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Market Intel

Kmart, Bunnings deploy shelf-scanning robots across hundreds of ANZ stores

Wesfarmers is running autonomous robots in Kmart and Bunnings stores after hours to scan inventory, check pricing, and identify out-of-stocks. This is not a pilot: Tory operates across all Kmart large-format stores in Australia and New Zealand, while Bunnings has trialled Zippedi. Worth noting: Bunnings did $20.4bn in FY2026 revenue with 20,399 employees, Kmart Group $11.8bn with 5,444 people. Any efficiency gains at that scale matter.

Sep 18, 2026 · 2 min
Funding & Startups

Buildkite raised $21M in January, burnt $23M cash in FY25

Melbourne DevOps scaleup Buildkite closed a $21 million convertible note in January 2026, according to ASIC filings surfaced this week. Operating cash burn hit $23.4 million in FY25, up from $4.9 million the prior year. The round followed CEO changes and comes as AI coding tools drive demand for developer infrastructure.

Sep 18, 2026 · 2 min
Strategy

Replit earned 6M impressions from one customer. Most vendors miss this.

SaaStr mentioned Replit 214 times in 12 months, generating 5.9M impressions to 450k B2B executives. Zero dollars spent. The product worked, the customer shipped production code, the coverage followed. Most B2B companies have power users doing smaller versions of this right now and have no idea who they are.

Sep 17, 2026 · 3 min
Funding & Startups

Medow Health adds $3.5m, now at $8.5m seed for AI receptionist

Sydney medtech Medow Health closed another $3.5 million from existing investors, bringing total seed funding to $8.5 million across three raises since January 2025. The company sells AI front desk software to specialist medical clinics and says it now serves 1,000 practices across ANZ. Worth noting: This is not a new startup. PitchBook lists Doctor AI (possibly related entity) as founded in 2017 with $52 million raised, suggesting this may be a rebrand or spin-out rather than early-stage venture.

Sep 17, 2026 · 3 min
Market Intel

ATO ruling hits Apple, Google on offshore software payments

The ATO is treating cross-border software payments as taxable royalties, targeting Apple's $13B ANZ revenue and Google's $2.1B local operation. The ruling affects how multinational tech groups structure billing between Australian subsidiaries and offshore headquarters, with implications for vendor contracts and enterprise procurement across ANZ.

Sep 17, 2026 · 2 min
Sales Tech

Meta launches paid support subscriptions for Australian businesses

Meta is now charging Australian businesses for human customer support through its new Meta One subscription service. The platform will connect subscribers to real support staff, prioritise their cases, and offer phone support. Previously, Meta's advertiser support relied heavily on automated systems.

Sep 16, 2026 · 2 min
Market Intel

38% of Australian small business owners earn under $40k

Nearly four in ten Australian small business owners paid themselves less than $40,000 or nothing at all in FY25, according to ACCI's latest survey. The sector generated $590 billion in revenue (one-third of GDP) while sales grew 6.5% year-on-year, but owner compensation is lagging. Three-quarters of full-time self-employed owners earn less than the average full-time wage.

Sep 16, 2026 · 2 min
Market Intel

Technical founders run fastest-growing AI companies, not sales operators

82 of the top 100 AI startups are led by technical CEOs, up from 49% in 2013. Databricks hit $190B with a Berkeley professor. Snowflake replaced Slootman with an engineer and growth jumped from 26% to 34%. The sales-guy CEO archetype that built enterprise software for two decades is being replaced by founders who ship product.

Sep 13, 2026 · 3 min
Funding & Startups

Chalmers backs down on startup CGT cap, cuts hold to 3 years

Treasury dumped the $10 million lifetime cap and shortened the required holding period from five years to three in the draft Innovative Business CGT Concession. The carve-out protects founders, early employees, and investors in qualifying startups from broader CGT changes hitting in July 2027. Submissions close 28 September.

Sep 12, 2026 · 2 min