Job Creation

Mr COWDREY (Colton) (14:48): My question is to the Minister for Innovation and Skills. Can the minister advise the house on how the Marshall Liberal government's support for startups is helping South Australia recover from the pandemic?

The Hon. D.G. PISONI (Unley—Minister for Innovation and Skills) (14:48): I thank the member for Colton not only for his question but his enthusiasm for startups here in South Australia. As a matter of fact, he was telling me the story about his doorknocking experience at the weekend, when he met Kyle. Kyle is the lead engineer at a company called myvenue, who are tenants at Lot Fourteen. They produce point of sale ordering software for stadiums. You would think that there aren't many stadiums in Australia and it can't be a very big market but, no—

The Hon. S.C. Mullighan interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Lee!

The Hon. D.G. PISONI: —myvenue has sales in the United States. This is what's happening here in South Australia, and this government is committed to creating a competitive, dynamic economy that provides new and real job opportunities that foster entrepreneurship and strengthen the future of our state.

Growing and maintaining local jobs throughout the COVID-19 pandemic remains a top priority. Local startups and early stage businesses are playing an important role in South Australia's response and recovery through this challenging period, and the Marshall Liberal government has created an environment for startup businesses to thrive.

Over 300 start-ups are now active in South Australia, and 50 tenants in the Lot Fourteen startup hub have collectively raised $12.2 million in investment. The startup sector in South Australia is gaining momentum and there is an increasing number of startups in the pipeline that are investment ready. The Australian Startup and Young Technology Company Annual Funding Report shows that South Australian startup funding increased by 50 per cent last year. There is an increasing investment interest in South Australian startups, from seed funding to major acquisitions, as the Marshall government's startup policies take effect.

Life Whisperer—a startup AI company awarded $1.5 million under the Research, Commercialisation and Startup Fund—has leveraged $3 million in investment from private investors. Life Whisperer offers new hope for many families with improved pregnancy rates through the use of a cloud-based AI system to select viable embryos. The technology gives people greater certainty, meaning more IVF success.

The annual SouthStart entrepreneurship and startup conference was held in Adelaide in early May, featuring 11 separate events centred around the Wine Centre. Organisers reported a strong response to this year's SouthStart conference with many individually ticketed events selling out quickly. Speakers at SouthStart included Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph, Eloise Hall, co-founder of local social enterprise TABOO, and South Australia's youngest under-40 winner in 2020 at just 21 years of age.

This year, SouthStart was held in conjunction with Venture Downunder, the first of its kind to be held in South Australia—an exclusive four-day event with over 60 venture capital fund managers from Australia and New Zealand, and they had a terrific time here in South Australia. Not only did they conduct 286 one-on-one meetings with startup founders but they also enjoyed the many tourism attractions that we offer people who visit our state of South Australia. Of course, learning more about our state's startup ecosystem were the reported highlights for this group of venture capitalists. We look forward to welcoming more venture capitalists to South Australia to continually invest in South Australian businesses.

The SPEAKER: Before I call the member for Kaurna, I warn the member for Cheltenham and call to order the member for West Torrens.