Start-up dealmaking hits $2.9b this year, almost equal to entire 2024
For two years, a listing on the ASX has been an unattractive option for many of the funds backing early-stage businesses. Now, they are back on the table, according to AirTree Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Reinventure and Perennial Private Investments, some of the biggest venture capital firms.
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AU Financial Review
8 hours ago
- AU Financial Review
Start-up dealmaking hits $2.9b this year, almost equal to entire 2024
The country's venture capital firms offloaded start-up stakes worth almost $3 billion in the last six months, almost as much as in all of the previous year, increasing hopes among technology investors that floats and other deal activity is finally beginning to grow. For two years, a listing on the ASX has been an unattractive option for many of the funds backing early-stage businesses. Now, they are back on the table, according to AirTree Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Reinventure and Perennial Private Investments, some of the biggest venture capital firms.
West Australian
9 hours ago
- West Australian
Lithium Universe targets silver through solar panel recycling
Lithium Universe Limited has kicked off a pioneering project to extract silver from discarded photovoltaic (PV) solar panels, leveraging technology developed by scientists at Macquarie University in Sydney. Global silver demand is set to reach a record 680 million ounces in 2025, driven by a 7 per cent compound annual growth rate in industrial use, photovoltaics and artificial intelligence, triggering an anticipated 117.6-million-ounce market deficit for the expensive and relatively rare metal. Each solar panel contains about 20 grams of silver, worth $36 at current prices, which is used to make conductive paste for electrical contacts. Silver prices have surged 126 per cent from US$15 an ounce in 2018 to US$34 an ounce in 2025, underscoring the economic potential of recycling. Lithium Universe secured exclusive global rights to Macquarie University's innovative microwave joule heating technology (MJHT) in June 2025. The technology uses microwaves to soften the plastic encapsulant in the solar panels, enabling efficient delamination of the panels at room temperature, avoiding the need for high heat or the release of toxic chemicals. The process facilitates cleaner material separation when compared with traditional mechanical crushing and recycling, which also typically results in lower recovery rates. A complementary silver extraction technology for delaminated silicon wafers is under patent development and will be licensed to Lithium Universe when finalised. The company is also conducting independent research to optimise silver recovery methods. Global PV solar panel waste is projected to reach 60–78 million tonnes by 2050, with Australia alone expecting 1Mt by 2035, valued at more than $1 billion. Only 15 per cent of PV cells are currently recycled globally due to the complex processes involved, which sees most scrap panels discarded in landfills. Lithium Universe's initiative positions it to capitalise on a potential $154 billion silver recovery market. Future development phases will also explore the extraction of silicon, gallium and indium, which are critical for semiconductors and solar technology and could help strengthen vulnerable supply chains dominated by China. China is the dominant global supplier of both gallium and indium, producing about 80 per cent of gallium and more than 60 per cent of indium supplies. Gallium is primarily a by-product of aluminium production, while indium is extracted during zinc mining. Other notable, albeit smaller, gallium producers include Germany, Kazakhstan and Ukraine, while Canada and Peru are significant producers of indium. With piles of valuable waste building up on the horizon, Lithium Universe's innovative approach to the global issue of burgeoning waste solar panels aims to enhance sustainability and economic returns in the clean energy sector. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
News.com.au
10 hours ago
- News.com.au
Closing Bell: ASX ends down just 0.11pc after seesawing through trade
