{"id":47575,"date":"2023-10-20T15:54:12","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/australias-biggest-startup-conference-wont-be-moving-to-melbourne-after-all-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:54:12","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:54:12","slug":"australias-biggest-startup-conference-wont-be-moving-to-melbourne-after-all-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/australias-biggest-startup-conference-wont-be-moving-to-melbourne-after-all-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia\u2019s biggest startup conference won\u2019t be moving to Melbourne after all – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

It was the ultimate coup: On the steps of the Sydney Town Hall, with a beaming smile on his face, Victorian minister for innovation Philip Dalidakis announced that Melbourne had stolen Australia\u2019s biggest startup conference from its arch rival.<\/p>\n

Contributing  $1 million in funding and in-kind marketing, the Victorian government poached the Freelancer-run SydStart conference from under Sydney\u2019s nose<\/a>, with CEO Matt Barrie quickly announcing a rebrand to StartCon.<\/p>\n

\u201cFreelancer.com\u2019s decision to move Australia\u2019s biggest startup tech conference to Melbourne highlights Victoria\u2019s reputation as the number one tech destination in Australia,\u201d Dalidakis said at the time.<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t to be.<\/p>\n

Announced on Thursday, StartCon will be taking place in November at the Royal Randwick Racecourse \u2013 yes, back in Sydney.<\/p>\n

Ultimately it proved too difficult to relocate the conference to another city in just one year, StartCon director Cheryl Mack says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were a little bit too ambitious in trying to do Melbourne in 2016,\u201d Mack tells StartupSmart<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need time to build a high quality network of startups in Melbourne as we did in Sydney. We\u2019ll run the conference there once we\u2019ve built that and we\u2019re targeting 2017.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mack says the $1 million in government funding will be put on hold until the event is officially moved and the organisation is still \u201cin constant contact\u201d with the state government.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still working with them to make sure it\u2019s the best event it can be,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the state government tells  StartupSmart<\/em> they expect StartCon to be held in Melbourne next year.<\/p>\n

“The contractual negotiations to host StartCon in Melbourne are continuing and while the negotiations have not progressed as quickly as we would have liked we are committed to supporting the startup ecosystem, here and across Australia,” the spokesperson says.<\/p>\n

“For this reason we are comfortable with the conference being held at the Royal Randwick Racecourse this year – it’s better that the 2016 conference go ahead rather than be delayed and support no one.<\/p>\n

“We look forward to finalising details for StartCon to debut in Melbourne in 2017 and echo Freelancer CEO Matt Barrie’s sentiments that the move will be exciting and one that will help grow the conference to be bigger and better.”<\/p>\n

Freelancer CEO Matt Barrie says the conference has been running in Sydney since it was founded in 2009.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur roots are in Sydney and we cannot ignore that,\u201d Barrie says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to focus on giving Sydney and Australia an even better conference and look at doing more cities in 2017.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s instalment saw 2000 people attend across two days and with a bigger venue, Mack says they\u2019re aiming for 3000 attendees this year.<\/p>\n

The lineup is yet to be revealed but early bird tickets to StartCon 2017 are already available.<\/p>\n

The first round of speakers will be announced in the coming weeks and Mack says these will include \u201ca lot of big names\u201d.<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on Facebook<\/strong>, Twitter<\/strong>, LinkedIn<\/strong> and SoundCloud<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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