Victoria leads when it comes to tech unicorns
Victoria has produced more tech unicorns — start-ups valued at more than $1 billion — than any other Australian state, research commissioned by LaunchVic shows.
Victoria’s three technology unicorns are digital advertising company REA Group (valued at $8.7 billion), job listing company SEEK ($5.9 billion) and classifieds site Carsales.com.au ($2.8 billion).
The survey commissioned by LaunchVic in collaboration with Startup Victoria and dandolopartners found that Victoria’s start-ups span a range of industries but are particularly strong in the health, enterprise and corporate services, as well as media and entertainment sectors.
Some 60% of the state’s start-ups are revenue positive within their first yer, and almost $80% achieve this by year two, the survey suggests.
One in three start-ups are bootstrapped — funded internally — and among those seeking external investment it takes an average of five months for start-ups to raise a median of $250,000 from angel investors.
The survey also shows that more than two-thirds of Victorian start-ups are exporting to key overseas markets including the US, UK, China and New Zealand.
The average age of a start-up founder is 36. While three-quarters of founders are male, women are more likely than men to establish a start-up past the age of 45. Nearly all (97%) of the state’s start-ups are in Melbourne.
Despite the strong activity within Victoria’s start-up market, the survey also identified key areas of improvement that LaunchVic plans to focus on. These include the fact that 54% of start-ups have not considered an exit strategy or are planning to remain private indefinitely.
“We already knew Victoria was the start-up and innovation capital of Australia and this report confirms that,” Victorian Minister for Small Business and Trade Philip Dalidakis commented.
“We’re working hard to ensure start-ups feel supported and welcome here in Victoria, because we know they will support our future economy and create jobs for Victorians.”
Australian orgs expect risk and security issues to worsen
Ahead of the introduction of new risk management reporting requirements, the latest research...
Lumify Group acquires Wizard Corporate Training
Lumify Group has expanded its range of professional development courses through the acquisition...
Mimecast buys collaboration security platform Aware
Mimecast aims to enhance its human risk management capabilities through the acquisition of AI...