Startup Victoria is back in 2021 with our first Pitch Night of the year - GovTech!

Originally, GovTech could be understood as simply technology for the public - such as public information communications, urban transportation innovations and public resource access. Now, due to rapid innovation and a need to match the accomplishments and tech adoption in the private sector, startups play an important role in digitising and advancing the public sector.

GovTech is a USD $400 billion global market connecting the tech industry and government to build better solutions for all. It promotes the use of tech to transform the public sector, improve service delivery to citizens and businesses, and increase efficiency, transparency and accountability.

The GovTech and public sector is changing and growing, which results in new and exciting startups coming to the forefront constantly. That's why this February, we're hosting Pitch Night: GovTech to shine the spotlight on this sector and the startups and founders operating within it.

On the night, we'll showcase 4 of the best and most ambitious GovTech startups. Together, these founders will pitch their startup on the virtual stage to a room of ecosystem players, fellow founders and expert judges to win The StartupVic Prize Package.

GovTech Startups

Applications are open to startups solving a public sector challenge. If the Government (local, state or federal) is your customer or your product/service aligns with Civic interests, then this one is for you! Here are some examples of GovTech startups:

Citymapper - a mapping platform for cities that uses realtime data to optimise public transport routes for users and transportation authorities.

OpenGov - simplifies complex government finances—placing them into easily decipherable charts.

She's a Crowd - using crowd-sourced data to make cities safer for women.

CloudFarming - using AI to improve farm worker safety.

Timeline

14 January - Applications open

14 February - Applications close

15 February - Shortlisted applicants announced

17 February - Pitch training for shortlisted applicants

18 February - Finalists announced

23 February - Pitch Night!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Startup Vic Prize Package

• Airwallex: First $100K of foreign exchange free on Airwallex ($0 fees, 0% margin) for winner, first $25K of foreign exchange free on Airwallex ($0 fees, 0% margin) for finalists
• AWS: $5,000 AWS Credit to the winner and $1,000 AWS Credit to finalists
• CivVic Labs: 2 x 1 hour consultations with GovTech experts on how to navigate government procurement as a startup
• Cogent: 3 hour product review and strategy session with a senior product manager, developer or UX designer
• Coghlan Duffy & Co: 1 x hour free legal audit and advice
• Dovetail: 1 x hour product development and tech architecture workshop
• Fiverr: $250 credits for Fiverr (T&Cs apply)
• LUNA: Free 1 hour consultation for both legal & accounting services followed by a 25% discount on services (valid for 30 days after relevant consult in legal or financial services)
• Melbourne Angels: 1 hour consultation with a small group of leading angels
• Pfizer: 1 x hour mentoring with a Pfizer senior leader
• SendGrid: $5,000 credit to winner and $3,000 credit to finalists
• Stone & Chalk: 3 months free inc. access to the COLLAB Residency Package
• Stripe: $50,000 of volume waived of Stripe fees
• Square Peg Capital: 30 x minutes consultation with the team
• William Buck: 30 min R&D Incentives consultation with Rita Choueiri, Head of R&D Tax Incentives at William Buck

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Opening Address

The Hon. Jaala Pulford, MP

Minister for Employment; Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy; and Minister for Small Business

Jaala was appointed Minister for Employment; Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy; and Minister for Small Business in June 2020. 

Prior to this Jaala served as Minister for Roads, Road Safety and the TAC; and Minister for Fishing and Boating from December 2018. In the Andrews Government’s first term she was Victoria’s first female Minister for Agriculture, as well as Minister for Regional Development and Deputy Leader in the Legislative Council.

Prior to entering parliament Jaala worked for more than a decade in the union movement and knows the value that a secure, safe and fairly paid job provides – not only to the person in the job but also to those who depend on them. Prior to that Jaala grew up in Castlemaine watching her parents establish and run their own small businesses. 

Jaala is focussed on ensuring that all Victorians have the opportunity to work and to succeed, whether they are an employee or running their own business. She is committed to making sure that Victoria maintains its world class reputation as a leader in Innovation and Medical Research. She has a strong interest in new and emerging technologies and is keen to support the accelerating growth of the Digital Economy. 

Emcee

Emma Forster

Smart City Projects Officer @ City of Melbourne

Emma is passionate about the convergence of creativity, technology and innovation. Across her professional career Emma has established and executed hundreds of programs, events and activations to engage, support and grow the startup and innovation ecosystem in Melbourne. Currently posted at the City of Melbourne in a Smart City Projects role, Emma applies open innovation as a platform to engage citizens in solving some of our biggest challenges.

