2026年澳大利亚创业报告

Benchmarking capital, outliers, andecosystem evolution June 2026 “Foreword For years, Australia has been viewed as a promising but peripheral venture market. A countrycapable of the occasional breakout, but seen as too small, too distant or too undercapitalisedto compete with the world's leading startup ecosystems. Last year's inaugural report was thefirst time we could put data to what those of us working with Australian technology Venture funding has risen markedly, but the headline figure hides a flatter line at the early stage.Capital is increasingly available to companies that have begun to scale, while seed and pre-seedremain under-capitalised. That gap has pushed down entry valuations and, as several of the As we reflect on a decade of enormous progress for Australian startups and venture capital, asevidenced by the data in this report, we now look ahead to the next decade. The recent Federalbudget proposals make the question unavoidable: what kind of Australia do we want to build Thisyear's report shows that Australia is now one of the fastest-growing andhighest-performing venture markets in the world. Since 2016, the value of Australia'sVC-backed ecosystem has grown 13.7x, outpacing every major global peer. Tech nowcontributes more to GDP than any sector except mining, and Australian venture funds Will we be a country that backs ambition early, rewards risk-taking, and earns our seat at theforefront of the global conversation on AI? Or will we defer to the safest path, show ambivalencetowards startups and their creators, and ultimately encourage our best talent to build What makes this so remarkable is that it has been achieved in spite of such a limited pool ofdomestic capital. We know which path we will choose, and we have no doubt that Australian founders will rise tothe challenge of the coming decade. The numbers in this report must not be taken for granted;they should be seen as a call-to-action for backing our most ambitious founders earlier, and withmore conviction than ever. They make the case for investing in the next generation, and making Australia remains one of the most capital-constrained startup ecosystems in the developedworld. Yet our founders keep building and exiting globally significant companies. Even beforethe recent Eucalyptus exit to Hims & Hers, Australia ranked 4th globally for the gross value ofVC-backed M&A since 2020 — ahead of China, India and others. These outcomes are the work of remarkable founders and early employees who take the leap,and who battle through the blood, sweat and tears of building something from nothing. Theyare backed by strong institutions, world-class universities, a deepening base of technical What you need to know Australia is #1 globally fordecacorns per VC dollarinvested, and #3 forunicornsAustralia has produced 0.16 decacorns for Australian VC's areoutperforming theirglobal counterparts Australia is the fastestgrowing VC-backedecosystem over the lastdecadeSince 2016, Australiaʼs VC-backed Australian VC has delivered a 5-yearpooled return of 24.4%, almost doublethat of US peers. ecosystem value has grown 13.7x,outpacing every major global peer. every $1B invested and 1.09 unicorns, demonstrating unmatched globalefficiency. 1Australian Tech Value Creation 2Funding Trends and Market Dynamics Australiaʼs techsector hasgenerated $352Bin combined Atlassian's valuation reset, inline with the global SaaSsell-off, accounts for the bulk Australia is thefastest growingVC-backedecosystem over Since 2016, AustraliaʼsVC-backed ecosystem valuehas grown 13.7x, outpacingevery major global peer. Tech is nowAustraliaʼssecond-largestcontributor to Gross Value added by Industry (2024) Contributing 8.9% of GDP andgrowing 50% faster than thebroader economy, tech is nowsecond only to mining as a Australia is #3globally forunicorns createdper dollar Australia has produced 1.09unicorns for every $1Binvested, outperforming theUS, UK, Germany and China. Australia is #1globally fordecacorncreation perdollar invested Australian startups haveconverted scarce capital intooutsized global outcomesmore efficiently than any Australia's efficiency edge: building world-class outliers with less capitalHome to 6 decacorns, Australia is tied in fourth place despite raising <$40B in VC since 2000. Australian VCreturns haveconsistentlyoutperformedthe US & other Australian VC has delivered a5-year pooled return of24.4%, almost double that of Australiaʼs unicorns have paved the way for a new generation of breakout startupsA maturing ecosystem and robust pipeline are now fuelling the next wave of venture-scale companies. Australian & New Zealand founders are also building world class startups overseas~40 foreign unicorns have at least one Australian or New Zealand entrepreneur as part of the founding team. The Australian VC ecosystem hasstarted to mature and compound onitself, an encouraging sign that it isdeveloping along the same lines asmore estab