Governor of Victoria Startup Awards

Individual Categories (Nominated by the public) 

• Ecosystem Hero of the Year
  • Must be a resident of the State of Victoria.
  • Demonstrated contribution to the development of the Victorian startup ecosystem that is above and beyond their current role.
  • This is an individual award. Organisations are not eligible.

• Investor of the Year
  • Must be a resident of the State of Victoria.
  • Must have made at least one early-stage investment (defined as being less than $7M) into a Victorian startup or scaleup in 2023
  • This is an individual award. Organisations are not eligible.

Company Categories

• Best Newcomer
  • For firms less than three years old.
• Startup of the Year
  • For those that have raised a minimum Series A in the last four years and meet one of the following:
    • a) Have raised less than or equal to $10 million to date*, OR
    • b) Have less than or equal to 50 employees
• Scaleup of the Year
  • For firms less than ten years old that meet one of the following:
    • a) Have raised more than $10 million to date*, OR
    • b) Employ more than 50 people.

*For the period ending 31 December 2023

The awards for Best Newcomer, Startup of the Year and Scaleup of the Year categories are selected from a shortlist of the top 30 Victorian startups based on criteria that include: money raised, age of the firm and job creation or number of employees.

This data comes from LaunchVic’s startup database, dealroom.launchvic.org, powered by global startup and VC platform dealroom.co.

Shortlisted applicants provide a written submission assessed by an external expert panel.

For the Investor of the Year and Ecosystem Hero of the Year awards, LaunchVic invites nominations from the public.

Nominations closed 10am Thursday 29 February.

• Andisor 
• Andromeda
• Invest Inya Farmer 
• Psychae Therapeutics

• Eugene
• JigSpace
• TRAVLR 
• Willed (2023 Winner, Best Newcomer)

• Amber Electric
• Applied EV
• Carbar
• Vivi

• Professor Colin McLeod, University of Melbourne
• Garry Williams, Tractor Ventures
• Kerri Lee Sinclair, SBE
• Susan Oliver AM, Chair, Alice Anderson Fund
• Tracey Warren, F5 Collective

• Ben Armstrong, Archangel Ventures
• Simon Wright, InterValley Ventures
• Vadim Petrichenko, Blossom Capital Partners

• Willed

• Mr Yum (now m&u)

• Zeller

• Emily Casey, What the Health

• Dr Elena Kelareva, GippsTech

• Nick Crocker, Blackbird
• Rachael Neumann, Flying Fox

• Best Newcomer: Currus Biologics
• Scaleup of the Year: Linktree
• Startup of the Year: Seer Medical and Amber Electric
• Ecosystem Hero of the Year (People’s Choice) Aiman Hamdouna, Co-Founder & CEO, Hatch Quarter
• Ecosystem Hero of the Year (Expert Panel’s Choice) Jonathan Jeffries, Co-Founder, Think & Grow
• Investor of the Year (People’s Choice and Expert’s Choice) Aprill Enright-Allen and Matt Allen, Co-Founders, Tractor Ventures
• Regional Ecosystem Hero of the Year (Posthumous) Peter Dostis, Co-Founder and CEO, Runway

No, there is no fee to enter or participate in the Governor of Victoria Startup Awards.

This year, we have consolidated the regional ecosystem hero with the ecosystem hero of the year category.

In previous years, we’ve found many of the same individuals were being nominated for both awards and are worthy of being assessed in the same category regardless of their location.

The Best Newcomer, Startup of the Year and Scaleup of the Year categories will be selected using quantitative data from LaunchVic’s startup database, dealroom.launchvic.org, rather than a nomination process.

However, you are welcome to nominate yourself, or someone you believe is worthy for the Investor of the Year and the Ecosystem Hero of the Year categories. The top nominations for each category will then be put to an external expert panel to decide the winner.

LaunchVic will advise you if you have been shortlisted for a specific category at which time you can communicate your wish to be involved.

Yes, as long as you are nominating a Victorian-based startup, scaleup, investor, or community builder.

The Best Newcomer, Startup of the Year and Scaleup of the Year categories will be selected using quantitative data from LaunchVic’s startup database, This data comes from LaunchVic’s startup database, dealroom.launchvic.org rather than a nomination process.

For the Investor of the Year and Ecosystem Hero of the Year, LaunchVic will invite nominations from the public.

The LaunchVic team will shortlist the top nominations for each category based on the eligibility criteria, and our external expert panel will assess this list to determine the winners.

No, not in the same category.

There is no ‘prize’ (monetary or in-kind). However, the winner receives ‘acknowledgment’ of the highest order from the Governor of Victoria for being #1 ranked in front of their colleagues and peers.

LaunchVic, as Victoria’s startup agency, is coordinating the Awards Process, using both quantitative (Dealroom) and qualitative (Victorian expert panel) metrics to evaluate nominations.