The Merton Monthly: September
August was an important month for Merton Lawyers as we hosted our annual Melbourne Mixer Drinks and celebrated our Managing Partner as a finalist at the Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Awards.
Merton Lawyers, ASX & Invest Victoria Annual Melbourne Mixer Drinks
In August, Merton Lawyers held their annual networking event with Invest Victoria and the ASX at the Blacksmith in Richmond. The event was fully booked, and there was only a waitlist available. It was a wonderful celebration that brought together numerous client founders, investors, and industry professionals. A lot of the people who attended either contributed to or are alumni of Merton Lawyers' Project Frontier program. Collaborating on an event with Invest Victoria and ASX was, as always, an inspiring experience. We are continuing to work together to elevate the Australian innovation ecosystem
Sprint Ventures Launch Fund 3
Merton Lawyers attended Sprint Ventures lunch event in Melbourne, bringing together some of the Melbourne investment community. Spring Ventures General Partner, Llew Jury, led a portfolio company fireside chat with the visionary Founder of MediStays, Sarah Everitt. The lunch was rounded out by Managing Partner, Georgia Barkell, also delivered an insightful presentation about our latest fund: Sprint Fund III. Building on the success of our two previous funds, this new fund will see us continue to invest in promising founders and critical early-stage companies across AI, Health and Aged Care, Infrastructure, and Climate. If you want to find out more about us and Sprint Fund III, click here.
Australian Law Awards
Merton Lawyers are proud of Anthony Curtin who was a finalist in the the Managing Partner category at the Lawyers Weekly Australian Law Awards in Sydney. A big congratulations to all finalists and especially Emma Covacevich from Clayton Utz. It was a great night to celebrate.
AmCham - Silicon Yarra Lunch
In August, Merton Lawyers attended Amcham's SILICON YARRA lunch in Melbourne which included a high calibre panel of Cameron McIntyre (CEO CAR Group), Rachael Neumann, (Founder Flying Fox Ventures), John Viner (Head of Software Engineering & Teamwork Platform, Atlassian) and expertly moderated by Kate Cornick, CEO LaunchVic. The panel provided deeper insights into startup success and strengthening Victoria’s innovation ecosystem.
Thanks to Adrian Persi and Global Victoria for hosting.
The ‘right to disconnect’ is coming to Australia: what employers need to know
New right to disconnect laws commenced on 26 August 2024 for non-small business employers. Small business employers – which are businesses with fewer than 15 employees – will be subject to the changes one year later from 26 August 2025.
The changes were introduced through the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes No. 2) Act 2024 (Cth) and give employees a legal right to disconnect from all work communication outside of their contracted working hours. Whilst the new Australian laws won’t restrict employers or managers from contacting staff at any time, they will give employees the legal right to refuse to “monitor, read or respond to communications from an employer or third party made outside their working hours, unless refusal is unreasonable.” What constitutes ‘contact’ has not been defined by the legislation. However, it is expected that it will be interpreted broadly to include any efforts to engage with employees.
Recent reform to unfair contract terms laws
Amendments to the Australian Consumer Law (ACL), contained in Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth) (ASIC Act) were passed in October 2022 to the effect that making a standard form contract which contains unfair terms, or relying on an unfair term is now illegal.
Prior to these changes coming into force on 9 November 2023, trying to enforce unfair contract terms in standard form contracts did not contravene the ACL and the Courts could not impose penalties on individuals or business who sought to do so. The Court only had the power to make a determination that a contract term was unfair and as such, declare the term to be void.
Article AFR: Why Nvidia, Apple and Open AI need to strike a big deal
Microsoft has long been a major investor in the ChatGPT maker, now the two biggest companies in the world look like jumping on board, and OpenAI needs them.
WSJ - The Hottest Sectors in Climate Tech? Follow the VC money
Startups developing technologies to make the power grid more reliable and efficient are among those getting attention from venture capitalists
Kiss the Future
Kiss the Future - An American aid worker asks U2 to help raise awareness about the siege of Sarajevo, Bosnia. The band immediately begins a series of live satellite interviews with local Sarajaevans during their 1993 ZOO TV Tour to highlight the dire situation.
Upcoming*
'Expansion to the US'
As part of SF Tech Week, Merton Lawyers will be presenting on 'Expansion to the US' to Investment NSW Going Global Health cohort and Investment NSW Going Global Health cohort panel session
2024 Tech Fast 50
For more than two decades, Deloitte’s Tech Fast 50 Australia awards has been one of the longest-standing tech award programs and has celebrated the country’s fastest-growing tech companies – the startups that have scaled up – with many going on to become local and global powerhouses.
Every year, the Tech Fast 50 team discover the top 50 Australian technology companies by revenue growth rate over three years, with the top performer crowned our overall winner.
ESOPs
Merton Lawyers and William Buck will be presenting to the Start Up Networks on the relaties and practicalities of ESOPs.
Tuesday 8 October
Time – 6pm – 9pm
Location – The Commons Gipps Street, 38 Gipps street, Collingwood VIC 3066
Presenters – Jonathon Larosa, Partner, Tax Services at William Buck
Tony Hood, Partner, Corporate Finance at William Buck
Isaac Hanna, Senior Associate at Merton Lawyers
Climate Salad
As part of Climate Salad's San Francisco Climate Tech Trade Mission Workshop - Jack Qi, Director at William Buck and Anthony Curtin, Managing Partner at Merton Lawyers will present on understanding US business registration, tax and structure and getting ready to raise capital.
Are you innovating in renewables, clean tech and climate tech?
Innovation Bay is proud to be once again partnering with Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to present the fifth annual Renewables Startup Showcase in Sydney on Thursday, November 21.
This prestigious gala will see Australia's most promising startups come together with top investors to supercharge growth and innovation.
Black Nova and Tractor Ventures Masterclass – Portfolio companies only
Managing Partner Anthony Curtin has been invited to present a Masterclass session with Black Nova Venture Capital and Tractor Ventures portfolio companies on the raising capital in Australia and the US in 2024/25.
Innovation Bay's Venture Downunder!
In September, Merton Lawyers will embark on a four day adventure of connection, collaboration, and epic excitement at Innovation Bay's Venture Downunder!
Over 100 VC leaders from Australia and New Zealand will join together in Darwin for a unique opportunity to intentionally disconnect from the day to day, broaden and deepen key relationships, delve deeply into topics and quality conversation, and bond over shared experiences away from the hustle and bustle. We can't wait!
