{"id":35365,"date":"2023-10-20T14:38:08","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:38:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/governments-rush-to-get-good-pr-created-risk-of-investor-strike-pollenizer-co-founder-says-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T14:38:08","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T14:38:08","slug":"governments-rush-to-get-good-pr-created-risk-of-investor-strike-pollenizer-co-founder-says-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/governments-rush-to-get-good-pr-created-risk-of-investor-strike-pollenizer-co-founder-says-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Government\u2019s rush to get good PR created risk of investor strike, Pollenizer co-founder says – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Announcing the $1 billion innovation statement in December may have been \u201cgood PR\u201d for the government but not implementing the investor incentives until July is hurting the startup ecosystem, Pollenizer co-founder Mick Liubinskas says.<\/p>\n

The 24 policies were revealed late last year and included a number of taxation changes to incentivise investments in startups, with the reforms coming into effect July 1st<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Liubinskas says this may well lead to an \u2018investor strike\u2019 and could stall the growth of the local startup community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey did it for PR but it may make life hard for startups raising in the meantime,\u201d Liubinskas tells StartupSmart.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did the government announce a program in December that gives investors incentives to wait until July? It would\u2019ve been better to announce it and say \u2018here it is\u2019. This PR angle has caused an issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have good momentum but this will cause a blip. It\u2019s a bit of a bump when we should be going from strength-to-strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

While \u201cgood companies\u201d will still finding funding, he says smaller startups desperate for capital might find the next six months difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cCompanies that aren\u2019t at the very peak are going to find it tough,\u201d Liubinskas says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBusinesses need cash now. It\u2019s not going to make or break the ecosystem but it\u2019s just really disappointing and might slow down the momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not waiting for change<\/b><\/h3>\n

Melbourne-based customer service startup Elevio<\/a> is one company that won\u2019t be waiting for July to raise capital, and co-founder Chris Duell says entrepreneurs should avoid investors that are waiting for the impending taxation changes.<\/p>\n

Elevio is on the verge of embarking on a funding round through Startmate, and Duell says that startups shouldn\u2019t wait for the investor incentives.<\/p>\n

\u201cNewcomers purely looking for a tax break probably aren\u2019t going to be a good fit for us due to their lack of history, experience and network,\u201d Duell tells StartupSmart.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cExisting experienced investors who know the market and can actually work with us in an advisory capacity are the people we want to work with.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are potentially less likely to pass up a deal if it means they can\u2019t get the tax break.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duell says that if founders focus on their companies, the investors will still come.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing a great company should be the focus of every startup, rather than being overly concerned about the \u2018investor drought\u2019,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing our company into something great is our primary focus right now. The icing on the cake is that a great company is harder for an investor to pass up on, tax incentives or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Duell says that although the innovation statement is a step in the right direction, more information is needed about the new policies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a good thing that the government is stepping things up to incentivise and encourage people to invest in startups, and they probably needed to release the details on this early in order to gauge feedback from the wider community,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe catch is that the benefits don\u2019t kick in until the new financial year so there\u2019s an inadvertent chasm created.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great step forward, we just need some clarity and information in the interim so we can make well-informed decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liubinskas agrees, saying although it may stall growth in the first half of 2016, the innovation statement will ultimately be beneficial for the Australian ecosystem.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great initiative but the way it has been implemented is going to cause some sluggishness,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on <\/i>Facebook<\/a>, <\/i>Twitter<\/a>,\u00a0and <\/i>LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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