Australia is bustling with hot startups.
"There are a bunch of companies now that are choosing to stay (in Australia)," Rebekah Campbell, founder and CEO of Australia-based Posse, tells Business Insider. "Whereas just a few years ago, everyone thought that you just have to move over (to the U.S.) straight away."
Some of that is in part thanks to a software company called Atlassian, which has proved that it's possible to start a hugely successful, global brand in Australia.
Still, Campbell says there's a funding problem in Australia. There's a pretty good angel investing scene in Australia, and also some VCs who will fund post-revenue, growing companies, Campbell says.
"But there is a huge gap in the middle where you're post-seed, you've done well and you have a little bit of traction, but you're not profitable," Campbell says. "There's not really any funding for those companies in Australia."
On the flip side, Australia is great for finding talented engineers because there's less competition as compared to the U.S., Campbell says.
That's likely why we see a fair amount of Australian startups with additional offices located in the U.S. After scouring websites like Startup Smart, and speaking with VCs and Australia-based entrepreneurs, we came up with a list of some of the hottest startups in Australia.
Pocketbook is tackling the personal finance space
Startup: PocketBook
Founded: October 2012
Location: Sydney, Australia
Founders: Bosco Tan and Alvin Singh
Concept: Personal finance management for bills, bank accounts, transactions, and savings goals.
Why you should care: Since Mint currently only supports U.S. and Canadian financial institutions, Pocketbook has launched with Australia in mind. It simplifies the tax process, makes handling multiple bank accounts a breeze, and helps you manage your budget and understand your spending habits.
It will eventually bring in data like rewards information, investments, bills, and invoices.
Funding: Unknown
Virtual Gaming Worlds lets you build virtual casinos and make real money
Startup: Virtual Gaming Worlds
Founded: November 2010
Location: Perth, Australia
Founder: Laurence Escalante
Concept: A virtual casino world that combines social gaming with gambling. You can build your own casino, populate it with games, and earn money from the traffic that comes through the casino.
Why you should care: Google Developer Advocate Don Dodge called Virtual Gaming Worlds a "sure bet" to make money at the LAUNCH Festival in 2012. He went on to say that it's a multi-billion dollar opportunity.
In places where online gambling is illegal, VGW users will only be able to use the virtual currency.
Funding: Recently closed a $2.5 million Series A round led by Triple C Consulting.
Ninja Blocks allows you to connect the world to the web
Startup: Ninja Blocks
Founded: 2012
Location: Sydney, Australia and San Francisco, Calif.
Founders: Marcus Schappi and Pete Moore
Concept: Digital blocks that connect physical objects to the Internet. Each Wi-Fi-enabled block is packed with a custom Arduino board, an accelerometer and thermometer. With additional sensors, Ninja Blocks can detect humidity, motion, sound, light, and even capture video.
Why you should care: You don't need to know how to program in order to get the full value of Ninja Blocks. You can tell Ninja Blocks to perform tasks like sending a text message to your phone when someone arrives at the front door, or to turn on a lamp if your baby starts crying.
The Ninja Blocks platform supports services like Dropbox, Twitter, Facebook, Google Docs, and Xbox Live.
Funding: $1.1 million from Kickstarter and a slew of angel investors including Guitar Hero founder Kai Huang, and Atlassian founders Mike Cannon-Brookers and Scott Farquhar
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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