He said the entire Australian start-up workforce was estimated to be smaller than that of Bunnings, which has 50,000 employees.
“That’s not a throwaway line, it’s a sobering reality,” Simai said.
While the nation had produced success stories such as Atlassian, Canva and Cochlear, too often its best research and talent was commercialised offshore, Simai said. By comparison, countries such as Israel, France and Singapore had deliberately built innovation ecosystems that now anchored their economies.
“What are we building? Right now, not enough,” Simai said.
“This isn’t about criticising resources. They will remain a cornerstone of the economy for decades. But if we want long-term prosperity, we need more successful tech companies creating new industries and exports. The closer we are to tech, the closer we are to future opportunity.”
Startmate investment manager Ben Simai.
Unlike superannuation funds tethered to quarterly returns or governments distracted by election cycles, family offices could take bold and patient bets, he said. Family offices are privately held companies that manage investment, wealth and often personal affairs of ultra-high-net-worth families, which typically hold assets of more than $10 million.
Startmate, which was founded in 2011 by Blackbird Ventures co-founder Niki Scevak, wants to help lead their move into tech investment.
Among the ideas debated were an overhaul of Australia’s research and development system, building sovereign AI capability through local data centres, the creation of an Australian version of France’s Station F – the world’s largest innovation campus, where about 1000 start-ups work alongside each other at a former railway depot in Paris – and building advanced manufacturing capabilities before the next wave of global supply chain change.
Tesla chair Robyn Denholm is leading a review into Australia’s R&D system, and presented at the summit with daughter Victoria, who heads the Wollemi Capital Group family office. Robyn argued that cultural change was as important as capital.
“Fear of failure is the handbrake on Australian innovation. If we can release that, we’ll unlock the potential we all know is here,” she said, adding that Australia was virtually giving away its world-leading research with little economic return for the nation.
‘It’s encouraging that some of Australia’s wealthiest families are starting to act.’
Startmate investment manager Ben Simai
“If this was an Olympic sport, there would be blood on the streets, coaches would be fired. Corporates aren’t pulling their weight on R&D investment.”
Cameron Adams, who co-founded Canva and now runs Wedgetail with his wife Lisa Miller, called on tech founders to think bigger.
“We’ve always been the lucky country because of our natural resources. But through building Canva, I’ve learnt you also make your own luck,” he told the room. “To truly advance Australia’s economy, we need people who think big from day one. Be bold. Paint a vision that inspires thousands to join you. That’s what propels Australia forward.”
Canva co-founder Cameron Adams speaking at the summit.
Jeremy Kwong-Law, the former chief executive of Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures, told the family offices that they could move far quicker than other funding vehicles. They should be using that to their advantage, he said. “The power of a family office is that you don’t need to follow institutional playbooks. You can move faster, be more flexible, and back things that others can’t.”
Others in attendance included Kim Jackson, who runs the Skip Capital family office with Atlassian co-founder Scott Farquhar, and representatives from the Gandel, Fairfax and Nicola Forrest family offices.
Simai said the fact many had never sat in the same room before was, in a way, the opportunity: an untapped pool of billions of dollars in capital that could help reshape the economy. He said there had been follow-up meetings between some of the family offices, and that group projects and further co-ordination was likely.
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“It’s encouraging that some of Australia’s wealthiest families are starting to act,” he said.
“If Australia championed entrepreneurs with the same pride we show our Olympic athletes, our future would be even brighter. Right now, start-ups barely rate a mention at elections. That mindset has to change.”
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