With LaunchVic now dissolved into Breakthrough Victoria, it feels like the right moment to revisit the themes I explored in Melbourne’s innovation crisis is about culture – and what comes next and take a more personal look at what went wrong, what could have been built instead and perhaps what can come next. When LaunchVic… Read more »
“Has Melbourne lost its spark”? In the tech world, the debate between Sydney and Melbourne often mirrors the more light-hearted rivalry about which city serves the best coffee. But when it comes to tech ecosystems, the stakes are much higher. The perception that a startup scene is “dead” can be deflating for early-stage founders. Of… Read more »
It wasn’t until late on a Wednesday afternoon, three days into the Game Connect Asia Pacific (GCAP) conference that the penny finally dropped. Sitting in on an industry veteran discussion – or as they put it, “survivor’s panel” – I got an inkling as to why there was such a sense of business-as-usual for the… Read more »
A fortnight ago a staggering 870 industry leaders packed into Centrepiece at Melbourne Park for an annual gala hosted by LaunchVic, the State Government’s startup agency. With stakeholders from across industry, investment, university and ecosystem the room was a buzz with the sound of deals being done and of problems being solved. And it couldn’t… Read more »
While Melbourne prepares for another glossy startup gala, let’s talk about what won’t be on the menu. Victoria’s startup agency has locked away $160m+ in public funding—yet no grassroots event support since 2019. VicGov spent $7 m+ on DIF (Digital Innovation Futures)—and it quietly shut down. Melbourne Convention Bureau backs only international events (e.g., C2, GEC)… Read more »
ASX-listed data centre business NextDC (ASX:NXT) will build a $2 billion tech hub in Port Melbourne as part of the Victorian government’s Fishermans Bend Innovation Precinct. Named M4, it will be purpose-built for sovereign AI, high performance computing (HPC), advanced manufacturing and deep tech, with three core components: an AI factory to support NVIDIA’s Blackwell and… Read more »
The Victorian capital’s 30-month trial of renting e-scooters on the city streets will end after the council killed off their use in a majority vote. City of Melbourne councillors voted 6-4 to end the contracts with Lime and Neuron, having trialed their use since February 2022. Lord mayor Nicholas Reece led the charge against them,… Read more »
A little bit of Sydney is heading south with Tank Stream Labs, the coworking tech hub for startups, expanding into Melbourne. Tank Stream Labs CEO Bradley Delamare said that as the Victorian capital continues to go gangbusters with tech innovations and budding unicorn startups, a significant gap has emerged when it comes to CBD commercial… Read more »
ASX-listed accounting fintech Xero has opened new Australian headquarters in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn. The 7000 square metres site, spanning four levels, brings together Xero’s Melbourne team under one roof for the first time after a decade. The office features breakout spaces (with hearing assistance solutions), webinar suites and an indoor garden – a… Read more »
A magnitude 5.8 earthquake has struck about 115 kilometres east of Melbourne in Victoria, causing damage to buildings and forcing residents to evacuate across the city. The quake, which started near Woods Point at a depth of 12km, was also felt in Sydney, Canberra, Adelaide and even as far as Launceston, Tasmania. I and the… Read more »
Melbourne’s current lockdown will continue for another two weeks until at least September 2 with an evening curfew being introduced. With 22 new local Covid cases recorded – 14 infectious in the community – on Monday, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the state was at a tipping point and had no other option. Seven weeks… Read more »
Melbourne’s week-long lockdown will continue for another 7 days until midnight on August 19 as infection numbers from the Delta strain remain at the levels NSW saw before its 9-week lockdown began. While regional Victoria has begun to reopen, the capital reported 20 new local cases and there are 116 active locally acquired cases, with… Read more »
Victoria will go back into lockdown from 8pm tonight, August 5. It is the state’s sixth lockdown, just nine days after emerging from its fifth following the spread of the Delta variant from Sydney. Eight new Covid-19 cases were reported in Victoria today, including six from yesterday. Reported yesterday: 6 new local cases and no… Read more »
Victoria has entered a five-day lockdown to control its growing outbreak of the more infectious Delta variant. Until midnight on Tuesday restrictions mean residents are only allowed to leave home for essential reasons, can only travel five kilometres away from home, and need to wear masks outside the home, among other measures. Breaking: Victoria has… Read more »
A pioneering project using artificial intelligence (AI) to predict traffic congestion up to three hours before it’s going to happen, and could change the way authorities control traffic in real time, has launched in Melbourne. The University of Melbourne’s Australian Integrated Multimodal EcoSystem (AIMES) has partnered with PeakHour Urban Technologies, the Victorian Department of Transport,… Read more »
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