It is my pleasure to join you virtually at the launch of the Startup Muster 2025 results - the annual X-ray of Australia's startup ecosystem.
When this survey began in 2013, the iPhone 5 was cutting-edge, Slack hadn't launched, and Bitcoin was still hovering around a hundred dollars. The fact that Startup Muster is still going strong tells you 2 things: founders love data, and Murray Hurps is very good at gentle persistence. If sainthood were awarded for data cleaning, Murray would already have the halo.
Covering hundreds of people and thousands of answers, this year's survey tells a lively story. It shows that the average startup founder is 46. One-third of founders are women. Half have founded a previous firm. One in ten are from a low-SES background, and one in ten are neurodiverse. Founders are more likely than the general population to be born overseas, but less likely to be Indigenous.
We also see an ecosystem that is both ambitious and stretched. Fifty-nine percent of startups now have revenue, which is excellent, but many are still hunting for capital, customers or talent - sometimes all at once. In a week when our government has just released our national AI plan, it's notable that AI shows up everywhere in the Startup Muster survey. Over half of startups are using it for core functions, and about half are building AI products themselves.
As Murray has pointed out to me, you can see the impact of AI in startups becoming leaner, clearly visible in this year's survey.
Startups can be found across Australia. Precincts such as Tech Central, Lot Fourteen and the Canberra Innovation Network are rising in the rankings. Events remain important, and mentorship continues to matter - especially from people with battle scars, not just polished pitch decks.
Startup Muster gives us a clear view of what's working in the ecosystem, what isn't, and where growth is coming from. It shows founders solving tough problems, creating jobs and moving into new markets, even when runway can feel more mythical than financial.
The government values what startups contribute: new ideas, sharper competition and the kind of boundary-testing that lifts innovation and productivity. We want an economy where experimentation is encouraged and good ideas have space to grow. Startup Muster helps highlight where that momentum is building and how we can support it.
