Chinese investor commits $63m to Australia incubator

The Jiangsu-Victoria Innovation Centre will provide start-ups based in Melbourne with coaching, market information and entrepreneurial guidance. Entrepreneurs will be able to access universities and research institutes, as well as connecting to start-up and accelerator space in China in order to expand their reach into Asia.

Support for the Innovation Centre will come from the government of the state of Victoria, along with local universities, the Jiangsu-Suzhou Science and Technology Town and the Australia China Association of Scientists and Entrepreneurs (ACASE). ACASE will run the center, according to a press release, and will select the first class of entrepreneurs from the winners of a competition conducted earlier this year.

“Melbourne is now home to 170 co-working spaces, which is one measure of a healthy start-up community,” said Arron Wood, acting mayor of Melbourne. “The recent launch of our Start-up Action Plan shows we're serious about playing our role. Add to this the Jiangsu-Victoria Innovation Centre and it makes for exciting times for new and innovative businesses and business models.”

Government has taken an active approach to supporting regional start-ups in recent years, though not without difficulty. Earlier this month, state-backed start-up investment fund LaunchVic announced it was ending a planned partnership with Silicon Valley-based accelerator 500 Startups in the wake of a sexual harassment scandal involving 500 Startups founder Dave McClure.

LaunchVic had committed A$2.9 million to the accelerator, but no investment has been made yet; the fund said it will commit the capital to another accelerator program once a suitable candidate has been identified.

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• Topics
• Australasia
• Greater China
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• seed