Investor Partner Summit Asia 2023 sheds light on Melbourne’s robust startup economy
Australia
Melbourne
MEMBERS:
LaunchVic
“The Victorian startup ecosystem, while still young, has shown consistent and incremental growth since 2016. It’s important we continue to drive this growth via programs that support startup creation and through measures that address the early-stage funding gap for startups in Victoria.”
Highlights
Melbourne is paving the way in several groundbreaking, rapidly evolving sectors, backed by a strong support network. The State of Victoria’s startup agency, LaunchVic, actively supports Victoria’s startup ecosystem, which comprises more than 3,400 startups. The enterprise value of Victoria’s entire startup ecosystem was $68 billion in 2023.
LaunchVic has supported nine new angel groups, creating 587 new investors and almost $26 million in investment capital for local startups. Its Alice Anderson Fund, a $10 million sidecar investment fund that co-invests up to $300,000 in early-stage deals for women-led startups, continues to go from strength to strength, with 33 companies in its portfolio and $40 million unlocked for these startups. In 2023, LaunchVic also supported two new AU$300,000 pre-accelerator programs powered by Flying Fox Ventures and Jump Start Studio to help boost female founders.
In 2023, the national science agency CSIRO and the Tech Council of Australia declared the “Melbourne diamond” a technology supercluster, with 62 ASX-listed digital technology companies worth AU$203 billion and employing 16% of the country’s digital innovation workers. In December 2023, BioNTech announced it would build a site at LaTrobe University’s Melbourne campus to research, develop, and manufacture new mRNA medicines.
TECHSPO Melbourne 2024 will be held in August 2024. Women in Tech Fest 2024 took place in February. Biotech startup Nutromics raised $28.6 million over seven rounds, including a June 2023 seed round. Renewable energy startup Amber Electric raised $51.7 million over four rounds, including a January 2024 Series C.
Ecosystem by the Numbers
NUMBER OF UNICORNS
(H2 2021 - 2023)
Sub-Sector Strengths
Life Sciences
In August 2023, CSL opened its new Global Headquarters and Centre for Research and Development located in the Melbourne Biomedical Precinct, one of the world’s leading biomedical precincts, as part of an AU$2 billion infrastructure investment program. In November 2023, Melbourne hosted Australia’s annual Biggest Week in Biotechnology, the country’s premiere Life Sciences investment conference. Early-stage biotechnology company Aravax raised $42.2 million over three rounds, including a January 2024 Series B.
Fintech
Melbourne is home to more than 330 Fintech startups and five Fintech unicorns collectively valued at over AU$30 billion. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s Enhanced Regulatory Sandbox allows Fintech companies to test their services for up to 24 months without an Australian financial services license. Fintech Banxa raised $18.4 million over three rounds, including one in October 2023. Melbourne hosted Intersekt 2023 in August to bring together Australian Fintechs, hubs, accelerators, and policymakers.
AI, Big Data & Analytics
Australia will add over eight million square feet of data center space by 2028, when the market is expected to reach $9.49 billion. Melbourne-based AI startup Climasens was awarded a $5 million grant from Google’s Impact Challenge on Climate Innovation in September 2023. The 2024 11th International Conference on Soft Computing & Machine Intelligence will be held in Melbourne in November. AI startup Arkon Energy has raised $156.6 million over five rounds, including one in December 2023.
Reasons to Move Your Startup to Melbourne
Quality of Life
Melbourne is one of the most cosmopolitan and multicultural cities in the world. It was named Australia’s most liveable city and the third most liveable city in the world in the Global Liveability Index 2023. Melbourne achieved 100/100 scores for education, healthcare, and infrastructure. In the latest QS Best Student Cities 2024 rating, Melbourne ranked fourth in the world.
Educated Talent
Victoria is Australia’s most highly skilled state, and its universities produce a deep pool of work-ready graduates. Melbourne launched a new framework for international engagement in 2023 with a goal to nurture global student talent, entrepreneurship, and leadership skills while improving pathways to employment. The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2024 placed the University of Melbourne as the highest ranked university in Australia and #37 worldwide.
Government Support
The Victorian Government allocated $40 million to LaunchVic for four years in its 2024-25 State Budget. Breakthrough Victoria, a $2 billion fund of the Victorian Government, invested $28.3 million in five universities in September 2023 to bring research to market. LaunchVic partnered with Agriculture Victoria to introduce the $660,000 Hugh Victor McKay Fund for Agtech startups. The $19.8 million Jumar Bioincubator, a government-private partnership, launched in June 2023.
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