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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-05-24 Daily Xml
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MassChallenge

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (15:18): My question is to the Minister for Science and Information Economy. Can the minister update the chamber on the recent announcement to bring MassChallenge to South Australia?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (15:18): I certainly can. I thank the honourable member for his question and his longstanding interest in many of these areas. The state government has recently announced our commitment to invest up to $250,000 to bring one of the world's top innovation and start-up accelerators to Adelaide. This investment will ensure our state is a founding partner with MassChallenge in Australia.

Launched in 2010 in Boston, Massachusetts, the not-for-profit MassChallenge is a start-up accelerator program that operates as a competition with more than $2 million in cash prizes, and offers those participating access to expert mentors, global networks and funding opportunities, as well as marketing and other resources. The MassChallenge organisation currently has successful programs operating across the globe in places like, as I just mentioned, Boston, Israel, Switzerland, Mexico and the UK. As this program takes in no equity, or puts restrictions on the companies participating, it enables them to take advantage of this world-class program to prosper. I am informed that this accelerator has worked with 835 companies worldwide, which have raised more than $US1.1 billion in funding and generated so far about $US520 million in revenue and created more than 6,500 jobs.

MassChallenge and the government have some goals that are closely aligned: to stimulate economic growth and job creation by encouraging entrepreneurial activity and supporting early-stage South Australian entrepreneurs as they develop their game-changing ideas, technologies and discoveries. I know that in MassChallenge's headquarters in Boston and London they take the approach to help entrepreneurs and start-ups become very competitive and to build global markets.

Adelaide is a perfect host city for MassChallenge. We are home to the Microsoft Innovation Centre, one of two in Australia which already helps entrepreneurs and start-ups; we are a Cisco Lighthouse City, along with major cities such as Barcelona, Chicago, Hamburg and Dubai, which is enabling our state to showcase many innovations; and, of course, we were the first city in Australia to introduce free wi-fi in outdoor spaces across our CBD.

Having a MassChallenge program based in Adelaide will deliver significant benefits for local entrepreneurs and innovators at a time when our state’s economy is transitioning to new high-tech, high-value manufacturing. This partnership will constitute a significant and visible step toward cementing South Australia’s position on the global entrepreneurial map. Some of the notable benefits that we might anticipate through partnering with MassChallenge include:

an investment in the infrastructure of entrepreneurial support in our state, including key resources like access to mentorship, education and financing;

enhancing competition, collaboration and the quality of South Australia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem; and

leveraging the MassChallenge model and growing our entrepreneurial system in Adelaide to attract businesses and entrepreneurs to our state, not just from across Australia but from right across the globe.

The government is now finalising the formalisation of this strategic partnership and intends that this will be, hopefully, a first step in a lasting partnership with MassChallenge. I must also acknowledge the federal government's work in working with MassChallenge, which has also announced a partnership with the MassChallenge organisation to come to Australia, which we were very pleased and proud to partner with so that we could bring MassChallenge here to Adelaide.

There have been instances already of Adelaide companies benefiting from MassChallenge. One example is Makers Empire, an Adelaide-based company which has received help in Adelaide with grants to get themselves started and were a participant a couple of years ago in the MassChallenge program in Boston; a great story of an Adelaide company having influence on the world stage. The Makers Empire group spent time in Boston, I think it was for three months for their MassChallenge program, and had access to some extraordinary mentors and some education, and their 3D printing software designed for schools has now achieved sales not just in Australia but in New York and other places across the US. This is a fantastic example of the benefits that a program like MassChallenge can bring.

We are committed to implementing the best initiatives possible to develop these sort of programs for our innovation network. I understand that the first call for applications to participate in the MassChallenge Australia program will be made later this year and I look forward to updating the chamber in the future about this program as it continues.

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