THE scope of the contribution by universities to the startup ecosystem in NSW has been revealed with the release of the latest report of the NSW Innovation and Productivity Council.

Authored by a University of Technology Sydney research team, Accelerating NSW: Insights from startups and startup support organisations analyses data from the 2023 Startup Muster survey to derive recommendations to enhance the impact of coworking spaces, accelerators, incubators, and startup hubs (CAISH entities) in NSW.

The report makes a number of observations from the Startup Muster data, chiefly that CAISH-supported startups are significant contributors to job creation, revenue generation and investment within the NSW economy.

The role of universities in that story is significant according to the report, with the majority of founders having a university education and many of the startup support organisations that have lasted more than ten years being university-run. Universities are also the second highest-ranked type of collaboration partner.

Vice-Chancellor Andrew Parfitt said UTS is dedicated to the role of higher education in developing an innovative and sustainable economy in Australia, generating positive, real-world outcomes for economy, environment and society.

“More than eight years ago we acted on the results of a survey in which 39 per cent of UTS students reported wanting to start or join a startup,” Professor Parfitt said. “The consequent establishment of what is now UTS Startups resulted in the largest community of startups in Australia and the largest program to inspire new tech entrepreneurs in schools, the community and at UTS.

“Now the Accelerating NSW report has confirmed an enduring contribution by universities to the sector via the startup support organisations they have established and the fact that the vast majority of founders have a university education. In NSW 30 per cent of founders have a masters and 20 per cent a PhD, indicating the importance of research commercialisation as a driver.

“There is still more to be done that universities are best placed to lead, such as making the ecosystem more inclusive, with particular reference to supporting Indigenous founders.”

"The Accelerating NSW report has confirmed an enduring contribution by universities to the sector via the startup support organisations they have established and the fact that the vast majority of founders have a university education," said UTS Vice-Chancellor Andrew Parfitt.

Investment NSW Deputy Secretary Katie Knight said while the report reveals that the NSW CAISH ecosystem is maturing and scaling, it highlights the need for further collaboration between government and industry and further effort to rigorously measure impact.

“We know that NSW CAISH entities are maturing, evidenced by the fact that the number of entities with more than five years’ experience has doubled since 2018, and half of NSW CAISH entities actively collaborate with other CAISH entities and startups,” Ms Knight said.

“While this is great news for our ecosystem, we know there is still a lot of work to be done to boost the growth of entrepreneurs, startups and scaleups, and better measure the impact of programs and services designed to support them.”

The UTS project team for the Accelerating NSW report was led by Dr Jarrod Ormiston of the UTS TD School. He was supported by Associate Professor Martin Bliemel (TD School), Luke Ashton (IPPG), Dr Mariana Gonzalez Lago (TD School), Associate Professor Dilek Cetindamar Kozanoglu (FEIT), Associate Professor Jochen Schweitzer (Business) and Dr Chad Renando (Startup Status).

Accelerating NSW: Insights from startups and startup support organisations was launched during an Educators and Industry Forum held as part of the 2024 Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship Research Exchange (ACERE) Conference, this year hosted by UTS. The report launch and forum were sponsored by the NSW Office of Chief Scientist & Engineer.