Federal government launches $392m tech growth program
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The news: The Tech Council of Australia (TCA) has welcomed the launch of the federal government's $392 million industry growth program today, but warns Australia is still a tough place for tech startups to scale up. The program supports startups and SMEs working in National Reconstruction Fund priority areas to commercialise and expand their businesses.
The numbers: Research launched by the TCA found Australia could face a $53 billion scale-up funding gap by 2030.
The context: Australia has a strong tech ecosystem with 28 unicorn companies with valuations over $1 billion founded in the past 20 years, the TCA said, but the failure rate during the scale-up stage is higher than in the United States due to funding availability. The issue is particularly evident in capital-intensive sectors such as AI and robotics.
What they said: "Initiatives like the Industry Growth Program will be essential if Australia is going to become a global tech leader and improve its record on commercialisation and scaling," TCA chief executive Kate Pounder said in a statement.
"Past government funding programs have been credited as a key factor in the growth of some of Australia’s most successful tech firms, such as Canva and Atlassian."
