New dawn for startups
At Australia's biggest startup festival there was widespread optimism that a tough period for the ecosystem is finally coming to an end.
If the last couple of years have proven anything about the Australian startup ecosystem, it’s that it now knows how to weather a storm.
While times have undeniably been tough for startup founders and many of their investors since the easy money of the COVID era dried up, there was little talk of that at Sunrise, the country’s biggest startup festival held in Sydney this week.
About 1500 founders, operators and investors poured through the doors of Carriageworks in Redfern for the Blackbird event, which had humble beginnings in 2014 and has grown into something of a juggernaut. (Capital Brief was a media partner this year).
While a funding crunch for startups, down rounds and layoffs may have dominated headlines in recent times, the prevailing sentiment at Sunrise was optimism.
