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Canberra is not generally seen as the poster child for start-up communities, however, under the cover of a public service town beats the heart of a buzzing, and rapidly growing entrepreneurial community that does things a bit differently.

Anna Pino, CEO of Lighthouse Business Innovation Centre, a business primer working with start-ups and high growth businesses in Canberra, believes that the traditional accelerator and incubator won't work in Canberra today. Canberra had an extremely successful incubator operating here between 2000 and 2008, but times have changed and so have the needs of the entrepreneurial community

"Anyone who has done business in Canberra or has had a branch office located here will attest to the fact that Canberra is a different place to do business," said Ms Pino.

"The start-up community here also operates quite differently and the businesses that support entrepreneurs are themselves having to innovate in order to meet the market need".

canberra infographicMs Pino believes Canberra in itself acts like a business incubator, providing a great place to launch a business with a large and well respected potential first customer, the Government.

She recognises that while not all businesses that start in Canberra stay in Canberra, they all leave a footprint – an office in Canberra, a new way of doing things or a whole new category of product or skills.


Ms Pino believes there are five factors that make Canberra a great place to start a business.

  1. Access to a sophisticated local market – The ACT provides start-up businesses with access to potential customers who have a higher than average education and mean income. They also have greater household Internet access than other states and territories. This makes for an attractive local environment in which to launch a product or service. Also, if a company lands any level of Government as its first customer, the product or service gets a level of accreditation that can't be faulted and is rarely questioned anywhere.
  2. A healthy business ecosystem – Canberra is home to the largest source of procurement anywhere in the country – the Federal Government. It is also the location for Australia's foreign affairs and trade relations and home to over 77 high commissions and embassies. The national cultural and collecting institutions are also housed in the ACT as well as the headquarters for Defence. There are a number of internationally acclaimed Canberra-born success stories that have leveraged off this unique business ecosystem, including Tower Software, The Distillery, Seeing Machines, Catalyst Interactive and KordDefence. There is also the often unrecognised potential of developing products and services for the Australian Government which can then be adapted for international markets and Governments.
  3. Collaboration and access to abundant learning and research resources – a rapidly growing international student population, Australia's highest ranked university (2011) and the home to research institutions like CSIRO, NICTA and the Australian Research Council all pave the way for exciting spin-outs from collaborative projects between academia, public service and business. Companies such as MediaWare and Windlab are good examples of successful companies that developed in this way.
  4. Capital raising and proof of concept funding - Although a small jurisdiction, Canberra entrepreneurs are extremely well serviced by the local government. The ACT Government provides access to programs, services and grants at low cost and with relatively low hurdles to entry. Many entrepreneurs in other states are surprised by the support given in the ACT. The ACT Government is one of the few state and territory governments that actively invest in early stage proof of concept funding. With funds available for proof of technology, innovation, clean technology, capability building, microcredit, screen investment, exporting as well as an active network of angel investors there are many avenues for start-ups looking at capital raising.
  5. Advice to create strong foundations – the focus of much of Canberra's business advice and support services is around creating strong foundations for companies to grow locally, nationally and internationally. Organisations such as Lighthouse actively work to create a model where the start-ups who benefit from support will come back as mentors, advisers and investors.

"Canberra is a start-up community that isn't waiting to happen, it has been happening for a long time, but is only now beginning to accept the fact that it is different from Sydney and Melbourne and speak confidently about what it needs. The entrepreneurial community is finally coming out of the shadows and we are very fortunate and excited to be part of it," said Ms Pino.

 

About Lighthouse Business Innovation Centre
Lighthouse has a strong track record of supporting entrepreneurs, researchers and inventers on the path from concept to commercialisation. Since July 2008, Lighthouse has worked with over 990 distinct enterprises and provided group and peer based services to over 3400 enterprises and individuals. For over five years Lighthouse has successfully delivered business advice, education, mentorship and networking opportunities to help these businesses commercialise their ideas and grow their companies. Lighthouse also delivers programs such as the ACT Microcredit Program for the ACT Government. Visit www.lighthouseinnovation.com.au for more information.