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Developing Victoria into a leading AI tech destination

Australia’s first accelerator program to scale-up artificial intelligence companies and a $100 million venture capital fund are launching from a new base in Richmond – in a major step towards establishing Victoria as a leading destination for AI technology within the Asia Pacific.

Backed by $1.5 million from the Government through its start-up agency LaunchVic and $8 million of private sector capital, an AI Scaleup program is set to support 32 mature AI scaleups over four years.

The AI program’s first round of scaleups includes three Victorian companies and two other Australian outfits. Each participating company will receive a minimum of $300,000 in the capital as part of a tailored six-month program addressing the unique challenges of each company.

The Scaleup program will be complemented by a new $100 million AI investment fund to support the growth of the best and brightest AI startups.

AI is a once in a generation technology shift, with vast areas of application including technologies such as machine learning, robotics, computer vision and natural language processing.

Powered by the tech firm, the AI investment fund will invest in up to 150 cutting edge artificial intelligence companies with AI at their core, across all industry sectors and with a focus on the Asia Pacific. AI is projected to be worth $315 billion to Australia’s economy by 2028, requiring up to 161,000 new specialised workers by 2030.

There is more than 300 AI stratus in Australia – including 65 start-ups and scaleups in Victoria.

These programs build on the Labor Government’s focus on accelerating the growth of Victoria’s innovation ecosystem and the digital economy with the Victorian Budget 2020/21 confirming $626 million to upgrade digital infrastructure and develop tech skills and more than $130 million for the start-up sector.

The region’s Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy stated, “We are backing Victoria to be a world-leading innovation hub, and this funding will help us attract and develop the best talent, investment and artificial intelligence expertise. Supporting our start-up and scale-up founders drives Victoria’s future economy and create new opportunities for Victorians.”

The LaunchVic Chief Executive stated, “We are building a robust investor landscape in Victoria to support startups at key stages through their lifecycle.”

The Managing Director of the AI scaleup program stated that the company’s program is the first AI scaleup of its kind that is targeting developed companies that have mature artificial intelligence products with significant traction and revenue.

Under the Victorian Budget 2020/21, $115 million is being invested to further support the agriculture industry, including $65 million support for a range of initiatives that will increase the use of technology, improve infrastructure across the supply chain and boost energy efficiency on local farms, underpinned by a new strategy that responds to the challenges facing Victorian farmers and positions Victorian agriculture for future growth. The Budget also invests $50 million to improve facilities at agriculture colleges.

$626 million over six years for a landmark investment to radically improve mobile coverage and broadband access in regional areas, while supporting businesses and creating new jobs. This includes $10.3 million over the next year for the Victorian Innovation and Jobs Fund to further boost jobs growth across the state and the adoption of innovative technology in the region’s growing SMEs.

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

PARTNER

CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

PARTNER

Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

PARTNER

HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

PARTNER

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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