🇺🇸 💰 Uncle Scam 💰 🇺🇸
SmartCompany
SmartCompany fights for, champions and scrutinises Australian SMEs, entrepreneurs and startups.
The week has certainly been a sharp reminder of how global policy shifts hit Australian startups.
The new $150,000 fee for the American H-1B visa has rattled founders and workers alike, raising costs for early-stage companies while leaving the E-3 as the more viable pathway for Australians into the US market.
In Neural Notes, I looked at OpenAI’s rollout of ChatGPT Go in India and Indonesia, where cheaper tiers are being used to capture mass adoption. It’s a model that raises familiar questions about AI access and affordability here in Australia, where “free” plans rarely stay that way for long.
Back home, funding remained strong this week, with Morse Micro leading $94.4 million in startup raises through its $88 million Series C round.
Alloy and Nevam brought in new early-stage backing, and Fleetyr closed its first external investment round after bootstrapping to profitability.
Meanwhile, Sea Forest is charting a course to the ASX with methane-reducing seaweed, and the R&D tax incentive has swelled to $16.2 billion in claims, led once again by Atlassian.
We also saw some myth-busting on the founder front. Lisa Teh unpacks why the glossy image of entrepreneurship rarely matches reality. It’s a timely counterpoint to the 9-9-6 hustle discourse dominating LinkedIn this week.
Have a great weekend,
Tegan Jones
Deputy editor