Judges

Tony Hood

Director, Corporate Advisory @ William Buck

Tony's passion and expertise in the technology industry began in the 1990's when he completed MBA studies online, successfully completing a research project relating to organisational change on implementation of an email system.

Tony's intimate knowledge of what makes a technology company tick, and their unique needs and modes of operation place him as a trusted advisor in the startup and scale-up space. His expertise is deepened by his understanding of business operations, after five years as Business Manager/Financial Controller in industry, he managed several key business divisions.

Kate Cornick

CEO @ LaunchVic

Kate is the CEO of LaunchVic, the Victorian Government’s startup agency and has considerable experience in technological innovation across startups, academia, corporates and government.

An experienced non-executive director, Kate is currently a member of the Charles Sturt University Council and is a member of the auDA Board.

Prior to her current roles, Kate led the development of a human resources technology startup through a listing on the ASX. She held the position of Senior Telecommunications Adviser and Deputy Chief of Staff the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy and has also worked as a General Manager at NBN Co.

Kate Cornick undertook her PhD in optical telecommunications at the University of Melbourne.

Michelle Fitzgerald

Director of Technical & Digital Innovation @ City of Melbourne

Michelle Fitzgerald is Director of the Technical & Digital Innovation Branch at the City of Melbourne, and is the city’s first Chief Digital Officer.

As our cities face digital disruption, Michelle and her team are responsible for trialling and implementing digital and data tools that will help prepare Melbourne for population changes and help create the jobs and startups of the future. Melbourne was recently rated number 8 ‘smart city government’ in the world.

Richard Lin

Investor @ AirTree

Richard is an Investor at AirTree an early and growth stage venture firm backing world-class entrepreneurs at startups like Canva, A Cloud Guru and LinkTree. Prior to AirTree, Richard was a management consultant at Bain & Company, where he worked on a variety of strategy, operations, and commercial due diligence projects. Before Bain, Richard co-founded and ran HomeHello - an online marketplace for home services that was acquired in 2017.

Fireside Chat Speakers

Tristonne Forbes

Managing Director @ CivVic Labs

Tristonne is a growth strategist that specialises in working with startups. She is currently Managing Director of CivVic Labs, a digital transformation initiative that facilitates Victorian Government access to the daring innovation found in the startup sector.

Over the last few years Tristonne has worked intensively with around 100 startups, through running programs such as CSIRO’s ON Accelerator, Cicada Innovation’s GrowLab and ACMI’s creative industry accelerator. Many of these have gone on to scale and raise capital. In addition to her accelerator work, Tristonne is an active ‘pay-it-forward’ member of the startup community, and a director, investor, mentor and friend to a multitude of startups.

Andrew Niere

Manager, Public Sector Innovation @ Department of Premier and Cabinet

Andrew is a public sector professional with over 11 years public service experience focused on innovation within the public and private sectors. He works with government departments and agencies and organisations including startups, design and technology firms, not for profits, academia and research organisations, innovation labs and other governments nationally and globally.

He is incredibly passionate and outcome focused - and has delivered a number of innovation funds for the Victorian Government, after a successful career in the computer game entertainment industry.

Event Sponsor - LaunchVic

LaunchVic is Victoria’s startup development agency. LaunchVic invests in organisations and projects that empower entrepreneurs to scale innovative companies and deliver new industry benefits to the Victorian economy.

You may not know it, but Victoria is home to Australia’s first “GovTech” accelerator, CivVic Labs. Run by Launch Vic, the program throws down the gauntlet for startups to prototype solutions to some of the Victorian government’s biggest challenges.

Since 2018, CivVic Labs has worked with 38 early stage companies across areas like infection control, cybersecurity, agriculture and workplace safety, driving new implementations of commercial tech in government and securing over $1.8 million in funding for Victorian Founders.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

COVID-19 Restrictions

We will announce the format of our events in line with COVID-19 restrictions 2 weeks before the event is due to take place. Whilst we would love to start to move back to in-person events, we will of course be prioritising safety and compliance with Government restrictions. Please assume our events will be held virtually unless stated otherwise.

All attendees to Startup Victoria's event must comply to our Startup Victoria Events Code of Conduct.

All Startup Victoria events are 18+