Home topics start-up-entrepreneur Startup Startup Why Australia can’t afford to ignore early-stage startups David Burt September 9, 2019 David Burt, Executive Manager of CSIRO’s ON Last month KPMG released it’s Venture Pulse report which found Aussie entrepreneurs received a record-high US$630 million in investment last financial year. However, despite the increasing number of resources founders can now access, we continue to fall behind other countries. We’re all familiar with the recent Global Startup Ecosystem Report , which saw Sydney and Melbourne’s ranking fall. So what’s behind the dip? As a nation, we have a plethora of ingenious early-stage startups in areas such as agriculture, food processing and robotics. These startups are the key to Australia’s future innovation prospects. The missing piece is ensuring these businesses have adequate access to support networks and capital to get off the ground and scale up successfully. Starting at the beginning Australia has a high-wage economy but we don’t have a culture of risking the security of salaries to start a new company. According to the 2018 Startup Muster Report , over 70 per cent of founders are paying themselves less than they were earning in their previous job, as many founders treat their startups as a side-hustle to their main career. Easier access to funding would give startup founders the opportunity to devote themselves entirely to the business and immerse themselves in the industries they are shaping. Our recent partnership with the Menzies Foundation to launch the Menzies Science Entrepreneurship Fellowships is just one