Industry landscapes
Get Pro
Industry report

Funding and advertised pay are reported in USD; filed accounts retain their stated source currency and basis.

Exchange-rate basis

Indicative conversions use ECB reference rates dated 2026-09-14, applied consistently across all periods. They are not historical exchange rates. Indian rupees may use crore (1 crore = 10 million); other currencies use K, M and B. CSV downloads, source documents and quoted news headlines retain their original currencies.

THE SYDNEY EDITION 2026

Sydney’s
media & entertainment industry,
in focus.

The companies, capital and talent shaping media & entertainment in Sydney. Find the leaders. Understand the segments. See where the activity is.

Explore in Radar Read the key signals
Snapshot: Funding in USD
Illustrated cover for Media & Entertainment Industry Landscape of Sydney
AU
COMPANIES · CAPITAL · TALENT

An industry ecosystem,
measured in context.

Media & Entertainment illustration
Companies tracked 448Media & Entertainment ecosystem in Sydney Disclosed funding $2.37B32 companies · all recorded rounds Companies hiring 8With open roles at the snapshot Tracked open roles 170 employers posted in the preceding 30 days
MEET THE COMPANIES

Explore Sydney’s media & entertainment leaders

24 featured companies from the funding, hiring, revenue and team-size leaderboards.

Expand panel +
Explore the full landscape
Media & Entertainment company highlights in Sydney, snapshot 2 September 2026
Company
Foxtelfoxtel.com.au$2.1B—2,483—
PlayUpplayup.com$95M———
Audinateaudinate.com$57.39M—157Financial figure available in RadarView in Radar
Leonardo Aileonardo.ai$31M1 roles25—
Virtually Humanvhslab.com$20M—78—
Gamursgamurs.group$16.99M2 roles500—
Zookalzookal.com$12.34M—46—
Yesportsyesports.gg$6.28M—11—
Media Roommediaroom.com.au—4 roles——
Endemol Shine Australiaendemolshine.com.au—3 roles——
OnePath Networkonepathnetwork.com—2 roles——
Quantum Researchquantumresearch.sydney—2 roles——
australian associated pressaap.com.au—2 roles180—
OzTAMoztam.com.au—1 roles——
9Now9now.com.au————
ARNarnnet.com.au————
Ai-Mediaai-media.tv——226Financial figure available in RadarView in Radar
Ainsworth Game Technologyagtslots.com——164—
Amber Technologyambertech.com.au——124—
Dot Esportsdotesports.com——54—
Livewirelivewire.group——34—
Newsnews.com.au————
hoytshoyts.com.au——3,000—
southern cross austereosoutherncrossaustereo.com.au——1,612—
24 featured companies

Locked revenue figures are available in Radar; the eight company financial previews stay the same throughout this page. A dash means the figure is outside these featured lists. Revenue years vary by company; the figures are not a like-for-like revenue comparison. Compare annual accounts ↗

Company discovery

Recorded evidence only

Explore the live startup set in Radar

No company example met every recorded classification, independence and public-profile gate in this snapshot. The live directory may have newer qualifying companies.

Explore classified startups in Radar ↗
THE KEY SIGNALS

Media & Entertainment industry KPIs in Sydney

A few useful ratios bring the size of this ecosystem into perspective.

2 September 2026
Hiring participation1.8%

8 of 448 tracked companies have open roles.

Funding participation8.5%

38 of 448 tracked companies have a recorded round.

Top 3 funding share95.0%

Share of disclosed capital received by the three largest recorded recipients.

Median disclosed round$2.25M

Midpoint of 32 rounds with a disclosed amount.

Scale is concentrated. Opportunity is broader. The three largest funding recipients hold 95.0% of disclosed capital, while 91.5% of tracked companies have no recorded funding round.

Explore the segments →
CAPITAL & COMPANY FORMATION

How Sydney media & entertainment has grown

Recorded company formation and disclosed funding across the complete annual series shown.

