While Silicon Valley is still the centre of the start-up world, attracting entrepreneurs from around the globe – Aussie entrepreneurs are making their start-ups work closer to home.
The latest Startup Ecosystem Report, published by Startup Genome in conjunction with Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, has ranked Sydney and Melbourne in the top 20 start-up ecosystems around the world.
Shane Macfarlane of Intuit believes the increase in startup accelerators, incubators and kickstarter funds has helped local start-up communities grow.
“We are incredibly innovative and entrepreneurial here in Australia, and as the world is pulled closer to our shores via the rise of online technologies, we’ve seen significantly more start-up innovation than ever before. As such, we will see an expansion in the number of incubators, accelerators, and investment funds,” Macfarlane said.
The report, which considers aspects like start-up output, funding, support, differentiation, and performance, placed Sydney 12th and Melbourne 18th.
While Silicon Valley came in at number 1 on the list overall, other cities are close to outperforming it in different areas. Start-ups in Melbourne were found to be 42 per cent more data-driven than those in Silicon Valley.
Macfarlane said this relates to the limited access local start-ups have to funding.
“Most Melbourne start-ups focus on data and due diligence in their product planning and development so as to minimise the chance of business failure. A greater focus on data allows the start-up to deploy their own funds and resources in the most efficient way, thereby increasing their chances of success,” he said.
Despite the growth of local start-up communities, there’s still more to be done to ensure Australian entrepreneurs don’t go overseas.
“As a country we lag behind other regions in terms of access to capital and access to talent,” he said.
Macfarlane said the government must look at providing tax breaks to angel investors during the pre-launch stage of a start-up, while government grants must also be made more easily accessible.
