The NSW government has finally confirmed Stone & Chalk as operator of the relocated and rebranded Sydney Startup Hub at Tech Central with Fishburners as anchor partner.
The move provides certainty for Fishburners, one of the city’s original startup coworking spaces, which was left marooned at the Startup Hub’s former Wynyard site after the government shut it down last month.
It also finally ends the uncertainty around the relocation 10 months after the government announced it and a month after its closure, with Stone & Chalk selected as strategic partners and operators of the rebranded Tech Central Innovation Hub at 477 Pitt Street, Haymarket, near Central Station.
It has 8,000 sq metres of workspace for startups and scaleups and already counts Sitemate, Quantum Brilliance, and HEO as tenants. Workspaces at the Tech Central Innovation Hub start from $25 a day.
The International Landing Pad which supports overseas technology businesses explore expansion into NSW and the Regional Landing Pad, a dedicated work and collaboration space for regional entrepreneurs visiting Sydney have also been relocated from Wynyard to the Innovation Hub site.
The government budgeted $5 million for the relocation, as well as $38.5m for Tech Central but details on how that money was spent are murky.
‘Commercial in confidence’
Last month, in response to questions on notice from Liberal MLC Jacqui Munro, who asked how much it cost to break the lease early at the Sydney Startup Hub, as well as the whether desks at the 477 Pitt Street site were being leased to startup founders at the equivalent price to the former Wynyard site, Investment NSW executive director Liza Noonan said the details were “commercial in confidence”.
“The reason the decision was made—that the commercial models of the anchor operators in the Sydney Startup Hub was no longer viable, based on post-COVID working habits of startups and also the fact that there is a very competitive co-working market in the Sydney CBD, and the product that the Sydney Startup Hub was offering was no longer competitive,” Noonan told the NSW Budget Estimates hearing.
A fortnight ago the government released its Tech Central Economic Development Strategy with plans to spend $5 million on forming a governance body for the Tech Central precinct and attract more investment.
University of Sydney Chancellor David Thodey praised the 34-page PDF, saying it “will accelerate ambitions for Sydney to become a world-leading digital and technology hub”.
But shadow innovation, science and technology minister Mark Coure damned the strategy as “big on buzzwords but light on delivery”.
“The Government’s own strategy admits Tech Central still has no formal governance model and that previous attempts to create one have ‘stalled, creating uncertainty and slowing investment’,” he said.
Centre of gravity
Non-profit Stone & Chalk, which operates in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, has been helping startups for more than a decade and running what was previously known as the Sydney Scaleup Hub at 477 Pitt Street for the past three years, as home to more than 100 high-growth
CEO Chris Kirk said that while the former Sydney Startup Hub “helped tens of thousands of innovators turn their ideas into reality” over the past seven years, “the centre of gravity for tech” is no longer in Wynyard.
“Today, Australia’s leading tech companies, venture funds, and ecosystem enablers are clustered in and around Tech Central. The NSW government’s decision to back this precinct is a bold investment in the future of our economy,” he said.
“Stone & Chalk is proud to partner with the NSW government to ensure NSW innovators have more than just a place to work – they have the networks, programs, community and hands-on support they need to go further faster and grow from Sydney to the world.”
Stone & Chalk has recently championed Tech Central in marketing for the concept across social media, and Kirk said having Fishburners as
a foundational program partner in the Tech Central Innovation Hub gives founders support as they grow.
“For more than a decade, Fishburners has been a go-to home for early stage founders, while Stone & Chalk has built the infrastructure to help ventures scale. Together, we’re creating a seamless pathway for NSW innovators—from idea to global growth.
“This is just the beginning, the Tech Central Innovation Hub will host a broad range of programs, from grassroots communities to scale-up accelerators and corporate innovation initiatives, ensuring founders can access the right support at every stage of their journey.”
Fishburners CEO Majella Campbell recently announced a new focus for the organisation’s founder support, including a deal with WeWork that gives them access to coworking spaces globally, as well as stronger connections said locating their Residency Program at the Tech Central Innovation Hub gives founders “the ultimate high-performance environment” in the heart of Sydney’s innovation ecosystem.
“Locating within Tech Central will ensure they’re always surrounded by the best people and opportunities to accelerate their growth,” she said.
“We’re proud to be pioneering this new model of startup support alongside Stone & Chalk, creating a connected pathway that will help Australia become one of the best places for innovators.”
Liza Noonan, executive director, fostering innovation, at government-run Investment NSW, said: “The Tech Central Innovation Hub has an important role to play, ensuring Tech Central is Australia’s innovation engine – a district where entrepreneurial talent, research excellence, scaling ambition and creativity connect to solve the world’s greatest challenges.”
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