Simon Thomsen
Simon Thomsen covers the finance and dynamics of the startup and technology ecosystem, focusing on how capital, policy and people shape emerging companies.
Startup finance, programs and capital flows
At Startup Daily he leads coverage of funding rounds, investor activity and the money side of building new ventures in the Australian and New Zealand tech ecosystem.
His work and commentary highlight big raises, venture capital advice and the shifting market for fintech, agritech, spacetech and other capital-intensive sectors. He writes on programs such as AO StartUps, a sports and entertainment tech initiative backed by Tennis Australia and the Australian Open, treating them as case studies in how institutional partners support startup growth across participation, fan engagement, high performance and event operations.
Across these pieces he treats finance as part of a wider system, linking investment decisions with strategy, product and the pressures founders face as they seek capital and scale.
Policy, technology and the wider economy
Thomsen’s coverage regularly connects tech and startup activity to policy and macroeconomic settings, rather than treating companies in isolation. In one piece he examines how Australia’s economic relationship with the United States creates structural challenges for local business and capital, using the “Lucky Country” idea to frame those tensions. He also uses broadcast formats to unpack policy: on Startup 360 he has taken viewers through the election promises and technology policies of the Albanese government, tying political commitments to the real prospects for the tech sector.
This thread runs through his broader work on Startup Daily and its shows, where regulatory changes, government programs and global economic shifts are treated as central forces shaping startup finance and opportunity.
Founders, leadership and mental health
Beyond transactions and policy, Thomsen puts founder experience and leadership under the microscope, often bringing mental health into the finance conversation. Profiles and discussions he leads move between sharp notes on industry trends and frank accounts of the pressures, losses and small wins that shape a founder’s life.
On SUDS and the Startup Daily TV show he regularly talks with founders, CEOs, investors and experts about what makes them tick, how they lead, and how they stay human while raising capital and running teams. His Startup 360 format is framed as “more founder fun than founder mode”, emphasising candid conversation over pitch-style messaging, while still grounding discussions in the realities of money, markets and governance.
This focus on people and mental health gives his finance coverage a distinct tone: numbers matter, but they sit alongside resilience, culture and the personal cost of building companies.
Multi-platform coverage of the startup ecosystem
Thomsen works across written, TV and podcast formats, which shapes how he covers finance and startups.
He edits Startup Daily and hosts the Startup Daily show on the business streaming service ausbiz, delivering weekday segments that track news and capital moves across the ecosystem. The SUDS podcast repackages highlights from these TV interviews, offering a weekly “washup” of major raises, investor perspectives and sector-specific developments in areas such as fintech, agritech and spacetech.
Startup 360 extends that work with a weekly show and podcast where he and co-hosts dissect the week’s startup news before talking in depth with guests about their companies and personal journeys.
Professional bios consistently describe him as an experienced editor and journalist with more than three decades in media, drawing on prior work across business, food and lifestyle to bring a broad lens to startup and finance stories. He also invests in early-stage startups, which gives him direct exposure to the realities of fundraising and growth and informs his questioning of founders and investors on air. Taken together, his body of work makes him a multi-platform specialist on startup finance, policy and founder life, with coverage that connects money, governance and human stories in one frame.
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