Expand panel +
2016 — 2025

Disclosed funding by year

Sum of recorded funding rounds · USD

Sydney media & entertainment
$0$23.15M$46.3M$69.45M$92.6M2016: $3.26M20162017: $6.51M20172018: $2.2M20182019: $475K20192020: $35.12M20202021: $21.17M20212022: $28.39M20222023: $81.22M20232024: $8.47M20242025: $2.78M2025
View the numbers
Annual media & entertainment funding and company formation in Sydney
YearFunding (USD)FoundedRaising
2016$3.26M243
2017$6.51M124
2018$2.2M181
2019$475K272
2020$35.12M193
2021$21.17M263
2022$28.39M175
2023$81.22M213
2024$8.47M173
2025$2.78M42
WHERE CAPITAL SITS

Funding concentration

Share of all disclosed company funding.

  • Foxtel88.6%
  • PlayUp4.0%
  • Audinate2.4%
  • Other companies5.0%

Funding by stage

39 recorded rounds since 2016

NUMBER OF ROUNDS
Seed & Angel25 64.1%
Series A–B7 17.9%
Series C+ / PE1 2.6%
Grants, debt & other6 15.4%

Recent recorded rounds

Latest recorded rounds · USD
0 rounds

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Largest and notable recorded rounds

Each card is one recorded round
10 cards

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Series C11/2020
PlayUpplayup.com$25M

Participating investors were not recorded in this snapshot.

Series C04/2011
PlayUpplayup.com$20M

Participating investors were not recorded in this snapshot.

Series B03/2020
Zookalzookal.com$9.95M

Backed by Koh Boon Hwee and Wee Hur Holdings and others.

THE BUSINESS BEHIND THE ACTIVITY

Revenue, profitability & financial strength

Expand panel +

Annual accounts availability

The measured Australia identity-to-filing probe did not produce a qualifying designated legal or national-ID join: bare ticker overlaps lack a recorded ASX exchange designation and are not designated legal or national identifiers.; The measured Australia identity-to-filing probe did not produce a qualifying designated legal or national-ID join: bare ticker overlaps lack a recorded ASX exchange designation and are not designated legal or national identifiers.

DIGITAL FOOTPRINT

Web traffic, app reach and release cadence

How the Sydney companies on this page show up online: the sites people visit, the apps they install, and how often those apps ship.

Busiest websites

18 of the 448 companies on this page carry a measured traffic record (4%); these are the largest of those, by monthly visits. The median among them is 654,823 visits.

CompanyMonthly visitsAuthorityMobile
Newsnews.com.au47,385,5067879.7%
Leonardo Aileonardo.ai24,021,4366758.1%
Stan.stan.com.au8,128,9596223.1%
9Now9now.com.au5,386,8586151.4%
News Medicalnews-medical.net1,622,0807262.9%
Mamamiamamamia.com.au1,528,2775482%
Dot Esportsdotesports.com1,495,4924654.5%
Nickelodeonnick.com739,7816258.9%
PEDESTRIAN.TVpedestrian.tv719,5034680.1%
Marie Clairemarieclaire.com.au590,1435665.6%

Visits and authority are third-party web estimates, not company-reported figures.

Most-installed apps

37 of these companies (8.3%) publish at least one Android app — 49 apps in all, carrying 45.3M installs between them.

AppInstallsRatingStore category
Stan.Stan.16.5M3.6Entertainment
Leonardo.Ai - Image GeneratorLeonardo Ai9.8M4.5Art & Design
9Now9Now6.1M3.3Entertainment
9Now9Now5.6M1Entertainment
Foxtel GOFoxtel2.8M1.6Entertainment
FoxtelFoxtel1.6M—Entertainment
MyFoxtelFoxtel1.4M5Entertainment
news.com.auNews374K3.5News & Magazines
今日澳洲 - 新闻 移民 留学 房产 招聘一手掌握Sydney Today242K3.4News & Magazines
Syrinscape: Tabletop RPG SoundSyrinscape177.9K1.9Music & Audio

Installs are lifetime totals to date at the June 2026 store reading — a measure of reach, not of people using an app today.

App reach by segment

The busiest app inside each of this page’s own segments, with the quarterly release trend behind it (2024Q3–2025Q3).

