Thursday 18 June, 2026
Aspiring Victorian entrepreneurs will be backed by a new suite of pre-accelerator programs to help turn bright ideas into viable businesses and grow the state’s number of AI and deeptech startups.
Minister for Economic Growth and Jobs Steve Dimopoulos has announced $3.5 million in funding for programs that will give early-stage founders the support they need to test concepts, build capability, connect with customers and move towards commercialisation.
The investment will help new founders develop innovative businesses in fast-growing sectors, strengthening Victoria’s position as a leading destination for startups, innovation and investment.
Boab AI, Boson Ventures, Cicada Innovations, CoLabs Australia, HEX, Illume Ventures, Jumpstart Studio, MedTech Actuator and RMIT (DiscoveryHUB) will each receive up to $400,000 to deliver pre-accelerator programs for Victorian founders.
Funded initiatives include VICTOR:AI, an 8-week pre-accelerator designed to validate Victoria’s next generation of AI-native startups, including hands-on access to AI tools, co-working and milestone-based grants.
Cicada Innovations will also help up to 45 Victorian deeptech startups get market-ready and attract investment.
Victoria’s startup ecosystem has grown almost 20-fold over the past decade and now includes over 4,400 startups, scaleups and unicorns valued at $139 billion. Melbourne ranks third globally for startup creation rate, ahead of Sydney, Singapore and Berlin.
This investment comes as Victoria’s innovation ecosystem enters a new chapter, with Breakthrough Victoria and LaunchVic coming together as Innovation Victoria – a end-to-end entity connecting founders and innovators with the capital, programs and support they need to grow and succeed.
For media enquiries, please contact holly.clark@launchvic.org.
