Adelaide Ranks in Top Five for Start Up Performances in Oceania

Stories Business
Last updated 22 June, 2023

Adelaide has soared into the top five locations in the Oceania region for startup performance, a new report shows.

According to the 2023 Global Startup Ecosystem Report (GSER), released earlier this month, Adelaide has had a 49 per cent growth in eco-system value since 2018.

The rating has helped cement the city's position as a dynamic and thriving hub for entrepreneurs, innovators, and game-changers.

Startup performance measures the size and performance of an ecosystem, based on the accumulated tech startup value created from exits and funding.

The Adelaide Economic Development Agency (AEDA) is a proud supporter of startups businesses and has a strategic partnership with _SOUTHSTART, which hosts a major innovation festival of the same name.

_SOUTHSTART director and co-owner Danielle Seymour says Adelaide offers a suite of attributes to make it an exciting location to start a business.

“Fuelled by a combination of supportive policies, strategic partnerships, and access to top-tier research institutions, Adelaide’s ecosystem draws international attention and investment," she says. 

"Moreover, its support networks make it a fantastic place to be a founder.”

The report said the network of innovation districts such as Lot Fourteen, Tonsley and Adelaide BioMed City, hyperconnectivity and quality of life are among the reasons to move a startup to Adelaide.

Life sciences, space technology, artificial intelligence, as well as data and analytics, were listed as sub-sector strengths.

The GSER is the world’s most comprehensive and widely read research on startups, with data from 3.5 million companies across 290 entrepreneurial innovation ecosystems. 

The report ranks the top 30 global ecosystems, a top 100 ranking of emerging ecosystems, and also showcases startup communities by region. 

Other key findings, at a glance

  • The overall Adelaide startup ecosystem has increased 33 ranks in the past year alone. In 2022, its overall ranking was 196, while in 2023 it was ranked 163.
  • The ecosystem value of Adelaide has increased 347 percent from $348 million in 2020 to $1.56 billion in 2023.
  • The exit value has increased by over 800 per cent in 2021–22, in comparison to 2019–20.
  • The amount of early-stage funding has increased over 42 per cent in 2022, compared to 2021.
  • The amount of late-stage funding has increased over 102.50 per cent in last five years.
  • Top funding deals were Tic:Toc Home Loans and fleetspace.com.
  • The ecosystem now has two exits over $50 million with sweat.com leading the way with a valuation of $400 million. Another exit is “powerhealthsolutions.com” having a valuation of $160.6 million.

For a breakdown of Adelaide ecosystem and how it is growing, click here.