Hype Man - 21 September 2024

Your weekly dose of everything you need to know about the Australian Tech & Innovation ecosystem.

I’ve spent the last week in India eating my way through Mumbai and Rajasthan. With another month over here there’s every chance they’re going to deny me entry onto the plane for being severely overweight!

India has blown my mind thus far and I’ll be sharing more stories about it soon.

Though while I’ve been out of the country, so much has been happening in the Australian Innovation ecosystem that I’ve been very jealous.

Read on below to find out what I missed and what’s coming up on the horizon.

And in the meantime someone please pass me another Chai and Dosa so I can eat my way through the FOMO.

Enjoy,

Dickie Currer - Author & Hype Man for the Australian Tech & Innovation ecosystem

In case you missed it!

Mel Perkins announced as SXSW Sydney headliner?

Co-Founder and CEO of Canva, the current darling of Australian Tech, that is flying the flag for our underdog country around the globe was announced as the opening keynote for this year’s SXSW Sydney.?

The opening session will see Mel in conversation with Mary Meeker, kicking off a huge 7 days of festivities across Tech & Innovation, Music, Film and Games streams. With SXSW making only its second ever appearance outside of its spiritual home of Austin, Texas.

I’ll be there flying the flag as an SXSW Ambassador for the full week and can give you a 10% discount on all tickets if you’d like to join me?

Australia Startup ecosystem ranks #3 in liquidity in last decade

According to recent data highlighted in an article by AirTree Partner John Henderson for Fortune, the country ranks only third behind the US and China when adding up the liquid value of venture-backed M&A and IPO outcomes over the past decade.

Henderson was proud to point out that this was incredible when you consider that venture capital investment accounts for only 0.18% of GDP in Australia.

And that it also suggests that the variables that we once thought were holding back the growth of our ecosystem such as

? Limited capital

? Population size, and?

? the tyranny of distance?

Is now actually creating a batch of founders that know how to do more with less, thus making the country a breeding ground for capital-efficient companies. Read more about this on my recent LinkedIn post

New FinTech fund fin.amp. launches!

Australian FinTech Founder of the Year 2022, Co-Founder of Up Bank and Euphemia Dom Pym announced the launch of a new fund this week in partnership with other Industry powerhouses Judy Anderson-Firth and Brian Collins.

It will be Australia's first triple bubble venture capital fund, investing into Oceania fintechs through private, public, and secondary markets. Allowing more investment into a business pre-product, all the way to series X and beyond.

Helping with the continued growth of the Australian FinTech sector which has always been one of our strongest export verticals.

5 Startups that I’m excited about this week

I get to chat with hundreds of Founders a year. Here are 5 incredible Startups that caught my eye this week!

Connect with them and give them some love and support:

1.Bella?

Bella is a social discovery and booking platform for beauty services. They are the first platform in the industry to digitise recommendations from friends, and with AI-enabled technology, they’re making it easier than ever for people to find local salons they can trust.?

Join the Bella waitlist now

2. Cookventory?

Cookventory is your smart kitchen assistant, helping you manage your kitchen, discover new recipes, plan grocery trips with real-time insights from your pantry. Just take a video of your kitchen, and it generates a grocery list of missing items and recipe ideas—simple as that!

Cook up a storm with Cookventory here

3. Jaspen? Health

The HealthTech Startup is radically transforming how people live with chronic pain; offering accessible, affordable & evidence-based technologies that assist members to improve their quality of life.

Follow their journey now on LinkedIn

4. Gathera

The team at Gathera sells easy to use hydroponic gardens that let people grow their own food in apartments without sunlight or soil!

They are on a mission to design the best gardening tools that empower you to create a greener tomorrow.

Check out their current range of tools on their online store

5. Fairgo.ai

Fairgo.ai is building a AI-fist talent acquisition platform to screen candidates faster with live video interviews.?

They’re a part of the current Starmate cohort which will be showcasing at Demo Day next month (more details on our event section below)

Learn more about their game changing tech here

Want your Startup featured in a future edition of Hype Man, then tell us about it here

Events to watch out for

26 September - HEXPO 2024 - Melbourne

Melbourne’s premier entrepreneur conference of the year, designed to ignite and invigorate the motivation of attendees, unlocking the untapped potential within.

Treat yourself to 20% off courtesy of the HypeMan, code: HEXBFF at checkout

27 September - Westpac Women’s Demo Evening - Sydney

Join the team at Fisburners as they celebrate 15 women-led Startups as they graduate from their Ascent Project. Focussed on solving the gender funding gap by supporting Female Entrepreneurs.?

Show your support

14 October - Startmate Demo Day - Sydney

The legendary Bi-Annual Demo Day is back and this time it’s going to be bigger than ever!

Australia’s leading accelerator program will be showcasing it’s most recent 11 Startups at the NSW State Theatre, with an expected audience of 2000, this will be their biggest show to date.

You don’t want to miss this party! Grab your tickets here

October 14-20 - SXSW Sydney - Sydney

The behemoth that is SXSW is back for its second year in Sydney. The full program is now out and looking stacked!

Get an exclusive 10% discount on me here for this behemoth week at the intersectionality of arts and culture.

19-20 November - Humanitech Summit 2024 - Melbourne

Australian Red Cross Humanitech’s flagship event at the intersection of technology and humanitarian action.

Grab your free ticket for this 2 day event at the State Library of Victoria which is run in association with the Telstra Foundation here.

Want your event featured then tell us about it here

Like what you read? then we’d love to hear from you!

• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Follow Hype Man on LinkedIn
• Reply to this email and say hello
• Partner with us - reach out to [email protected]
• Subscribe to my Global Innovation Newsletter?

Until next time!

Travel safe, Dickie