ASX walks tightrope to slide just 9.7 points All Ords gold sub-index climbs 1.87pc Iron ore prices boost big cap mining stocks ASX slides on renewed tariff threats The ASX 200 finished the day down 0.11%, having plunged a good 20 points in the first hour. The bourse staged a midday recovery to touch an intraday high of 8592 points before hawing and hemming through trade, finishing 9.7 points lower at 8570.4. It was a tale of competing global powers, with new tariff threats from Trump's White House warring with a positive start to a green steel forum between Australian and Chinese companies. The iron ore price has been heading back in the direction of US$100/t despite the tariff uncertainty, buoying Aussie miners who eat the red dirt for breakfast. Fears over economic fallout from a freshly minted 30% tariff on goods from Mexico and the EU (starting August 1) appear to have won out today. Of our 11 sectors, 7 are down. Only energy (+0.54%), materials (+0.53%), telecoms (+0.30%) and real estate (+0.10%) made headway. Taking a squizz at our indices for the day, the ASX 200 Resources performed well, up 0.80%. It was supported by a buoyant gold index, which climbed 1.87%. Is TACO a self-defeating prophecy? The market reaction to the new tariffs has been fairly muted overall. The idea that President Trump will usually back down from these sorts of policies has taken root in trader sentiment, dampening alarmist sentiment. Capital Economics chief North America economist Paul Ashworth is concerned that very assumption could give Trump the confidence to follow through. "The lack of reaction to this week's tariff déjà vu is presumably because Trump now has a reputation for backing down from his aggressive tariff threats," Ashworth noted over the weekend. "But that creates a dangerous circularity, since the main reason Trump was forced to shelve his Liberation Day plans originally was because of the sell-off in not only the equity market but the Treasury market too. 'Without that pressure, Trump may feel more emboldened to follow through this time, particularly since up to now at least tariffs appear to have had little impact on final consumer goods prices and claims the economy would be plunged into recession have been proven wrong.' PM hails 'successful' green steel roundtable Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has described a green steel roundtable discussion between Australian and Chinese stakeholders as 'very successful' as he spoke to reporters following the meeting. While the Prime Minister has indicated he believes industry should take the lead in building stronger trade relations within the green steel sector, Albanese has signalled the government will support those efforts. 'What we need are enabling policy environments, extensive investments in research to develop new technologies and collaboration across academia, industry and government,' the Prime Minister said in his roundtable address. 'Australia and China each have major stakes in how the decarbonisation efforts develop. 'As both countries cooperate to advance decarbonisation, we also need to work together to address global excess steel capacity. 'It is in both countries' interests to ensure a sustainable and market-driven global steel sector.' The Prime Minister was joined by executives from the top steel players in both China and Australia, including CEOs from Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO), BHP (ASX:BHP) and Fortescue (ASX:FMG). 'Rio Tinto is working closely with our Chinese customers to support the development of low-carbon steelmaking technologies, leveraging Australia's high-quality iron ore and China's manufacturing expertise to drive real progress on emissions reduction,' Rio Tinto CEO Kellie Parker said. Spot prices for iron ore climbed 0.5% over the last 5 trading days to touch US$96.71 a tonne on Friday, adding another 2.9% to reach US$99.60 a tonne today. Most of our larger iron ore companies have responded as expected – Rio Tinto has added 0.77%, BHP 1.1% and Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) 1.78%, but Fortescue slid 0.65% lower. ASX SMALL CAP LEADERS Today's best performing small cap stocks: Code Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap ICU Investor Centre Ltd 0.002 100% 351624 $304,511 OSX Osteopore Limited 0.016 60% 37758327 $1,830,431 EEL Enrg Elements Ltd 0.0015 50% 484000 $3,253,779 GMN Gold Mountain Ltd 0.003 50% 3217402 $11,239,518 BM1 Ballardmininglimited 0.37 48% 8146212 $45,922,302 NVQ Noviqtech Limited 0.038 46% 3591198 $6,539,950 ODA Orcoda Limited 0.088 35% 294298 $12,188,424 LOC Locatetechnologies 0.175 35% 1612899 $30,440,054 BLZ Blaze Minerals Ltd 0.004 33% 200050 $5,335,392 CRR Critical Resources 0.004 33% 29591322 $8,310,256 RCMDB Rapid Critical 0.032 33% 186979 $2,489,889 SFG Seafarms Group Ltd 0.002 33% 36752 $7,254,899 SHP South Harz Potash 0.004 33% 2409259 $3,849,186 AMS Atomos 0.005 25% 532130 $4,860,074 MOH Moho Resources 0.005 25% 25080 $2,981,656 MRD Mount Ridley Mines 0.0025 25% 20343 $1,556,978 PRX Prodigy Gold NL 0.0025 25% 1019762 $6,350,111 RNX Renegade Exploration 0.005 25% 15055892 $5,153,454 SPQ Superior Resources 0.005 25% 2119999 $9,483,931 TMK TMK Energy Limited 0.0025 25% 11732049 $20,444,766 WBE Whitebark Energy 0.005 25% 10090 $2,802,231 CC5 Clever Culture 0.021 24% 4757288 $30,032,035 WCE Westcoastsilver Ltd 0.1 23% 