Australia’s ability to turn world-class research into commercial success is accelerating, but still hampered by critical funding gaps, according to Rod Bristow, Breakthrough Victoria CEO, speaking at The Economist’s Progress 2030 event in Melbourne.
Established in 2021, Breakthrough Victoria is a government-backed venture capital fund with a vision to transform the Victorian economy through investing in and supporting research and IP commercialisation. In just four years, the fund has committed $480 million to 69 initiatives across managed funds and direct investments, attracting an additional $1.3 billion in co-investment from the private sector.
“We’re creating a significant pool of capital targeted at commercialisation,” said Bristow. “Our portfolio is on track to generate $5.3 billion in economic impact for Victoria by 2035*, and contribute $1.7 billion in annual revenue* by that time.”
But despite this success, Australia continues to face structural barriers that prevent it from capitalising on its intellectual capital at scale — particularly in deep tech, hardware, and clean tech sectors pre-profitability where capital is scarce: ‘capital continuity’ gaps Breakthrough Victoria is designed to fill.
“Availability of large pools of at-risk capital across all stages of innovative company development is absolutely the biggest rock we need to move”, Bristow said. “Combined with coordinated and purposeful support across all stages of the innovation lifecycle, this will unlock substantial economic growth through innovation,” he said.
A Global Race for Commercialisation
In his fireside chat Bristow highlighted that countries with more complex, diversified and knowledge intensive economies achieve higher productivity, sustained growth and economic resilience.
International models of success, including Finland’s TESI, Canada’s MaRS Discovery District, and Singapore’s Research, Innovation and Enterprise strategy — offer examples where long-term government investment and structured capital strategies have led to job creation, export growth, and high-value industries.
For instance:
- Finland’s TESI-backed portfolio now includes 560 companies, generating €122 billion in annual sales and employing 70,000 people.
- Singapore’s RIE initiative contributed S$25 billion to GDP in just four years, creating over 22,000 skilled jobs.
- Canada’s MaRS-backed companies have attracted US$2.4 billion in capital and generated over US$1.5 billion in revenue.
Each case underscores the importance of “virtuous capital cycles” — starting with high-quality research, building companies, attracting capital, and eventually recycling talent and funds through successful exits.
“These are generational investments. Innovation success takes decades — demanding patient, long term capital that looks through short-term cycles.”
Can Australia Compete?
Despite having one of the largest pools of capital in the world through its $3.7 trillion superannuation system, much of this remains untapped for innovation investment.
Risk aversion and the asset class and scale ‘allocation mismatch’ that venture capital creates means limited capital is made available: especially for early stage, deep tech ventures. Breakthrough Victoria aims to shepherd these early-stage and deep tech innovations through the valley of death, investing catalytic capital as part of a ‘capital stack’ to prove early technology development and ultimately seek co-investment from private and institutional investors as technology matures.
“There’s a huge opportunity — and challenge — in unlocking global capital, including superannuation and private capital, to fund long-term innovation,” Bristow said, noting comparisons to Singapore’s thriving family office sector. “Global investors are seeking certainty, coordination, and product and regulatory structures that make investing in innovation in Australia a viable asset class from a comparative risk / return, growth and liquidity perspective.”
While discussions at both state and federal levels are “well underway,” more work is needed on policy design, tax settings, and investment frameworks to make Australia a globally competitive destination for commercialisation capital.
Looking Ahead to 2030
As the 2030 milestone looms — a common planning horizon across many national strategies — the Breakthrough Victoria team is focused on proving the value of investing in innovation now.
“We’ve clearly demonstrated proof points here in Victoria,” the CEO said. “But we must scale this nationally. Otherwise, we risk repeating the 'value-add' trap — exporting raw resources and importing finished products — this time with innovation and ideas instead of resources & raw materials.”
A bold national strategy is required, with large scale at-risk capital, coordinated action, and a long-term mindset at its core.
“It’s not just about breakthrough technologies,” Bristow concluded. “It’s about an economic transformation. We need to raise ambition, and raise capital to make this transformation a reality.”
*EY Parthenon (2025) Fostering the innovation ecosystem: the economic impacts of Breakthrough Victoria’s portfolio