Australia has long clung to its badge: the lucky country. Blessed with abundant natural resources, political stability, excellent universities, and enviable lifestyle, we’ve coasted on luck for decades. But in the rapidly evolving global economy, luck is not a strategy. What Australia is starting to ask itself now is: what are we building?
On 29 April, 30 of the country’s most influential family offices gathered Canva’s Sydney HQ. The day-long summit was the first time many of these investors had ever met in person. From iron ore and property to the most successful tech companies in Australian history, collectively, they manage billions of dollars in wealth at home in Australia. What united them was a shared urgency about Australia’s economic future, the role innovation must play in it and how they can champion accelerating investment in an asset class that remains uncommon in Australia.
.jpg)
Designed to spark alignment, share lessons and ignite bold action, the conversations and questions brought to the surface were clear and urgent. Our need to reverse Australia’s positioning at the centre-periphery of innovation is looming. We produce world-class research, but too often our best ideas are commercialised offshore, and when startups do succeed, they scale faster overseas.
Australia cannot rely on past advantages forever. Other countries aren’t waiting. France built the world’s biggest startup campus Station F. Israel became a startup nation. Singapore transformed itself from a trading port to a global innovation hub. Meanwhile, Australia has slipped from 40th to 75th in the global rankings for economic complexity. Our prosperity today rests on increasingly fragile foundations and the pipeline of industries stepping up to the plate is dangerously scarce.
The summit surfaced several specific proposals for what needs to change. Robyn Denholm, Chair of Tesla, argued that corporates aren’t pulling their weight on R&D investment. Through her government-commissioned review, she’s pushing for a complete reset of how the country invests in research and commercialisation. Others made the case for a mega startup hub, Australia’s answer to Station F or Y Combinator where thousands of founders, investors, researchers and corporates could collide. Despite existing spaces for founders and some investor momentum, the gap in building a strong innovation legacy for the 'lucky country' remains.
There are great communities. There are ambitious founders. There are seasoned investors. There is an abundance of capital. So why is it still assumed that to make it, our best founders have to leave? What will it take to shift from talk to action and start backing the future at home?
The strength of family offices lies in their ability to move fast, be flexible and back long-term missions. Unlike governments or superannuation funds, they’re not tied to election cycles or quarterly returns. They can act with conviction, show belief early and truly champion the ANZ startup ecosystem. As Jeremy Kwong-Law (Ex-CEO of Mike Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures) put it, "the power of a family office is that you don’t need to follow institutional playbooks” and this day was an opportunity to share wins and lessons between offices on how belief can scale these leaps can be made and what’s already working behind closed doors to support our innovation nation.
.jpg)
Building a globally significant tech sector isn’t just about funding startups, it’s about changing the way Australia sees itself. Towards the end of the day in an intimate fireside conversation with both Robyn Denholm and daughter Victoria Denholm, CEO of Wollemi Capital Group, legacy came at the forefront and not just within attendees respective family offices but as a nation. For a country bullish on our nations sport, what if we championed entrepreneurs with the same pride we show our Olympians? The next generation might see building solutions as a calling, not a gamble.
“You can’t just copy what others have done, you need the bravery to think from first principles and carve your own path.” - Dom Pym (Cofounder of Up bank, Euphemia)
We have the raw ingredients. Political stability, natural resources and some of the best universities in the world. We’re home to Canva, Atlassian and Cochlear and now we have growing pools of private capital ready to back what comes next. What’s missing is coordination, ambition, and urgency.
If Australia wants to stay the lucky country, it must evolve - from lucky by chance to lucky by choice.
.webp)