SegmentAppsInstallsLeading appRelease trend
Tv Broadcasting Services517.5M9Now 6.1M
Ott Video316.5MStan. 16.5M
Online Photos39.9MLeonardo.Ai - Image Generator 9.8M
Internet First Media12820.7Knews.com.au 374K
Music Tech7244.7KSyrinscape: Tabletop RPG Sound 177.9K
Tv Networks2199.2KOnePath Network 155.1K
Social Platforms6108.3KDaybreak - Alcohol Support 78.9K
Tech For Film & Tv362.1KSun Seeker: Sunlight Tracker 59.9K

A company can carry several segment tags, so these rows overlap and should not be added together. Trend lines are zero-based and share one quarter grid, so a flat line is a quiet segment, not a missing one.

Release cadence by quarter

New apps published, beside apps whose most recent update landed in that quarter — the second bar is how much of the shelf is still being maintained.

2023Q2: 12023Q2: 02023Q22024Q2: 12024Q2: 02024Q22024Q3: 12024Q3: 32024Q32025Q1: 12025Q1: 02025Q12025Q2: 12025Q2: 22025Q22025Q3: 22025Q3: 42025Q3

Darker bars are new releases, lighter bars apps updated. 38 of 49 apps carry a release date. The series ends at 2025Q3, the last quarter that closed before the June 2026 reading.

INSIDE THE INDUSTRY

The Sydney media & entertainment market map

Explore the segments behind the headline numbers.

Expand panel +

Where companies are building

Rank segments by scale, hiring or disclosed funding.

Consumer digital278
Enterprise tech109
B2c e-commerce54
Enterprise software41
Loneliness economy23
Internet first news publishers23
Marketplaces20
Saas18
Blockchain in media and entertainment16
Real money gaming16
Fintech10
Artificial intelligence10

Companies can sit in several segments. Counts and funding overlap.

SEGMENT TO EXPLORE

Consumer digital

The largest measured segment in this report snapshot.

278companies
0.4%have hiring activity

1 companies hiring · $154.83M disclosed funding

Explore in Radar

How companies make money

Common revenue models; a company can use more than one.

Advertising244
Subscription222
Commission on transaction152
Sponsorship103
E-commerce - service84
Fee-for-service53
E-commerce - product48
Affiliate marketing40
THE COMPANIES IN MOTION

Who is listing, hiring leaders, launching and winning work

Recorded corporate activity linked to companies in this landscape.

Expand panel +
Recent corporate headlines 10 dated reports
Mergers & acquisitionsfairfaxmedia.com.au ↗

The Sharkey brothers, who pocketed millions selling online accommodation portal Stayz to Fairfax Media in 2005 and were also behind marketing automation startup Autopilot, will join Canva in leadership roles.

Mergers & acquisitionsausbiz.com.au ↗

The investment is consistent with ARC’s existing activities of making selective investments in financial services and related businesses.

Mergers & acquisitionsagtslots.com ↗

As with my previous proportional takeover bid in October for 2.9 percent of the group’s shares, which closed on January 30, 2026, the [new] offer will deliver an attractive premium relative to historical trading prices in shares for a portion of each shareholder’s investment in Ainsworth.

Mergers & acquisitionsplayup.com.au ↗

NextBet Pty Ltd has acquired PlayUp. Your PlayUp account will automatically transfer to NextBet, along with any existing cash, bonus balances, and pending bets.

Mergers & acquisitionssoutherncrossaustereo.com.au ↗

Ninety-nine per cent of shares cast supported the $385 million deal, which will now go to the New South Wales Supreme Court for approval on Tuesday and come into effect on January 7, according to Seven West Media.

Mergers & acquisitionsfoxtel.com.au ↗

Rupert Murdoch’s News is looking to get another 25% stake in Foxtel after making a $1.97bn bid for 100% of Consolidated Media Holdings.

Mergers & acquisitionsaudinate.com ↗

Audinate has dropped $42.7 million on Iris Studio, a near-pre-revenue startup with a beta-stage product

Contractsforevernetwork.com ↗

High Roller Technologies, Inc. ("High Roller") (NYSE: ROLR ), operator of the award-winning, premium online casino brands High Roller and Fruta , today announced it has entered into a definitive, exclusive strategic marketing agreement with Forever Network, formalizing the parties’ previously announced Letter of Intent.

