Australia has a chance to be a global leader in the production of renewable energy. Over 5 million Australians have already joined the renewable energy movement and installed solar on their homes (the highest density per household anywhere in the world).

With a top-ranked healthcare system, a thriving research and development ecosystem and access to a wealth of health data, Australia is poised to punch well above its weight in the area of health-related technology on the world stage. Australia’s unique advantages, paired with the acceleration of health technologies by COVID-19, results in a massive health tech opportunity for ambitious Australian startups.

After a bit of a rest and recharge in the wake of a very disruptive yet rewarding 2020, the Innovation Bay team and I are geared up for a year full of new, exciting challenges. As my cofounder Phaedon explained in our 2020 Year in Review post, Innovation Bay is shifting much of our focus to memberships in 2021.

As we wrap up another year, I wanted to share some of our insights on 2020. First of all, who the hell saw COVID coming? Someone much smarter than us… I’ll start by sharing my key impressions of this year and then dive deeper into what happened in different areas of the business. Let’s jump into it.

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.