Startmate’s 10-year blueprint for an innovation nation

Australia’s ‘unicorn factory’ has capped its first decade of operations, and has a wildly ambitious plan for the next one. | MAGAZINE IN FRIDAY’S PAPER

Startmate’s Michael Batko, Sophia Witherington, Sascha Kerbert and Lauren Capelin have ambitious plans for Australia. Source: The List.​

Startmate, Australia’s “unicorn factory” from tech billionaires Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, has capped its first 10 years of operations and has a wildly ambitious plan for the next 10.

More than 150 start-ups have been through Startmate’s program, and its executives say they are now ready to ramp up in scale and cement Australia’s status as an innovation nation and compete with the likes of Silicon Valley.

In an exclusive interview for The List: 100 Innovators magazine, published today in The Australian, Startmate chief executive Michael Batko said his 10-year blueprint involved signing a partnership with a state – early talks are under way with both NSW and Queensland – for a major physical tech hub to be built in 2023.

Dubbed Startmate City, Mr Batko said his decade-long plan was about future-proofing Australia’s economy. To date, the 150 Startmate companies are collectively worth $1.87bn and are growing, contributing thousands of jobs to the nation’s workforce.

Startmate chief executive Michael Batko.

Australia is now home to more than 20 “unicorns” – tech companies worth more than $1bn – but Mr Batko said there simply wasn’t enough physical space for them all to call Australia home.

“We know this sounds crazy,” he said, “but we want to create a place for hundreds of thousands of people to come together with shared values, beliefs and the culture to pursue their dreams.

“We have the community already; that bit is done. The next step is to relocate the community to a physical location, getting the state involved, and changing laws themselves to make them as tech-friendly as possible.”

He said the Startmate City concept could be compared to Silicon Valley and would compete on the same level as the US tech hub.

The List: 100 Innovators 2021 is available in most metro editions of The Australian on Friday and on all digital platforms.

“Only about 10 per cent of all residents of the Silicon Valley area actually work in technology itself. We want to create a culture that attracts all people, and not everybody necessarily has to work on the technology itself but they feel connected to the larger mission,” Mr Batko said.

Atlassian co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes is deeply invested in Startmate’s mission. He and some two dozen other mentors helped Blackbird Ventures co-founder Niki Scevak kick off Startmate in 2011.

Startmate is best known for its 12-week intensive start-up boot camp, which takes entrepreneurs and gives them mentorship, introductions to investors, and funding.

“Their program is one of the most successful of its kind worldwide,” Mr Cannon-Brookes said. “And we’re lucky enough to have it right here in our own backyard.”

Startmate principal Lauren Capelin, a former executive at Reinventure, said while Startmate was previously just known for its accelerator programs, it was now taking on a larger role of being Australia’s hub for innovation and ambition.

Mr Batko said in the coming years we could expect more deals of the size of US tech giant Square’s $39bn takeover of Melbourne fintech Afterpay, which will be the biggest acquisition in Australian corporate history.

Startmate principal Lauren Capelin..

“It’s a compelling proposition,” Mr Batko said. “We have already done the hard part and built a community of the most ambitious people. By making our programs for founders, operators and investors physical, we then give a reason for thousands of people to move to a start-up city. And if thousands of talented people are there, thousands more will follow.

“In a decade’s time, start-up founders will be relocating to Australia and New Zealand because there is no better place to live in a world than here.

“People will want to build start-ups here rather than anywhere else in the world.”

Startmate is among the 100 innovators featured in The List: 100 Innovators magazine, available in ­most metropolitan editions of The Australian on Friday and online at theaustralian.com.au/innovators