The NSW budget has put a price on moving everyone out of the Sydney Startup Hub in the CBD to Tech Central 2km away: $5 million.
That cost represents around 13% of the funding for Tech Central announced by treasurer Daniel Mookey in Tuesday’s budget.
A line item in Budget Paper 3 on infrastructure spending under the Premier’s Departments lists the “Sydney Startup Hub Transition to Tech Central” as a project to be completed in 2026.
The cost is greater than the $4 million rental subsidy the government provided to the Hub, above Wynyard train station, in the FY2025 budget last year.
The Sydney Startup Hub on York Street, home to Fishburners, Antler, Stone & Chalk, Tank Stream Labs and Microsoft Reactor, among others. It’s set to empty on August 31, but the government has yet to announce where those startup organisations will call home,
Innovation, science and trade minister Anoulack Chanthivong surprised the NSW startup sector with last December when he announced the move.
The move cost is roughly equal to the $5.2m the Labor government saved when it came to power in 2023 and shut down the $11 million Tech Central rental rebate scheme.
On Monday, ahead of third budget by treasurer Mookey, the government announced it had scraped together $79.2 million as an Innovation Blueprint package “designed to support innovative businesses to connect with investors and researchers, and to scale opportunities to drive economic growth”.
That includes $38.5 million Tech Central – minus the $5m startup hub relocation cost.
The Tech Central precinct is bordered by Haymarket, Camperdown, and South Eveleigh, 1.5km from Sydney’s CBD, and includes Surry Hills, were multiple VC firms and tech companies such as Canva, Afterpay and Safety Culture were based before the concept coalesced under the former Coalition government.
Atlassian is currently building 40-storey eco-skyscraper next to the train station.
The Coalition went on to build the Tech Central Scaleup Hub at 477 Pitt Street, run by Stone & Chalk, and the Quantum Terminal above Central Station, launched in 2021.
Minister Chanthivong said on the eve of the budget that “a fresh vision” for Tech Central will make it a future driver of NSW government’s key priorities, including housing, healthcare, the night-time visitor economies, and transport infrastructure.
“Tech Central hosts the largest tech innovation ecosystem in the country. We are proud of Tech Central being Sydney’s heart of innovation, but there is potential for it to be much more,” he said.
“Specialist support within Investment NSW will scale existing work in investment attraction, brand promotion, and community building to improve the district’s economic potential.
“We’re also giving NSW startups the best chance to flourish by transitioning the Sydney Startup Hub to the heart of Tech Central.”
The $79.2m Innovation Blueprint package also includes $20m over four years for the Emerging Technology Commercialisation Fund, including the BioSciences Fund and Physical Sciences Fund, to support NSW businesses to commercialise research into marketable products and services; $6m over three years to establish the Innovative Manufacturing Adoption Fund, supporting NSW-based businesses to diversify and expand manufacturing capabilities through the use of innovative technologies; $6m to continue the Minimum Viable Product Ventures Program, which offers up to $50,000 in a grant to startups, and $4m to establish the Diversity Pre-accelerator Program supporting founders from diverse backgrounds with tools to develop their business models and secure seed investment.
The NSW government’s focus on housing sees $2m over two years for the Housing Innovation Network to connect researchers, startups and industry to support the delivery of housing; plus $2m for a Housing Innovation in Construction program.
Rounding out the spending is $700,000 for the extension of the National Space Industry Hub run by deep tech incubator Cicada Innovations.
There’s also $17.7 million for an “Investment Delivery Authority” of senior government executives, charged with clearing the way for infrastructure projects worth more than $1 billion, such as data centres, to be fast-tracked.
Perhaps the biggest winner from a startup perspective is the NSW games developer sector with $280 million for programs, including the Made in NSW fund and Post, Digital and Visual Effects and Digital Games Rebate programs. The government is also putting $100 million in a capital fund to begin the hunt for the location of a second film studio for Sydney.
Cybersecurity NSW scores $87.7 million over four years to work with NSW Government entities to prevent, detect and recover from cyber incidents.
Meanwhile, the state deficit predicted last year by the NSW Treasury has blown out by $2.1 billion to $5.7 billion in FY25, due to additional spending combined with a fall in revenue.
Additional spending will increase by around $4 billion on 12 months ago with the FY2026 budget deficit also rising by $900 million to $3.4 billion.
The Treasurer says the Minns Labor government has “debt under control”, with gross debt down by nearly $10bn to $178.8 billion by June 2026.
Expense growth is now projected to average 2.4% annually over the next four years.
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