Leadership movesarnnet.com.au ↗

ARN has taken a significant step in its digital expansion, appointing former TikTok and triple j executive Ollie Wards to a newly created senior leadership role spanning video and social.

Leadership movesendemolshine.com.au ↗

Endemol Shine Australia, part of Banijay Entertainment, has appointed Dan Cazzola as Senior Vice President of Development as the company accelerates its international growth strategy.

Full recorded event mix

Top 10 categories among 158 recorded events in the 24-month window.

Leadership moves
74
Earnings
34
Mergers & acquisitions
28
Company announcements
4
Board Updates
3
Lawsuit
3
New products
3
Layoffs
2
Contracts
2
Asset acquisitions
2
5 activity cards

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Leadership moves

26 tracked people moves

Ido Leffler

Retirement Previously Director

Teresa Dyson

Appointment Independent non-executive Chairman

Rohan Lund

Appointment Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer

Matt Smith

Appointment Vice President of Marketing and Product Strategy

ARN ↗
Ollie Wards

Appointment Director – Video and Social

Birgit Wimmer

Appointment Non-Executive Director

Dan Cazzola

Appointment Senior Vice President of Development

LeadStory ↗
Jamie Durie

Appointment

Workforce actions

2 companies with reported reductions

Scale not stated rolesbusiness downturn

Foxtel ↗

100 rolesefficiency

Litigation

3 tracked suits

Company
foxtel v tencent

trademark dispute over the name \'Arena\'Regulatory · Verdict

Company
playup v Laila Mintas

failed takeover of FTXCivil · Dismissed

Earnings pulse

Reported company results in the recorded window.

7companies
30period observations
0.6%median reported growth

Median across 28 reported growth observations; companies may contribute multiple periods.

Mergers and acquisitions

Company-linked deal reports; status is preserved as recorded.

Acquirer → targetStatusDateValue / context
southern cross austereo→seven west mediaCompleted2026-04-17Not stated in snapshot
Fairfax Media→stayzCompleted2026-04-09Not stated in snapshot
ARC Funds→ausbiz ↗Announced2026-04-07Not stated in snapshot
Kjerulf Ainsworth→Ainsworth Game Technology ↗Announced2026-03-12Not stated in snapshot
novomatic→Ainsworth Game Technology ↗Terminated2026-03-11Not stated in snapshot
NextBet Pty Ltd→PlayUp ↗Announced2026-02-19Not stated in snapshot

A discussion or rumour is not a completed transaction. An unstated value is not zero.

PEOPLE & OPPORTUNITY

The talent market

Recorded hiring and workforce signals from the available source snapshot.

Expand panel +

Most advertised job titles

No repeated job title is supported by this snapshot.

4 internship postings

0 tracked postings mention remote work.

THE PEOPLE BUILDING THE FIELD

Founders and leaders

158 founders and chief executives across 136 companies.

Expand panel +
12 profiles

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Education networks

7 profiles with education records.

The University of New South Wales
1
Harvard Business School
1
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1
Copenhagen Business School
1
The University of Sydney
1
University of Warwick
1
Melbourne Business School
1
Imperial College London
1

Prior employers

2 profiles with prior-work records.

Profiles cover recorded founders and leaders; contact details remain in Radar.

NEWS INTELLIGENCE

How this industry appears in the news

59,068 articles in the measured 12-month window.

