Six reasons why your startup should expand to Sydney

Back to News

With startup ecosystems becoming increasingly globally interconnected and the teams running these startups becoming more international, searching for a new location for startup expansion has never been more important.

With over 20 years, Penguin Management Services has been helping UK businesses set up and expand in Australia. Not only is Sydney, Australia’s global city and the leading knowledge-based economy in the nation, there are other compelling reasons why Sydney is a great location to expand a startup.

1. welcome to the ideas boom

It’s not hard to find new start-up friends. To help and nurture our startups, Sydney has many independent grassroots bodies to help entrepreneurs and ecosystem enablers. Fishburners, a non-profit community for startups, icentral, a coworking community specially for tech startups and the Tyro fintech hub, are all located in Sydney.

WeWork is coming real soon to the CBD of Sydney and Pyrmont – rub shoulders with an international hub of 30,000 creators, entrepreneurs and selfstarters.

A city of self-starters ourselves – the recent greats having started right here in Sydney. Glowing examples include Atlassian, freelancer, canva, DesignCrowd, with Fintech start-ups such as stockspot, Tyro, and Invoice2go.

Transitioning from our resources boom to a new, more diverse economy, the Australian government wants you here – they announced late last year a $1.1 billion over four years to spend on innovation as part of its national Innovation and Science agenda.

CSIRO, the national science agency will now get a new $200 million CSIRO Innovation Fund to support investments in spin-off and start-up companies, with an extra $20 million to commercialise these research outcomes.

University researchers haven’t been left out, with the National Collaborative Infrastructure Scheme given $1.5 billion over ten years for various projects such as ocean monitoring, advanced manufacturing and medical research.

What about the Australian Synchrotron and the largest radio telescope ever constructed – these two major scientific projects will benefit from $800 million over the decade.

Does your startup need some money? This innovation agenda includes a range of new tax incentives for early stage investments, to direct their funds towards innovative, high-growth potential startups.

2. Looks who’s heading our way

Our insatiable appetite for retail hasn’t slowed down – the global retail invasion continues into 2016, with dozens of newluxury international brands to make their entrance into Australia. Wanting to capitalise on Sydney’s growing momentum, we see more international brands from all corners of the globe, looking for retail space in Sydney, such as car makers, Audi and Tesla; fashion houses Dolce & Gabbana from Italy and French luxury giant Kering, the owner of brands such as Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga and Gucci and Swiss watchmaker Breitling.

According to CBRE, last year foreign retailers, includingiconic brands likeCartier,Sephora, OmegaandValentino,opened stores in Sydney.

We also have seen fintech startups and investors such as Robinhood and Macrovue looking to head to Sydney. This is where the action is – Australian fintech startups in 2015 raised 14% of more than a billion dollars in total raised by FinTech around the world.

With easy access to the Asia-Pacific region, Sydney is also a perfect location to grow and expand your international presence in this region.

3. Affordability

It’s no secret - beautiful cities cost a lot to live in. And there’s no doubt that Sydney is an expensive place to live.

However, our Aussie dollar decline against a rising US dollar since 2014, has seen a 10% reduction in the cost of doing business in Australia and with a rental bubble surmised in pockets around Sydney, we may see a fall in rents in the near future.

4. Talent

With a world class business environment, a diverse economy and a stable and low-risk business environment supported by world’s best-practice financial and legal systems, Sydney is attracting business talent, producing an abundant of opportunities to make Sydney a top launching pad for the future.

Sydney has over 300,000 students enrolled in university each year, from some of the most prestigious universities in the country. The government is also welcoming new international talent, with incentives for new business migrants who plan to set up business or invest in Sydney and New South Wales. It is designed to focus on making it easier to start a business in NSWand encouraging business investment.

5. Diversity

Sydney is a city that boosts the prosperity of its residents. From world class communications and an emerging transport infrastructure to access to a range of sectors and skills, Sydney helps people and businesses connect with each other, and with the world. With a population of just over 5 million, our cultural diversity in the arts, entertainment and food havens from around the world, a myriad of cultural and religious celebrations across the city - embracing this diversity to become a positive for its people to create unique businesses.

6. Lifestyle

Not only is Sydney beautiful but we are also fun to hang out with and have a wicked sense of humour. With mostly moderate temperatures year round, who wouldn’t be happy to live here to enjoy the surf, the bush and all the activities surrounding every neighbourhood. Our love of coffee, sport and arts helps us get through the working week and the daily traffic commute.

Curious about Sydney? Kick start your startup expansion plans with some helpful advice from Penguin Management Services or call me on +61 2 8850 6660.

By Stefanie Lowe