A plan to supercharge the state’s early stage and start-up community has been launched by chief entrepreneur Jim Whalley

Bolstering SA’s start-up and scale-up community is at the heart of a bold new strategy launched by the State Government.

A 22-point action plan to fire up South Australia’s entrepreneurship and start-up sector has been announced by the State Government’s Entrepreneurship Advisory Board.

Unveiled by chief entrepreneur Jim Whalley to a crowd of more than 400 yesterday, the Entrepreneurship and Start-up Strategy contains specific actions with time lines of between 6 and 12 months, and one to four years.

These include:

- developing online resources to help people start and scale businesses

- developing an overarching narrative and marketing strategy that sells the benefits of South Australia to the world

- Working to direct more state-based superannuation fund investments towards supporting local early-stage businesses

- Establishing a central calendar of events and activities for aspiring entrepreneurs and

business innovators

- Supporting the establishment of active angel investor networks to invest in more early-stage

investments in SA, and

-Launching the FIXE Network, a hub and spoke business concierge service in

partnership with key organisations.

FIXE stands for Future Industries Exchange for Entrepreneurship.

EAB member Flavia Tata Nardini with a Nanosatellite at Fleet Space Technologies.

Government procurement policies which aim to source solutions from early stage businesses will also be advocated for.

Mr Whalley, a former fighter pilot and co-founder of defence company Nova Systems, said the EAB - made up of entrepreneurs Jenny Paradiso, George Freney, Mohan Koo, Anto Andreacchio, Flavia Tata Nardini and Steven Butler, had consulted widely before working with the Department for Innovation and Skills to bring the strategy together.

“We have an opportunity to put the state firmly on the global map and become

leaders in entrepreneurship, particularly in rapidly growing future industries such

as space, defence and cyber security,’’ he says in the launch document.

“To do this, we need to create an environment that gives current and aspiring entrepreneurs the courage and the power to activate their ideas.

Former air force pilot and chief entrepreneur Jim Whalley.

“We need to provide guidance and direction, but we also need to encourage them to take risks and have a go.

“We’ve all heard the expression that no one innovates in paradise – in fact, it’s something I often tell budding entrepreneurs. We need to be uncomfortable in order to create change. We need to make mistakes, fall down and have the courage to get up and try again, knowing that the community has our backs.’’

EAB member and Suntrix managing director Jenny Paradiso.

Mr Whalley said the EAB “has your back” and would “ act on your feedback with purpose and urgency to ensure South Australia is once again known as a centre of ideas, innovation and entrepreneurship.’’

Mr Whalley’s role is unpaid.

Speakers at yesterday’s launch event included Sweat’s Tobi Pearce, serial entrepreneur Geoff Rohrsheim who has a number of companies already in the Lot Fourteen business incubator on the old RAH site, and Gogo events founder Sarah Gun.

Sweat’s Tobi Pearce and Kayla Itsines.

Minister for Innovation and Skills David Pisoni said the strategy was about cultural change and “mobilising capital to make South Australia a global leader in entrepreneurship’’.

“It’s directly borne out of the experiences of South Australia’s entrepreneur community, and it aims to take strong action to connect and create an innovation ecosystem that is the best in the nation.”

The government has already established a $28 million Research, Commercialisation

and Start-up Fund, which will support projects through three strategies: strategic research initiatives, start-up and early stage company incentives and entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem initiatives.

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