Sector Analysis

Victoria’s startup ecosystem offers distinct advantages for founders and investors. Victoria’s five fintech unicorns demonstrate the strength of the state’s financial services ecosystem. The Melbourne Biomedical Precinct anchors a healthtech sector that accounts for 70% of life science deals in Oceania. And with 188 AI companies clustered in Melbourne’s CBD, the state has become Australia’s largest hub for artificial intelligence startups. Explore the sectors below to find the programs, funding, and infrastructure relevant to your startup.

World-class research infrastructure

The Melbourne Biomedical Precinct in Parkville brings together hospitals, research institutes, and universities in one of the largest health and life sciences clusters in the world. Melbourne delivers 58% of Australian pharmaceutical exports and is home to 36% of Australia’s life sciences companies. The state is ranked in the top 10% of life science markets globally and accounts for 70% of life science deals in Oceania.

The Jumar Bioincubator, which opened in April 2024, is backed by $65 million in industry and government investment. Founded by CSL, WEHI, and the University of Melbourne with investment from Breakthrough Victoria, it provides wet lab space and commercialisation support for early-stage biotech ventures. ANDHealth offers accelerator programs for medtech startups, while Australian Medical Angels provides angel investment for early-stage healthcare founders.

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Research infrastructure and talent

Victoria has three AI supercomputers: at La Trobe University (medical and biotech applications), Monash University (medical and climate research), and ResetData’s sovereign public AI supercomputer in Melbourne’s CBD. Six Victorian universities have dedicated AI research centres, including the University of Melbourne AI & Autonomy Lab, RMIT AI Innovation Lab, and Deakin Applied AI Institute. The Australian Centre for Artificial Intelligence in Medical Innovation (ACAMI) at La Trobe University, backed by $10 million from the Victorian Government, is the world’s first university centre specialising in AI for immunotherapies and cancer vaccines.

Boab AI, Australia’s first AI-focused scaleup accelerator, is backed by $1.5 million from LaunchVic and $8 million from venture capital firm Artesian. The program supports 32 mature AI scaleups over four years, with each company receiving a minimum of $300,000 in capital. Melbourne is also becoming a regional data centre hub, with 47 co-location data centres representing 30% of Australia’s $30 billion data centre sector.

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A supportive environment for growth

Australia’s regulatory environment supports fintech innovation through mechanisms like ASIC’s Enhanced Regulatory Sandbox, which allows fintech companies to test their services for up to 24 months without requiring a full Australian financial services licence. Open banking legislation has created new opportunities for startups to build products using customer data with consent.

Melbourne’s financial services sector provides both customers and talent for fintech ventures. Two of Australia’s top four banks, NAB and ANZ, are headquartered in Melbourne, along with major superannuation funds including AustralianSuper and UniSuper. The Victorian Government sponsors Intersekt, Fintech Australia’s annual conference, which brings together the local fintech community each year.

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Pathways to commercialisation

Breakthrough Victoria’s $2 billion innovation fund provides patient capital for deeptech ventures that require longer development timelines. Through its $100 million University Innovation Platform, Breakthrough Victoria is partnering with seven Victorian universities to increase the commercialisation of critical research. Each university has contributed funding matched by Breakthrough Victoria to create pre-seed investment partnerships, with typical investments around $500,000 per startup. The program aims to fund product concepts, prototypes and trials to help research with strong commercial potential progress through early development stages.

LaunchVic offers grants of up to $400,000 for programs designed to help early-stage founders building deeptech startups. The state’s advanced manufacturing precincts, including Fishermans Bend, provide facilities for prototyping and scaling hardware products. Victoria’s quantum computing research, led by institutions including the University of Melbourne and RMIT, positions founders to build on world-leading fundamental research.

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Talent and infrastructure for growth

Victoria is home to over 300,000 ICT professionals, accounting for approximately 30% of Australia’s national technology workforce. More than 12,000 software engineers work in Victoria, and the state has over a quarter of Australia’s software developers. Victoria’s education system produces more STEM graduates than any other Australian state or Singapore, creating a strong pipeline of technical talent.

Victorian digital technology businesses generated over $142 billion in revenue in FY24. The Victorian Government has committed $626 million to support emerging technologies and build digital skills, including funding for innovation hubs and the Cremorne digital precinct. Australia’s SaaS market is expected to grow 25% per annum over the next decade, reaching an estimated $57 billion by 2030.

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Dedicated funding for agricultural innovation

The $2 million Hugh Victor McKay Fund, named after the Victorian inventor who patented the original combine harvester in the 1880s, invests up to $200,000 in early-stage agtech startups alongside private investors. Up to $30,000 of each investment is provided as a grant to the startup, with the remainder taken as equity. Every dollar of government funding is matched by at least two dollars of private investment, aiming to activate $6 million in total capital.

Farmers2Founders delivers a 12-week GROW pre-accelerator for agtech startups, backed by a $500,000 grant from LaunchVic and Agriculture Victoria. SproutX and RocketSeeder provide additional commercialisation support. Victoria’s SmartFarms and AgriBio research centres enable rapid technology development and testing. Founders are building solutions in livestock management, precision agriculture, energy innovation, food safety and climate resilience.

Explore Agtech in Dealroom Victoria