Top tech successes and failures of 2011

Successes1. Rise of Aussie tech entrepreneurs2. Rise of the tablets3. Power of individuals4. Use of social media for citizen uprisings5. Kids making cash on iTunesFailures1. Data breaches2. Vodafone's network3. Banks' outages4. Online anonymity debate5. Slow death of RIM Technological successes 1. Rise of Aussie tech entrepreneurs

Investment in Australian tech startups boomed in 2011, with several receiving funding from some of the biggest venture capital firms in the US. Perhaps a strong indication US investment will continue to boom well into 2012 is the fact US venture capital firm The Founders Fund – headed by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and Facebook's first president, Sean Parker – is sending three of its top executives to Australia in January 2012 to meet with local tech startups. In fact, in the past year or so more than $100 million has flowed in to Australian technology businesses either through investments or acquisitions, according to a report in Collie Mail.

There was also Australian funding in local tech startups like Scoopon from people like James Packer in May. DesignCrowd, which specialises in crowdsourced graphics, also picked up $3 million from Melbourne-based investors in November. One of the Australian startups receiving funding from the US, similar to DesignCrowd, was 99Designs, which provides businesses with a cheaper, more effective way to outsource graphics design. It raised $US35 million in April. The Melbourne co-founders of Skitch announced in August that they had been acquired by Evernote for "millions".  >>More here

SOURCE:  colliemail.com.au

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