Expand panel +
59,068articles in the measured year
15,592articles in 2026Q1
64.9%positive tone in the latest complete year

News volume trends

Media & Entertainment coverage tagged Sydney · articles per complete quarter

07,01814,03521,05328,0702021Q2: 12,4002021Q22021Q3: 15,8782021Q4: 12,9582022Q1: 13,1792022Q2: 12,6982022Q22022Q3: 12,7692022Q4: 21,8162023Q1: 24,4092023Q2: 14,8152023Q22023Q3: 17,6702023Q4: 15,2912024Q1: 15,5762024Q2: 17,3092024Q22024Q3: 14,8582024Q4: 17,2412025Q1: 17,8032025Q2: 12,1952025Q22025Q3: 16,1072025Q4: 17,0132026Q1: 15,5922026Q1
View quarterly article counts
QuarterArticles
2021Q212,400
2021Q315,878
2021Q412,958
2022Q113,179
2022Q212,698
2022Q312,769
2022Q421,816
2023Q124,409
2023Q214,815
2023Q317,670
2023Q415,291
2024Q115,576
2024Q217,309
2024Q314,858
2024Q417,241
2025Q117,803
2025Q212,195
2025Q316,107
2025Q417,013
2026Q115,592

Article volume measures coverage, not market sales.

Tone of coverage over time

2021
23,123 positive · 288 neutral · 20,195 negative
2022
34,314 positive · 671 neutral · 25,333 negative
2023
43,250 positive · 817 neutral · 27,892 negative
2024
41,385 positive · 537 neutral · 22,921 negative
2025
40,826 positive · 622 neutral · 21,506 negative

Leading coverage topics

Media & Entertainment coverage tagged Sydney · ranked by full-period article count.

Geopolitical Disputes And Contested Areas300,352 articles in the full recorded period
103,300 recent · 80,986 prior
International And Transnational Geographic Entities300,343 articles in the full recorded period
103,302 recent · 80,988 prior
Administrative And Political Subdivisions300,290 articles in the full recorded period
103,290 recent · 80,970 prior
International Sports Competitions110,973 articles in the full recorded period
18,920 recent · 23,103 prior
Cricket Test Matches47,293 articles in the full recorded period
8,021 recent · 10,662 prior
Olympic Games Coverage43,842 articles in the full recorded period
5,269 recent · 9,919 prior
Championship Event Highlights37,074 articles in the full recorded period
7,445 recent · 7,300 prior
Sports Injury Reports33,789 articles in the full recorded period
6,348 recent · 5,901 prior
International Political Relations30,094 articles in the full recorded period
7,004 recent · 4,638 prior
Sports History And Legacy Stories26,986 articles in the full recorded period
4,891 recent · 5,588 prior

Recent and prior counts use the source comparison windows.

Topics gaining and losing attention

Australia comparison coverage

KeywordRecentPriorChange
countries4,0051,939107%
domestic robots3,109446966%
toy robots3,0853010183%
conceptual rock albums1,998474151%
ashes moments1,19177154%
angel investors1,016367177%
overseas study97268542%
ashes urn897393128%
ashes records857404112%
celebrity mourning822104690%
test cricket5,98511,585-48%
test innings4,5498,899-49%
5-day cricket3,7267,791-52%
odi cricket2,9346,189-53%
limited overs cricket2,8046,159-54%

Event and signal lenses

Australia comparison coverage

All complete annual cohorts shown
Rising

Regulatory Risk

1,113,209 classified articles

territories, disputed islands, test cricket

27.5% critical · 20.1% positive
Rising

Funding Momentum

151,713 classified articles

test cricket, test innings, odi world cup

31.2% critical · 43.0% positive
Rising

Growth

175,781 classified articles

nba expansion teams, nba team legends, league expansion news

31.6% critical · 46.7% positive

Media & Entertainment coverage tagged Sydney. Topic labels describe recorded classifications and can include broad context.

UNDERSTAND THE LANDSCAPE

Media & Entertainment in Sydney: key questions

Clear definitions for making better comparisons.

What does this landscape measure?

It measures the tracked company ecosystem, recorded funding, hiring and other available evidence. It is not a market-size estimate.

Can segment counts be added together?

No. A company can belong to several segments, so segment counts and funding can overlap.

What does a missing figure mean?

A dash or unavailable panel means the current reviewed source snapshot does not support that figure.

KEEP EXPLORING

Put Sydney in context

All landscapes ↗

Company ecosystem snapshot: 2 September 2026. Funding is recorded in USD; filed accounts retain their stated currency and reporting basis. Each section identifies its own coverage. The news and research behind these sections is explorable in Prism.

Canonical landscape ↗
Coming soon