in the first place.

PrevYou is a web-based platform that matches businesses with students for paid project/freelance-based work and internships.

Small companies hoping to list on the stock market are facing tougher conditions, with more than a dozen announced deals in Western Australia hitting problems this year and the ASX foreshadowing tighter regulation of new deals.

Justin Miller's Nuheara has ranked first in this fortnight's Techboard ranking, with Storekat and Curtin University startup ePAT ranked second and third respectively. 

For Perth to become an innovation hub, in a global context, there will need to be a step-change from a range of stakeholders – the startup community and its funders, schools and universities, and, importantly, the state government – in order to support the structural change needed to achieve significant success.

A soon-to-be listed tech company led by local entrepreneur Rob Newman and company director Ian Olson has lodged its prospectus for a $5 million capital raising, as it proceeds with its reverse takeover of Soil Sub Technologies.

Quickflix founder Stephen Langsford has sharpened his attack on rival streaming service Stan, accusing co-owner Nine Entertainment of trying to drive his company out of business.