Vic govt commits AU$100,000 to Startup Victoria launch

The Victorian government has provided AU$100,000 in seed funding for the launch of Startup Victoria, a not-for-profit, member-based organisation that aims to accelerate the state's technology startup 'ecosystem', which includes investors, technology hubs, government, legal and business services.

Victorian Minister for Technology, Gordon Rich-Phillips, said the government is committed to helping build a stronger ICT technology sector in the state.

"High technology startups have particular needs that distinguish them from many other businesses while also having capacity to make a major contribution to the economic and cultural life of our society," he said.

"New technology companies have to deal with a wide range of issues, including sourcing venture capital, managing fast growth, risk/return ratios, decision-making, corporate and industry culture, product development, distribution and marketing.

"Startup Victoria will work with startup clusters across the state to bring together the people, networks and resources needed to help technology entrepreneurs handle these issues and position their ventures for sustainable growth."

The people behind the creation of Startup Victoria — Scott Handsaker, Michelle Bourke, Leni Mayo, and Vijai Mani — are also the same group of people that presented the Lean Startup Melbourne monthly events that focused on specific topics and featured high profile international and local speakers.

Flowing on from the concept of monthly events, Startup Victoria will host a number of events in 2014 including conferences and workshops in areas such as fundraising, marketing, and customer acquisition and Hackathon events.