| Community in the Age of AI |
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| The loneliest job in the country just got lonelier. Every founder reading this is carrying a decision they haven’t made yet. Not because they’re not smart enough to make it — because they’re making it alone, in a country that has never quite worked out how to build community around the people trying to build its future. This month we want to go somewhere uncomfortable. Australia is full of people trying to do good for founders, and starving them of the support to actually do it. We have world-class companies and a thin layer of the people who built them giving back. We have dozens of micro-communities, each doing a little, none doing enough, most invisible to the founders who need them. |
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| So for our End of Financial Year edition, we’re putting a stake in the ground: a blueprint for what Australia’s founder ecosystem needs to become — and the role Innovation Bay intends to play at the heart of it. Plus the speakers lining up to share their scar tissue, and first word on Expedition, the founder event we’re building to be the room for scale-up founders in this country. Read on then come build it with us. — The Innovation Bay team |
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| Summit Expedition 2026
Built to Last — three days on the Northern NSW coast, last week of October.
The room for scale-up founders.
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| | Luke Anear
SafetyCulture — garage to ~A$2.5B, and back to take on AI. Paul Stovell
Octopus Deploy — bootstrapped to ~A$880m, on his terms. Alexey Mitko
Eucalyptus — inside a ~A$1.6B exit. Curtis Thomson
Simpro — Queensland unicorn across 38 countries. More to be announced soon! |
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| Monthly Founder Workshops
Scar tissue, monthly. A few of the operators teaching this season:
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| | Mike Baukes — My US$75m raise Marcus Tan (Siteminder) — The different forms of fundraising Steve Allan — Raising capital & crafting pitches that land Paul Stovell (Octopus Deploy) — Enterprise sales Brad Banducci (ex-Woolworths Group CEO) — Leadership Sarah-Jane Kurtini — Positioning for scale-ups Hassanah Rudd — The hiring playbook Byron McCaughey — How to make better decisions Andrew Sharpe — Pricing & structuring your product
Plus recurring AI Wins & Spins sessions. |
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| | | July 1 – VC Lunch
ASX Offices, Sydney July 2 – VC Lunch
G+T Offices, Melbourne July 23 – Table for 20
G+T Offices, Melbourne August 4-6 – Venture Down Under 2026
The Sheraton Mirage Resort, Gold Coast August 11 – Equity Holders Dinner
Mishy’s, Sydney August 19 – Founder Education Event
ASX Offices, Sydney August 20 – Horizons IC Dinner
The Private Kitchen, Sydney |
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| August 26 – Horizon IC Dinner
The Gilson, Melbourne September 9 – First Round Drinks
ACE Hotel, Sydney September 10 – First Round Drinks
George on Collins, Melbourne September 10 – Horizons IC Dinner
George on Collins, Melbourne September 16 – Table for 20
Ashurst Offices, Sydney October 14 – Innovation Bay & ARENA 2026 Renewables Startup Showcase
Sydney October 27-29 – Founders Expedition
Gold Coast |
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| | What the hiring data is telling us |
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| June 2026 · Powered by Innovation Bay Jobs, in partnership with Getro |
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| | Each month our job board gives us something most ecosystem commentary doesn’t: a live, bottom-up read on what founders are actually doing with their capital. Not sentiment — real roles, posted and filled across the Innovation Bay network. Here’s what June looked like. |
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| ~9,000live roles across
the network |
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| 3,300+new roles
posted in June |
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| ~50%of demand
is technical |
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| | Welcome to our new members |
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| Max MyerAI-NC – IB Founder Community Max is the Co-Founder and CEO of AI-NC, an Australian deep-tech software company based in Victoria that is revolutionising the manufacturing and engineering sectors. 
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| Craig CarrollJustFund – IB Founder Community Craig is passionate about financial services, education and technologies that either promote economic well-being and/or address societal challenges.
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| | Venture Capital New Members in June |
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| 2040 Ventures
Cormac McCullough
New Zealand Arcanys Ventures
Karen Lawson Bridgewest Ventures NZ
Kate de Ridder, Darja Nelson
New Zealand Galileo Ventures
James Alexander Goldman Sachs
Silvana Williams Icehouse Ventures
Mason Bleakly
New Zealand ICM
Jason Cheong, Pierre de Villecourt Innovation Victoria
Lauren Morrey Movac
Fiona Foster
New Zealand |
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| Navon Advisory
Caitlin Iles, Amir Paluch Previously Unavailable
Simon Pound
New Zealand RFC Ambrian
Stefan Sokrut Sitara Capital
Sachin Bhanot, Jayme Kwek
Singapore Tenmile
Steve Burnell Triple Bubble
Dom Pym, Nick Carter Torus Capital
Jason Atkins, Sean Diljore UniQuest
Leigh Ford |
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| | Deal Flow Update – June 2026 |
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| | This month’s deal flow highlights a clear trend: AI is changing not just what businesses do, but how they collect and use data. |
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| | Venture Capital Update – June 2026 |
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| The Innovation Bay VC community continues to grow, with new members, a strengthened Advisory Board, sold-out events and Venture Down Under 2026 now at capacity. |
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| | Advocacy News – June 2026 |
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| | Find out what the proposed Innovative Business CGT Concession means, why the definition of “innovative” matters, and how you can help shape the final policy before consultation closes on 10 July. |
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| | Startup Funding Pulse – June 2026 |
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| From fresh funding rounds and major grants to shifting policy and M&A activity, this month’s market update unpacks the trends shaping Australia’s startup ecosystem. |
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| New Market Order as SaaSpocalypse Recedes |
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| Tech stocks slid in early 2026 as AI challengers repriced SaaS valuations, prompting a reset in investor sentiment. Amid continued volatility – from energy shocks to global conflicts – this roundtable examines how investors are responding. |
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| Venture Capital New Members in June |
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| 2040 Ventures
Cormac McCullough
New Zealand Arcanys Ventures
Karen Lawson Bridgewest Ventures NZ
Kate de Ridder, Darja Nelson
New Zealand Galileo Ventures
James Alexander Goldman Sachs
Silvana Williams Icehouse Ventures
Mason Bleakly
New Zealand ICM
Jason Cheong, Pierre de Villecourt Innovation Victoria
Lauren Morrey Movac
Fiona Foster
New Zealand |
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| Navon Advisory
Caitlin Iles, Amir Paluch Previously Unavailable
Simon Pound
New Zealand RFC Ambrian
Stefan Sokrut Sitara Capital
Sachin Bhanot, Jayme Kwek
Singapore Tenmile
Steve Burnell Triple Bubble
Dom Pym, Nick Carter Torus Capital
Jason Atkins, Sean Diljore UniQuest
Leigh Ford |
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| | | | A Man Called Ove – Redrik Backman
Awesome, funny, heartfelt, could not put it down, 4.5/5 The Midnight Library – Matt Haig
Fiction on regrets, 4/5 What The Heck Is EOS – Fino Wickman & Tom Bouwer
Tactical how to book on deploying EOS across your team and company, 3.5/5 Speaking in Tongues – J. M. Coetzee
Our review is in progress Pachinko – Min Jin Lee
Awesome fiction about post-war Korea, great read 4/5 |
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