2478393 $21,069,799 PRS Prospech Limited 0.022 22% 107518 $6,818,866 CMP Compumedics Limited 0.305 22% 146188 $48,054,474 Making news... Osteopore (ASX:OSX) products will soon hit Swiss shelves, after both its custom-made and off-the-shelf 3D printed cranial implants got the green light under European Union Medical Device Regulation. The tick of approval clears the way to roll out the full suite of biomimetic and bioresorbable implants in Switzerland and the greater European market. Smart transport company Orcoda (ASX:ODA) has locked in multiple SaaS contracts with community transport providers across Australia, following a successful federal government trial of its transport software. With an initial 3-year term, ODA expects the new deals to generate $1 million in incremental revenue. Between the new contracts and upgrades to existing agreements, the company is forecasting an overall annual recurring revenue of about $5m, representing a 23% year-on-year growth in ARR. Also moving within the software-as-a-service space, Locate Technologies (ASX:LOC) has activated its at-the-market facility agreement with Novus Capital to raise just under $169k within a larger capital raising. That brings LOC's total proceeds to just over $1.4m, at an average issue price of $0.161. Clever Culture (ASX:CC5) has deepened its relationship with pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk through a new purchase order for an APAS Independence instrument. The European biotech behemoth is looking at the potential benefits of integrating CC5's APAS technology into its manufacturing network, particularly focusing on the 90mm and contact plate analysis modules for the reading of culture plates used in pharmaceutical environmental monitoring. Compumedics (ASX:CMP) has lifted its yearly sales by 22% compared to the 2024 FY, raking in $63.4m in sales orders. Management says the strong sales numbers are a result of building a more predictable, high-margin business model and a resulting increase in revenue, better margins, and meaningful traction in the US and beyond. ASX SMALL CAP LAGGARDS Today's worst performing small cap stocks: Code Name Last % Change Volume Market Cap MIOR Macarthur Minerals 0.001 -50% 20000 $199,666 FTC Fintech Chain Ltd 0.002 -33% 541727 $1,952,309 GGE Grand Gulf Energy 0.002 -33% 1200109 $8,461,275 TYX Tyranna Res Ltd 0.003 -25% 2756275 $13,153,701 PPY Papyrus Australia 0.008 -24% 343749 $6,013,158 BUY Bounty Oil & Gas NL 0.002 -20% 71211 $3,903,680 CUL Cullen Resources 0.004 -20% 681 $3,467,009 TNY Tinybeans Group Ltd 0.105 -19% 72778 $19,228,357 OAK Oakridge 0.065 -19% 4304 $2,159,833 HWK Hawk Resources. 0.018 -18% 1118843 $5,960,448 PFE Pantera Lithium 0.019 -17% 11551323 $10,897,025 1AI Algorae Pharma 0.005 -17% 18150 $10,124,368 AUK Aumake Limited 0.0025 -17% 50000 $9,070,076 AYT Austin Metals Ltd 0.0025 -17% 609756 $4,752,574 BNL Blue Star Helium Ltd 0.005 -17% 281896 $16,169,312 MSG Mcs Services Limited 0.005 -17% 600000 $1,188,598 PRM Prominence Energy 0.0025 -17% 24999 $1,459,411 SLZ Sultan Resources Ltd 0.005 -17% 21000 $1,388,819 ADO Anteotech Ltd 0.011 -15% 4358483 $35,168,904 PGY Pilot Energy Ltd 0.011 -15% 17598202 $28,062,580 RMI Resource Mining Corp 0.017 -15% 1513958 $14,689,067 ADY Admiralty Resources. 0.006 -14% 22640 $18,406,356 KGD Kula Gold Limited 0.006 -14% 1625905 $6,448,776 SHO Sportshero Ltd 0.025 -14% 1289885 $21,211,936 ATG Articore Group Ltd 0.195 -13% 179152 $64,027,997 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT Trigg Minerals (ASX:TMG) has defined an exploration target of 12.8 to 15.6 million tonnes at 0.75% to 1.5% antimony for the Antimony Canyon Project in Utah. Asra Minerals (ASX:ASR) will launch a 3000m RC drilling program this week at its Leonora South gold project, targeting the Challenge and Eclipse prospects. Following a $30 million raise, Ballard Mining (ASX:BM1) begins ASX trading with plans to undertake 130,000m of drilling in gold quest at Mt Ida. BM1 closed 48% up on its 25c IPO price. Tunsgten Mining (ASX:TGN) will integrate early oxide gold extraction into development plans for Mt Mulgine, de-risking access to the tungsten ore body. With silver demand forecast to reach a record 680Moz in 2025, Lithium Universe (ASX:LU7) has chosen to prioritise silver recovery using its recently acquired solar panel recycling technology. St George Mining (ASX:SGQ) has begun drilling at the Araxá project in Brazil, looking to add to the 40.64 million tonnes at 4.13% TREO resource. WA rare earths play Victory Metals (ASX:VTM) will gain access to the corridors of power in the Pentagon as it chases funding and support for its North Stanmore project. TRADING HALTS At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Clever Culture and Compumedics are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.
