Two recent reports show an eruption of startup activity in Victoria. The state’s startup ecosystem was valued at $5.8 billion in 2016. Now 16x times that, Victorian startups have outperformed growth expectations.
Melbourne is now 33rd on the list of global cities with significant startup eco-systems, moving up 6 places over the last year, according to the 2023 Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER). The value of Melbourne’s startup ecosystem grew 43% to $25 billion, according to the Startup Genome report. There are currently three unicorns based in Melbourne: Airwallex; CultureAmp; and Judo Bank.
In other good news for the Garden State, another report issued this week reveals that its startup workforce now employs more than 50,000 full time employees. That number is expected to grow by around 10,000 full time positions each year. Victoria’s Startup Agency, LaunchVic, partnered with Deloitte to release the report called ‘Scaling up: Growing the economic opportunity for Victoria’s startup ecosystem.’
The research also reveals that while the value of Melbourne’s ecosystem is $25 billion, the state of Victoria is worth more than 3.5 times that. The Victorian startup ecosystem has jumped from $50 billion to $91 billion, in just three years. When LaunchVic was established in 2016, the value of Victorian startups was just $5.8 billion – an increase of 16x in 7 years.
The LaunchVic report found that Life Sciences and Enterprise Tech are two sectors driving growth in the Victorian startup ecosystem. It credits RMIT, the University of Melbourne (ranked #1 university in Australia) and Monash University (ranked #2 university) as being institutions that are aiding startup growth. $4 billion in capital is raised in Victoria each year, according to LaunchVic, up from $778 million in 2019.
The GSER report shows that our national startup growth is also impressive. The value of Australia’s startup ecosystem grew 43% over the last year. It was valued at $220 billion in 2022, according to research from Dealroom.
Startups in Oceania and North America
Sydney held strong in 20th place on the GSER list and is now valued at $73 billion, up 50% on last year. Accordingly, Sydney and Melbourne are the 1st and 2nd startup ecosystems in Oceania. Brisbane and New Zealand are tied at number 3 and 4 on the list. Early-stage funding in Oceania grew 61% between 2016 and 2022, more than any other region on the globe. VC was not such a bright spot, however. Funding in Oceania fell 25% from 2021 to 2022.
The value of the North American startup ecosystem is more than $10 trillion. Silicon Valley is the leading region across the world, representing $2 trillion in value. Fifteen North American startup ecosystems made the global top 30 list.
The GSER revealed that three sub-sectors that saw the highest growth: Gaming (+13%); Blockchain (+8%); and Fintech (+4%). When looking at VC, AI & Big Data is the sub-sector with the highest number of VC deals. That sector represented 28% of global deals in 2022.
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