TOP Ten RECOMMENDATIONS for THE WA STATE GOVERNMENT

We want Western Australia to be recognised as a global hub for entrepreneurial and technology talent, where the value that startups bring to the economy is widely embraced.

StartupWA supports the WA Government’s focus on the need to diversify our economy and strongly believes that startups play an integral role in creating new industries and net new employment.

StartupWA is a not-for-profit, representative organisation which promotes the growing startup sector in Western Australia. StartupWA aims to accelerate and advocate for the startup ecosystem that includes investors, technology hubs, accelerator programs and early-stage technology businesses.

The need for local supply chains, advanced technologies and digital skills has never been greater and the startup sector plays a crucial role in moving WA forward.

StartupWA is keen to see the startup sector benefit from a level of government support that reflects the high economic value that startups unlock for WA and in line with other similar-sized business sectors.

StartupWA applauds the investment made in the sector through the New Industries Fund so far. It’s resulted in a significant increase in venture capital, grants, programs, and growth in the sector. This fund has now run its course and StartupWA is excited to see what the state government will invest in the next budget cycle.

StartupWA proposes the following initiatives be supported and/or led by the WA Government:

Promote entrepreneurship & inspire the next generation of founders

1. Actively and widely promote the successes of WA entrepreneurs and startups to inspire the next generation of founders, and attract the next wave of investment capital into the state.

2. Promote entrepreneurship as a viable career option through inclusion in the curriculum at a secondary education level. 

3. Renew the New Industries Fund and increase its budget allocation to speed up growth of WA’s innovation ecosystem and create the jobs of the future.

Research Commercialisation

4. Increase support for research commercialisation to ensure that innovations developed in WA’s research institutions translate into impactful commercial solutions.

Government procurement for startups

5. Develop and fund a government-led GovTech initiative to unlock solutions to government issues while creating new businesses in WA.

6. Increase willingness within government agencies to use startups for small government contracts. 

7. Promote gender equality in the startup and tech sector through a Female Founder Procurement Policy — similar to the existing Aboriginal Procurement Policy — to give a slight preference to companies that have gender parity (40-40-20).

Attract international talent and startups 

8. Build WA’s brand and visibility as the go-to destination for building a startup in Australia.

9. Incentivise international talent to migrate and/or return to WA to create new startups and invest in the sector.

Continue to attract investment capital to the state 

10. Extend the success of the WA Venture Support (WAVES) and WA Venture Capital (WAVC) initiatives to attract an additional $1B of Venture Capital funding to the state over the next five years.