Vision : Adelaide As Next IT Hub

[PeFe]

I too am amazed and perplexed by the reactions on this forum to this article. I was expecting people with some knowledge of the IT industry to respond with their thoughts regarding a potentially significant investment into Adelaide, instead the level of discourse cant get any further than "OMG HE CALLED ADELAIDE THE CITY OF CHURCHES !! OMG !! OMG !!". The journalist obviously does not live in Adelaide and has resorted to a few cliches to set the scene (churches wine cars etc). Is there anybody out there that can respond in an intelligent fashion to the content of this article? Can we move the level of debate up a notch or ten? Is this a real opportunity for budding tech upstarts to access capital and expertise?

[crawf]

That comment really isn't that bad. Sure it sounds a little harsh and untrue but unfortunately that is how we are seen over the border. This is why it's great we finally have a State Government and Lord Mayor that has committed billions and much resources into improving Adelaide, so then we can showcase a much prouder, modern and exciting Adelaide to the world.

There has been much harsher things said about Adelaide and SA over the years, this is just an attempt to make the article sound more interesting and draw readers in.

[Waewick]

The churches thing only came about because Adelaide, or South Australia, rather was well known for embracing religious diversity and was open to accepting new faiths. (Lutheran, Methodist, Uniting, etc.) faiths which were 'frowned upon' from the traditional Roman Catholic sects in Sydney and Melbourne of the early settlement years.

Multicultural and religious advocates would see this as a strength, rather than a weakness.

Shuz, you have it the wrong way around; actually the Catholics were frowned upon by the traditional British protestant sects (i.e. the Anglicans). Indeed, I recall reading that a vote to ban the Catholic faith was only lost by 1 vote in the NSW upper house in the early 1920s.

Returning to the "city of churches" moniker, if people actually knew the reason why we are called it, then it would not be a problem. The problem is that most do not know the story behind it, and believe we got the moniker because we are so boring that there is nothing else to do than go to church.

I try and correct people (especially locals) to the origins of the moniker

[monotonehell]

I try TO correct people (especially locals) to the origins of the moniker

There now that I've taken this WAY off topic let's get back to it

[Wayno]

I try TO correct people (especially locals) to the origins of the moniker

There now that I've taken this WAY off topic let's get back to it

You really should create an Official Grammar Thread in the pub.

[Prince George]

The Innovyz program is hugely exciting. The quality of people that they are getting involved as mentors and support for the companies that will be coming over is genuinely astonishing: from senior people at companies like Microsoft, representatives of venture capital firms, to CEOs, CFOs, and founders of variety of businesses; in one case I've heard that a VP of a US "fortune 50" (50, not 500) company will resign their post and relocate here for the three months. This sort of support is easy to understand in a location like Boulder, Colorado (a short flight away from Silicon Valley, NYC, or Boston), for these people to make a commitment to come to Adelaide is much more significant an investment.

I believe that the 10 "winning" companies have been selected and notified, and are starting their relocation to Adelaide for the end of the month (when the program proper kicks off); they should announce the list next Monday. I'll be very interested to hear who they've selected

At the end of that 3 month program, yes it's likely that some (or most) of those companies will then relocate again interstate or overseas. Those are the realities of a global economy and our modest population. But I'm sure that some can and will stay, and that even the ones who go will retain connections back to Adelaide and that alone helps promote our "mindshare" among the monied people who make startup economies work. When the people with money start paying attention to what happens in Adelaide, and in turn people think that they can afford to try starting something here in Adelaide without risking dying in obscurity, good things can happen.

[Wayno]

The first round of 10 companies have been announced - 5 from Adelaide and 3 international.

• 1. Adelaide Baby Bargains: Free online marketplace for preloved baby & children’s goods, Adelaide, AU
  2. Be Intent: Online HR solution that measures mindset, staff engagement, optimizes people performance and delivers measurable productivity improvements, Auckland, NZ
  3. Captioning Studio: Speech to text, video search, web based captioning & subtitling, and tools for those who are deaf and hard of hearing, Adelaide, AU
  4. Cipher This: Software that automates the creation and integration of puzzles into any author's original content, Boulder, Colorado, USA
  5. ConfPlus: Mobile service to facilitate registering, scheduling, networking, and communicating at conferences, Madison, Wisconsin, USA and Beijing & Shenyang, China.
  6. Credit Key: A web ‘transaction brokerage’ service that vastly reduces the amount of time between the issue and payment of invoices, Adelaide, AU
  7. iStudent: recruitment of international students with on-line search and enrollment, Sydney, AU
  8. LEAPIN: Cloud-based Property Management System featuring 'smartphone room check-in' and a 'complete web check-in system for the accommodation industry', Adelaide, AU
  9. http://www.mysupervisoronline.com: On-line resource, support and networking site to assist Honours, Masters and PhD students, Brisbane, AU
  10. P2P Agri: Farm business management decision software, Adelaide, AU

These ten companies will be mentored by 45 mentors from Australia and around the world. Some of the best innovators and business minds will work with the participants to refine their business concepts, shape their business plans, offer advice on marketing and product positioning and leverage their own personal networks. Importantly, the mentors will also maintain an ongoing mentoring relationship with the accelerator participants.

Of the selected ten companies, seven are from Australia: Sydney (1), Brisbane (1), and Adelaide (5). Three are international: USA (2), New Zealand (1).

more here ==> http://www.innovyzstart.com/news/anz-in ... or-program

[Wayno]

The SA Govt has just thrown $600k at this program. Seems to be gathering momentum. Fingers crossed it does as well as in Boulder Colorado.

from AdelaideNow

SA Government commits $600,000 to start-up program Innovyz

ADELAIDE is being earmarked as an entrepreneurial nursery, with the ANZ Innovyz START accelerator program at the heart of stimulating start-ups to base themselves in the city.

Innovyz program director Jerry Kleeman said the first three-month course with 10 participants, from a field of 130 applicants, would finish in August but ambitions were to have two courses a year.

The State Government has committed $600,000 for 2013 and 2014 to support the program and its retention in Adelaide.

The future focus would be on mobile and web-based, mining technology and advanced manufacturing sector start-ups, Mr Kleeman said.

Each company inducted into the program receives up to $18,000, as well as $185,000 in in-kind support.

A list of 44 Australian and international mentors is involved in the course, including TechStars' David Cohen, Boulder-based founder of the renowned accelerator program on which this Adelaide course is based.

Since the TechStars program began in 2007, Boulder in Colorado - with its smaller-than-Adelaide population - has been named "best town for start-ups" in the United States by BusinessWeek magazine, led by local investors and entrepreneurs, former participants who have stayed or those attracted by the environment.

Mr Kleeman hoped this would be replicated in Adelaide. "We're really trying to build an ecosystem beyond the program," he said.

"We've attracted people to come and spend three months in Adelaide. Some of those people might see that this is a great place to live - that has been the experience in Boulder.

"And for some of the people that go back, they now have a network of mentors remaining in Adelaide. As well, we have mentors from around the world that probably didn't know Adelaide existed.

"That's influential people that are talking about Adelaide, blogging about Adelaide, influencing venture capital and private equity. Adelaide is now on the radar screen," he said.

He said five of the 10 start-ups were Adelaide-based, with an equal proportion of female entrepreneurs.

Universities, the Adelaide City Council and city businesses had helped with the program, he said.