Deputy Premier, Minister for Regional NSW, Skills and Small Business John Barilaro said the recently released 2017 StartupAus Crossroads report highlights significant growth in NSW’s start up sector since 2011.
He said that the growth has been amplified by recent NSW Government initiatives including the launch of Jobs for NSW and the $35M Sydney Startup Hub.
“The highly regarded StartupAus Crossroads report in 2017 includes a deep-dive into NSW strengths and our opportunities for growth, as we move closer towards our goal to become a world leading centre for innovation,” Mr Barilaro said.
“The sector is worth $70B to the NSW economy, so as a government we want to be doing everything we can to create the right environment for people to have the confidence to launch a start-up, and the support they need to make sure it succeeds.
Sydney ranks in the top three start-up ecosystems in Asia and 17th in the world (2017 Start-up Genome Report).
“NSW’s startup sector also extends substantially beyond metropolitan Sydney with more than 1 in 10 NSW startups based outside the city,”Mr Barilaro said.
“The NSW Government, through Jobs for NSW, has committed $190 million to support fast-growth businesses at every stage of their lifecycle.
“On top of that, we’ve also launched the new $150 million GO NSW Equity Fund, a partnership with First State Super, which will see the NSW Government take an equity stake in high-growth companies.
“In a sign of the strength of our start-up sector, the report highlights that more than $900M has been invested in NSW start-ups since 2015, including significant investment in Health and Life Sciences (18%), Software as a Service (17%), and Sharing Economy (8%) businesses.”
