☕️Financially Immaterial

Good morning.

Even by 4DMedical’s recent form, which has seen its share price surge more than 1,800% over the eight months to Tuesday’s close, a 35% rally on Wednesday was a fairly remarkable bump. The Melbourne-based medtech company spurred a buying spree after announcing the use of its flagship lung imaging technology CT:VQ at Mayo Clinic in the US.

While founder and CEO Andreas Fouras called the 90-day agreement a “landmark moment” and “uniquely significant” — the company once again said the contract was “not financially material”.

Fouras told Capital Brief his company is laying the groundwork for a massive windfall next year: “Today’s win of having the number one hospital in the world, Mayo, as a key customer is a real progression towards that. We can talk revenue in 2027.”

🏆 LOI Subscriber #TBD

Market movers

Shares in regional aviation company Alliance Aviation skyrocketed on Wednesday after the company reassured investors it had minimal exposure to the war-driven fuel price spike, explaining that under its lease arrangements with Qantas and Virgin Australia, customers, and not Alliance, bear the cost of fuel.

The quick sync

• Oracle is chasing Australian cloud market share but it’s not committing to a local data centre. (Capital Brief)

• One Nation is eating into the Coalition and closing in on its heartland. (Capital Brief)

• Chalmers is trying to project calm as fuel shortages spread, but the pressure on Labor's economic credibility is mounting. (Capital Brief)

• Canva's USD30m acquisition of Doohly is the latest sign the design giant is remaking itself as an AI-powered marketing platform. (Capital Brief)

• Billionaire-backed Zoho opens Sydney office, doubles Australian headcount as its SaaS rivals shed thousands of jobs. (Capital Brief)

• The smartest AI investment isn't the model. It’s measuring whether any of it works, writes Dan Nolan. (Capital Brief)

• Grants alone won't build Australia's health innovation economy, writes Anthony Liveris. (Capital Brief)

Trading floor

M&A

• Pepper Money rejects lower Challenger bid, ends talks. (Capital Brief)

• Chinese consortium joins $1.5b Made Group sale race against Danone and Kirin. (The Australian)

• Clarity Pharmaceuticals jumps on copper-64 supply deal with Theragenics. (Capital Brief)

• New Zealand weighs sale of motor vehicle registry. (AFR)

• T&G Global to relaunch NZD300m sale amid shareholder complications. (The Australian)

• Merck to buy Terns Pharmaceuticals in USD6b oncology deal. (Capital Brief)

Capital Markets

• Rio Tinto gets $2b support to keep Boyne smelter open to 2040. (Capital Brief)

• Worley boosts safety measures for Middle East operations. (Capital Brief)

• 4DMedical jumps after Mayo Clinic tech deployment. (Capital Brief) (Capital Brief)

• Maas founder shares crossed at discount, shares tumble 8.5%. (AFR)

• NatWest has begun transacting on PEXA’s UK platform, starting with remortgage transactions. (Capital Brief)

• Meta hit with $539m fine for enabling child exploitation in New Mexico. (Startup Daily)

• Tuas profit surges on strong subscriber growth. (Capital Brief)

• Rising costs push Woolworths and Coles to raise prices, squeezing shoppers. (AFR)

• Measuring AI performance is the smartest investment. (Capital Brief)

• EVT Group completed a $750m refinancing deal, expanding its debt facilities and improving financing terms. (Capital Brief)

• KPMG Australia accused of exploiting client data to win major audit contracts. (AFR)

• Zoho opens Sydney office ahead of Australian hiring surge. (Capital Brief)

• KMD Brands faces weak demand in NZD100m capital raise. (The Australian)

• S&P slightly lowers Australia’s GDP growth forecast amid Middle East conflict. (Capital Brief)

• BHP’s Pilbara mine faces first strike in decades over stalled electrician talks. (AFR)

• ASX hits record futures trading amid Middle East conflict. (Capital Brief)

• Amplitude Energy falls to two-year low after failed gas well. (Capital Brief)

• Snowy Hydro delays Kurri Kurri gas plant start, may use diesel amid supply crunch. (AFR)

• RBA aims to scale tokenised money after Project Acacia. (Capital Brief)

• Nickel Industries jumps on Indonesian ore supply boost. (Capital Brief)

• Jules Robinson brings back $5k Fuel Fund to back women entrepreneurs. (Smart Company)

• APA Group finalises $62m GDI stake divestment. (Capital Brief)

• Gas shortage delayed to 2029, but new supply still needed. (AFR)

• Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to visit Australia amid expansion plans. (Capital Brief)

• Oracle Corporation grows AI data centres globally, but none yet in Australia. (Capital Brief)

• Qantas profits may halve due to rising fuel costs from conflict. (AFR)

• Government grants like the Medical Research Future Fund won’t build Australia’s health innovation economy without private capital. (Capital Brief)

• Meta Platforms and YouTube found liable in major social media addiction case. (Capital Brief)

• Disney CEO’s first week marred by Fortnite, OpenAI woes. (Bloomberg)

• Chevron warns California risks fuel crisis unless Iran war eases. (Bloomberg)

• Scion of USD6b Carlyle fortune beats private equity dip. (Bloomberg)

• Barclays pulls back on asset-based loans after MFS, Tricolor. (Bloomberg)

• Meta Is cutting several hundred jobs amid record AI spending. (Bloomberg)

VC 

• WndrCo, led by ex-Disney head Jeffrey Katzenberg, invests in NZ startup Partly. (AFR)

• Auckland agtech startup Scanabull raises NZD1.1m to bring AI cattle-weight scanning to Australia. (Startup Daily)

• Elsewhere Pods, a prefabricated tiny home startup, seeks $3m funding after Bunnings launch amid strong sales growth. (AFR)

• Cauldron Ferm raises $13.25m to scale eco-friendly hyper-fermentation. (Startup Daily)

• OpenAI hires CEO of India’s JioStar to head up Asia-Pacific. (Bloomberg)

People moves

• Donald Trump appointed top tech leaders like Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, and Jensen Huang to a council advising on science, technology, and AI policy. (Capital Brief)

The watercooler