Tech unicorns dominate the 2016 BRW Young Rich List

IF YOU’RE hoping to join the ranks of Australia’s richest young guns, there’s one industry where billions are waiting to be made.

Atlassian co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar have topped the young rich list yet again. Picture: Kelly Sullivan

AUSTRALIA’S richest young guns are worth a combined $12.3 billion and counting.

And if you’re hoping to join their ranks, one industry lays claim to the largest number of wealthy up-and-comers.

Tech start-up unicorns are now worth more than Australia’s big banks, and the brains behind them account for the largest chunk of the 2016 BRW Young Rich List, announced on Thursday.

Gone are the days when mining and, more recently, property barons dominated the list of the wealthiest 100 self-made Australians aged under 40.

Atlassian’s Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar have taken the top two spots for the fifth year running, with a record $4.68 billion combined wealth, on the back of their NASDAQ float late last year.

It significantly dwarfs the $1.13 billion that put mining magnate Nathan Tinkler, who was declared bankrupt earlier this year, at the top of the 2011 list.

Next on the roll call are Dave Greiner and Ben Richardson of Campaign Monitor, an automated email marketing service that has given the pair a combined net worth of $543 million.

They’re among 27 young rich listers to have made their fortunes in tech, making it the dominant sector followed by financial services and retail, each with 11 young rich on the list.

By comparison, resources and construction lay behind just one young rich lister each, while property lay claim to nine.

Other tech stars included investor Simon Clausen, ranked sixth — who has interests in Chinese real estate portal Juwai.com and Freelancer — and New York-based Ori Allon, ranked ninth, whose real estate tech firm Compass has disrupted the US property scene.

A ‘GOLDEN AGE’

So should we all be investing in — or starting — tech companies?

“There’s no doubt it will continue to grow,” said Pete Cooper, founder of The Start Society.

“We’re going to be in for a golden age in the next five to 10 years, because superannuation funds have worked out how to invest finally directly ... I’ve never been more optimistic about the tech start-up industry in Australia, because it’s part of the mainstream conversation now.”

But the sector was not without risks, he said, and more work was needed to create an ecosystem to support the growth and acceleration of start-ups.

“If you threw $200 million at any of the start-ups in Sydney at the moment I think there’s only a few who could spend that money wisely,” Mr Cooper said.

Within many more funding opportunities on the horizon, he said, governments needed to invest in the incubators and start-up hubs where entrepreneurs could bounce ideas off each other.

“The reality is that right now, three or four of the largest tech start-up communities in the country are struggling to retain their physical space, which is exactly where all the magic happens,” he said.

“The tech start-up ecosystem has never been healthier and never been working more diligently, but we could really be doing more to support them.”

While praising the Turnbull government for putting innovation “firmly on the agenda”, he said this had not been followed up with the necessary level of investment.

Angel investor and entrepreneur Renata Cooper, chief executive of Forming Circles Global, said the tech industry would keep growing if it got the right support.

“Australia has a tremendous human talent pool and perfect environment for growth,” Ms Cooper said.

“If captured and supported correctly we are certainly on a massive up curve, greater than we’ve seen so far.”

But she noted that “what goes up can also come down and we have seen devaluations of number of tech giants in recent months”.

However long the boom lasts, there are billions to be made by those who manage to combine luck, talent and hard work.

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Originally published as Tech unicorns dominate the 2016 BRW Young Rich List