At the start of 2020, Innovation Bay had grand plans for a year full of exciting retreats, community breakfasts, founder dinners, pitch events, community coffee programs and lots more engaging, interactive in-person events. Just as we were ramping up at the start of the year, the pandemic hit and our schedule was practically wiped clean.

Last week, Innovation Bay hosted our second annual Renewable Energy Founder Forum in partnership with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). While the event couldn’t be held in person like last year, 170+ clean energy investors and executives gathered on Hopin, a virtual events platform, for an engaging afternoon all about renewables.

Ambitious, driven entrepreneurs are the engines of the world’s economic development. Support in the early days is critical for these startups to flourish, and this often comes from angel investors. Angels are a crucial component of the ecosystem because they provide funds and expertise very early in startups’ lives when they need it the most.

Innovation Bay’s mission is to support startup founders on their journey from idea to IPO and beyond. In the wake of COVID-19, we’ve amended how we deliver value to our community; the past few weeks, we’ve hosted weekly virtual panel events featuring leaders within the Australian startup ecosystem.

On Wednesday 8th April Innovation Bay hosted another of our weekly virtual events this time with panel discussion focused on how our Government(s) are supporting Australian startups during COVID-19. Watch the session here:

What an incredible year 2019 has been! We’ve seen a ton of growth and experimented a lot with the best way to further our mission of helping founders along their journey from idea to IPO, and beyond.

Late last month, we hosted a community breakfast in Melbourne featuring Adam Milgrom, Venture Partner at Giant Leap Fund, Australia’s first venture capital fund that is 100% dedicated to investing in impact startups. Adam interviewed Chris Thompson, Cofounder and CEO of Amber Electric, one of Giant Leap’s portfolio companies revolutionising the energy industry.

At Innovation Bay our mission is to create more connectivity within the tech industry, create greater inclusion, and drive change when it’s needed. That’s why we are so passionate about this initiative, in collaboration with Reinventure, to help more women take the next seat at the table, and play a role in the continued growth of Australia’s startup ecosystem.

Last week the Innovation Bay team ‘ventured’ across the Tasman to New Zealand to host our annual conference for the VC community, Venture Downunder. We love this event and its mission — to build better relationships within the VC community, and create a place to share the triumphs and tribulations of working in venture — because we believe it will lead to better outcomes and more opportunities for startups.

This year marked the 15th anniversary of when Phaedon and I co-founded Innovation Bay. We started it with the sole purpose of helping other founders be successful and to build a strong startup ecosystem in Australia.