Suburb emerging as Melbourne’s Silicon Valley
One inner-city suburb is being touted as “Silicon Yarra” as it develops into a digital powerhouse nurturing start-ups and creating jobs.
Future Victoria
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Up to six groups are fighting for the right to run a $10m flagship digital hub that will develop an inner-city suburb into Melbourne’s “Silicon Yarra”.
The Flagship Digital Hub in Cremorne would be a one-stop shop for business, education and government to nurture start-ups and create thousands of jobs.
The Herald Sun understands two big players and a range of smaller groups are vying to develop the blueprint.
The suburb is emerging as a digital powerhouse – with five digital industries accounting for 40 per cent of the 3121 postcode’s economic output.
But it will be further supercharged by the hub, as well as a new $4m Australian Sports Innovation Centre of Excellence to open on the doorstep of Melbourne’s sporting precinct.
It is looking to create technology to help Aussie athletes pocket medals at the Brisbane Olympics in 2032.
One of two big groups vying to be involved in the Flagship Digital Hub is the Australian Information Industry Association, led by Ron Gauci who has previously headed the Melbourne Storm, Federation Square and Melbourne Polytechnic.
“The information and communications industry is full of entrepreneurs who know how to generate businesses rapidly and an ICT led approach will give it a real opportunity to be successful,” Mr Gauci said.
“We applaud investing in these hubs. But for the hubs to be successful they need to be enterprises that generate sustainable returns.”
Others who have expressed interest in the project include entrepreneur Kee Wong, principal of technology consultancy e-Centric Innovations, and professional organisation Australian Computer Society.
Tech investor Gavin Appel mentors fledging entrepreneurs, taking them on a tour of Cremorne to “show them the unicorns”.
“Success breeds success and that is what we have in Cremorne,” he said.
The unicorns – a venture capital term for privately held starts ups with a value more than $1 billion – have made their home in Cremorne.
These include Seek, REA Group, Carsales, electric car manufacturer Tesla, 7/Eleven and MYOB, which has pulled up stumps in Burwood and is expanding into the redeveloped Nylex clock site.
Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy Minister Jaala Pulford said the hub will “build connections between leading technology firms, institutes, businesses, researchers and education providers from our own backyard and around the world”.
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