Mr Yum, July, and InternMatch are among nine pioneering Victorian startups selected for an ambitious state government plan to turn fast-growing companies into billion-dollar unicorns by the end of the decade.
LaunchVic, the Victorian government’s startup support body, on Thursday announced the high-opportunity organisations selected for its new 30×30 program.
Along with restaurant ordering innovators Mr Yum, innovative luggage firm July, and recent Series A-raiser InternMatch, the first batch of 30×30 inductees include Bare, Buildkite, CarBar, Hammertech, Nutromics, and Seer Medical.
The scheme is designed to ease the burden of building HR, operations, and finance capabilities while scaling up, LaunchVic said, allowing the startups to focus on growth without compromising on back-office integrity.
30×30 participants will be paired with mentors who assisted homegrown successes Atlassian, Canva, and Safetyculture on their journeys to unicorn status, LaunchVic said.
Ben Leach, the CEO of construction safety and compliance software firm Hammertech, says the backing will help the startup’s expansion efforts.
“As HammerTech continues to scale, respond to evolving customer needs and innovate our platform, the LaunchVic program will provide an invaluable support network of people and resources to guide our journey,” he said in a statement.
The program has proven beneficial, even in its early stages, he added.
“The mentoring and learning programs for our operations team, and connections made through the 30X30 program, are already paying dividends,” Leach said.
Carbar, which hopes to drive electric vehicle uptake through car subscription services, believes it’s only a matter of time before it joins the billion-dollar valuation club.
“Carbar will get there,” co-founder and CEO Des Hang said in a statement.
“So much of running a successful startup is about timing. We’re now well positioned to help Australians move from a combustion engine car into an electric vehicle over the next decade.”
“We look forward to working with others in the 30X30 program and see it realise its goal of producing unicorns,” he added.
LaunchVic claims the value of Melbourne’s startup ecosystem has now surpassed that of global players Hong Kong, Barcelona, Kuala Lumpur, and even the entire nation of New Zealand.
While the 2022 class of 30×30 graduates will now attempt to boost the city’s output even further, two further classes of Victorian startup leaders are set for 2023 and 2024.
Senior Business Journalist
Focused on the small business sector, David’s work covers the political, regulatory, and economic issues facing Australian entrepreneurs. Prior to joining SmartCompany, he was a reporter for Business Insider Australia. You can follow him on LinkedIn.
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