How a kiteboarding trip and a chance meeting kicked off Perth's tech boom
West Tech Fest has helped transform Perth's startup scene, attracting major east investors, global speakers and government support.
You could argue that the catalyst for Western Australia’s growing tech ecosystem wasn't venture capital or government incentives but rather the Fremantle Doctor, Perth’s famous afternoon summer sea breeze.
Thirteen years ago former Silicon Valley banker Larry Lopez, who had relocated from California's Menlo Park to Perth, saw an opportunity in the city's world-class kiteboarding conditions. He reached out to his friend, venture capitalist Bill Tai, to convince him that if he took the flight from San Francisco to the West Australian capital, the kiteboarding opportunities would make the long trip worth it.
The pitch worked. Tai, an avid kiteboarder, told Capital Brief he spent days exploring Western Australia's coastline, "from Cervantes and wedge Island to Lancelin and Geraldton, down to Augusta and Flinders Bay," between speaking at a Curtin University commercialisation symposium.
But the trip's most consequential moment came after Tai's presentation. "This girl Melanie walks up in a white suit," Tai recalls. "I was basically in board shorts the whole week."
