LaunchVic CEO globally awarded

Last Updated: Tuesday, 29 March 2022

LaunchVic’s CEO Dr Kate Cornick has overnight been awarded the Global Policy Champion award at the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) in Riyadh.

The GEN Compass Awards’ Policy Champion is given to a member of the Policy community who has made the most significant contribution to advancing efforts to remove barriers to entrepreneurship through new policies, programs or changes to regulations at either the local, national or global level.

Dr Cornick was selected for her exceptional leadership as the head of LaunchVic, the lead startup agency of Victoria, to accelerate the growth of the startup ecosystem through a broad set of policies to helps startups grow and ensure a thriving early-stage investment landscape in Victoria.

Some of the initiatives include strengthening diversity and inclusion in the sector, funding new angel networks, establishing the Alice Anderson Fund that is supporting more investment in women-led startups and the Victorian Startup Capital Fund which is ensuring the success of Victoria’s venture capital landscape set to unlock up to $240 million into the sector.

Dr Cornick said she was deeply honoured to receive the Policy Champion award and be recognised on a global stage by leaders in startup policy and ecosystem development from around the world.

“It’s incredibly rewarding and humbling to receive global recognition for the work we are doing at LaunchVic and particularly the policy outcomes we have driven, which are are novel and world-leading,” she said.

“Since LaunchVic was created by the Victorian Government in 2016, we have seen the value of our early-stage startup sector quadruple in size from $2.21 billion to $10.5 billion in 2021.”

The GEC is a gathering of startup champions from around the world who are working together to build one global entrepreneurship ecosystem through a shared engine of innovation and economic growth in cities and countries everywhere.

The GEC will be hosted for the first time in Melbourne, Australia in 2023 from the 27 – 30 March 2023 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC).

More information on the awards here.