I remember being at ANZ Bank and seeing an event listing from General Assembly that said, “Go to this talk about the new thing in Victoria about startups.” I thought, that sounds interesting. It turned out to be one of the launch events for LaunchVic. I sat in the audience as a corporate girly, just going, what is going on here? I didn’t understand but was absorbing this whole new language. That was my entry point into the ecosystem, just trying to understand who was around and what this community was. What really helped me were the professionals I met — people working in universities, for example — who, when you told them an idea, would say, let me introduce you to someone. They were the ones who really unlocked doors for me.
What makes the Victorian startup ecosystem unique is the number of successful founders who are willing to give back. Many of them are deeply involved in supporting others. From our perspective at Tractor, if you’re backed by a VC, you usually get plugged into their networks and support systems. But if you’re not, you’re often left without a community. That’s why we built one for non–venture-backed founders. It’s not about being in the same type of business, but being at the same stage in the journey. The problems you’re running into are usually the same ones others have already faced, and there are plenty of people around who’ll put their hand up to help if you ask.
Here in Victoria, the support came through practical introductions, job flexibility, access to information, and community. That’s what made the difference. People often think you need to go elsewhere, but we didn’t have to. The technology, resources, investors, customers — they were all here. We just had to build that first version, get feedback, and the rest followed.
There’s also huge diversity in Victoria — not just in talent and successful founders, but across industries. The ecosystem is collaborative and has a strong community feel. Melbourne’s small enough that people know each other, which means your reputation can open opportunities.
We were lucky at Startmate to have mentors like Chris and Alex, the founders of Mindset Health. They told us to go all-in on product-led growth — just build something people love and don’t worry about paid ads. That was a before-and-after moment for us. If we hadn’t met them, I’m not sure where we’d be.
Much of our early growth came from word of mouth and leveraging contacts. That worked really well in Victoria before scaling outward. It’s a sensible way to start small and build momentum. Really, the best city to start a startup is the one you’re in right now. If you’re in Victoria, just go for it. There’s no time like the present — the world is waiting.
Do we think big enough in Australia? In many ways we do, but being a founder isn’t yet inherent in our culture. When you pitch your idea to mates, you often tone it down. I used to be a partner at Startmate, and before COVID we’d take founders to San Francisco. The exact same pitch slide that an Aussie investor might say was too big would be dismissed by a US investor as too small.
You genuinely need to believe you can do the big thing. It’s about showing that the next step you’re taking leads toward something really big, then proving you can do it, and doing it again and again. That’s how you get there. We do think big — but you’ve just got to get going.
One of the biggest myths in Australian entrepreneurship is that you need to leave Melbourne to build a successful startup. Anushi’s experience building her medical technology company proves otherwise: “People think you have to go elsewhere but we didn’t have to. We already have the technology, we have the resources. In fact most of it was right here in Victoria for us.” Her company found key opinion leaders, investors, and customers all within Victoria, needing only to build their first version to get feedback before everything else fell into place.
The Victoria startup ecosystem distinguishes itself through its culture of giving back. Matt Allen explains how successful founders actively support the next generation: “There is a lot of founders who have been successful here who are willing to give back.” This creates a unique dynamic where experienced entrepreneurs don’t just talk about helping – they actively mentor, introduce, and open doors for emerging founders. Tractor Ventures recognized a gap in this support system, forming “a community for all the rest of the founders that are not venture backed” because while VC-backed founders get cohort support, bootstrapped founders often had nowhere to turn.
Jeanette’s entry into the ecosystem illustrates how accessible Melbourne’s startup community really is. Starting as “a corporate girly” who attended a LaunchVic event and absorbed “this new language,” she quickly discovered that professionals throughout the ecosystem – particularly those in universities – would hear an idea and immediately say “let me introduce you to someone.” These weren’t casual networking gestures; they were practical introductions that directly helped her business grow. The ecosystem’s strength lies not just in formal programs but in the willingness of individuals to make meaningful connections.
Melbourne’s unique advantage comes from operating like “a small city” where “a lot of people do know each other,” as Bennett observes. This intimacy means “your reputation becomes opportunities” in ways that larger, more fragmented ecosystems can’t match. The diversity spans both talent and industries, creating cross-pollination opportunities that might not exist in more specialized startup hubs. When Kai met Chris and Alex from Mindset Health through StartMate, their advice to “go all out on product led growth” became a “before and after moment” that potentially changed Lyrebird’s trajectory entirely.
Perhaps most importantly, Victoria’s ecosystem encourages founders to think globally while starting locally. Bennett’s approach of leveraging local contacts to eventually scale outside Victoria represents the smart progression most successful companies follow. Kai’s philosophy captures the essence perfectly: “I think the best city to start a startup is the one that you’re in right now.” The ecosystem provides the foundation, mentorship, and early validation needed to build something significant, but as Jeanette reminds us, “the world is waiting” for what you’ll create. Matt Allen’s insight about Australian founders needing to think bigger while taking concrete next steps summarizes the Victoria advantage: you have everything you need to start here, but you’re building for global impact from day one.
Jeanette Cheah – Co-founder & CEO of HEX. A leading alternative education company. Left corporate banking after 14 years to build something meaningful.
Matt Allen – Co-founder of Tractor Ventures. Built Australia’s leading scale-up lending platform from scratch, despite having “the least entrepreneurial family on earth.”
Bennett Merriman – Co-founder & CEO of Rosterfy. Scaled from university side-project to managing 120,000+ volunteers for global events including the Super Bowl.
Kai Van Lieshout – Co-founder & CEO of Lyrebird Health. Engineer-turned-founder solving healthcare’s biggest inefficiencies through technology.
Dr. Anushi Rajapaksa – Founder & CEO of Misti. MedTech innovator. From hospital corridors to building life-changing medical devices, including taking her daughter on stage at demo day.
