🌊 Featured: The AI Wave — How Far Ahead Is China?
This THURSDAY (Aug 28), 6:00–9:00pm AEST • Stone & Chalk Melbourne Startup Hub (121 King St, CBD)
We just got back from WAIC (Shanghai) and we’re doing a fireside download on what’s actually happening in China’s AI scene—agents, video/gen‑media, robotics, chips, infra—the lot. Expect raw floor video, clean data points, and a few spicy (but fair) takes. BECAUSE REALITY > HYPE.
🎟 Grab your seat on Humanitix and come see what’s next.
🚀 Launch List of the Week
Pre-Launch
Meet TruTones.ai, an image-gen + animation tool built representation-first for people of colour. No more over-prompting to avoid default “stock white” outputs—TruTones uses fine-tuned models with granular controls for global skin tones and hair (braids, locs, curls, the lot). The web app lands next month; early screenshots look slick. Want early access or to give feedback? Hit reply and we’ll connect you with the team.
New Arrivals:
TikTok traction for the newly launched Construction & AI Startup OCCU:
Tiktok failed to load.Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Australia’s construction code is a maze; AskNCC is the on-site copilot that helps you navigate it in seconds. Ask plain-English questions (fire, accessibility, sanitary counts etc) and get concise, clause-anchored guidance so builders, architects, surveyors and inspectors can move approvals faster and avoid costly missteps, without doom-scrolling PDFs. Check out the website here
Funded: Diag-nose.io
Big win: Diag-Nose.io has been awarded a $3M CRC-P grant to push precision respiratory care forward. WE GOT THEM ON OUR PODCAST
The funds will scale manufacturing of the ABEL nasal micro-sampler, train RhinoMAP01 on a 1,000+ patient dataset, and build remote monitoring software so care can move closer to patients. Chronic respiratory disease affects 1 in 5 Aussies—this is meaningful momentum. Huge congrats to the team; disbelief → determination → delivery. 🙌. See more…
🔎 Aus AI Startup Deep‑Dive: Modus AI
Tom van der Linden and his kickass AI startup Modus turns lectures, videos, and papers into concise, accurate summaries; keeps your ideas mapped in one place; and lets you chat with your notes using AI agents. Templates let you set tone/length/structure so outputs fit your course or lab style.
Who it’s for: Students, researchers, and anyone drowning in PDFs.
Why we like it: 50,000+ academics and students already on it; cross‑platform (browser extension + mobile); strong “AI-assisted, human-approved” vibe for credible coursework and writing.
Try it: Start studying
🧭 Ecosystem Pulse (Week of Aug 25)
1) Hype cools (a little). Big‑tech hiring sprints are easing; enterprise pilots are getting a harder ROI sniff test. Founder takeaway: show measurable value (time saved, revenue lifted, risk reduced). Offer clear proof; design partners, before/after metrics, sandbox evals. Read more
2) AI on the sidelines. Sports is leaning in (AI assistants for strategy, scouting, ops). Founder takeaway: Australia’s codes (AFL, NRL, cricket) are ripe for pilots. Lead with “augment pros, don’t replace them,” and integrate with the tools teams already use. Read more
3) Media’s AI trust gap. Outlets burned by AI‑generated slop are tightening standards. Founder takeaway: build for trust, source transparency, human-in‑the‑loop checks, and “verifiable by design.” That’s a sales edge now. Read more
4) AI as a scientist. Agentic “virtual labs” are compressing early‑stage R&D cycles from months to days. Founder takeaway: pair domain experts with agent workflows; validate rigorously; consider grants/uni partnerships to kickstart AI‑driven discovery.Read more
5) How to start an AI Startup. Dr Sam Donegan sat down with host of ‘The Bootstrapped’ Podcast, Scotty Allen to talk about how to get your AI Startup off the ground properly:
💼 Find me a job in AI (this week)
AI Explorer — Pathfindr (Melbourne, hybrid)
Work directly with the CEO (Dawid Naude) exploring & demoing the newest AI tools. Grad/early‑career friendly (0–2 yrs). Brand‑new office at 180 Flinders St.
➡️ Apply: Aussie Founders Club — AI Explorer
Full‑Stack Developers — Vis‑CAT® (Remote‑friendly / AUS‑based)
Help schools screen for visual processing difficulties early. Values: curiosity, thoughtful code review, comfortable saying “I don’t know.”
Stack: Frontend (JS + Vite, AWS Cognito). Backend/DevOps: AWS Cognito, API Gateway, ECS, Aurora, Terraform, Node.js, GitHub Actions.
📧 Christine Nearchou — nearchou@viscat.com.au •
Growth Marketer (Experimentation & ROI) — SupportSorted (Melbourne‑friendly, remote‑flex)
Own funnel instrumentation, ICE/PIE testing, CRO, partners/SEO/paid.
📧 Email Dr Sam Donegan — sam@supportsorted.com
📅 Upcoming Events
The AI Wave: How Far Ahead Is China? (Featured)
Thu Aug 28, 6:00–9:00pm AEST • Stone & Chalk Melbourne
Fireside + demos + Q&A + networking. 🎟 Humanitix (limited seats).
NextGen AI Conference — Melbourne Connect (Innovation Week)
Fri Sep 5, 2025 • The Studio @ Melbourne Connect
Investors (15+), 6 AI startups, 20+ experts, 150 participants.
➡️ Register:
LaunchVic has jumped in to support Hackeroos and MLAI’s “AI in the Outback” While LaunchVic will provide mentorship and support for winning teams from Victoria, the event is open globally, meaning you can pair up with a buddy anywhere in the world, join virtually first, and create something that not only solves real problems but also gives you fresh content for your CV and Build in Public social channels. Register now
🧥 New: MLAI Merch Drop
Stickers for the laptops, mugs for the late‑night grind, tees and hoodies for the build season. We’ll have giveaways at events and a small run for sale—first come, first drip.
🕵️♀️ Sneak Peek: Secret TBA Hackathon (Nov)
Protecting Our Digital Communities, One Model at a Time
📍 Stone & Chalk, Melbourne CBD • 📅 Wed 26 November • 👥 Spots: ~TBA
Theme reveal, partners, and applications coming soon. Start recruiting your squad.
Join MLAI as a volunteer
Help build Australia’s most hands-on AI community. We’re looking for do-ers (2–5 hrs/week, flexible) across content & video, events & ops, growth/partnerships, and dev/agentic AI.
Why join
Real projects, real impact (your work SHIPS)
Mentorship + portfolio credits
Backstage access to founders, researchers & partners
Pathways to paid, project-based roles at MLAI
💬 Want to be featured in this space next week? Reply to this email or tag #intros in MLAI Slack.
Together, we’re building to 1,000 startups by 2030, and every connection counts.
