LaunchVic is the Victorian Government’s agency responsible for growing the startup ecosystem in Victoria. It has helped elevate prominent brands including mobile ordering and payments app Mr Yum, ticket resale platform Tixel, and healthcare booking service HotDoc. 

As Ms Cornick says, startups and their founders come in many forms.  

Ahead of a special Victorian Chamber event to learn more about fostering and investing in Victoria’s vital drivers of business success, LaunchVic announced $600,000 funding to support women in startups, revealing one-third of Victorian startups now have at least one woman founder, up from 20 per cent in 2020. 

These wide-ranging efforts help consolidate Victoria as the home of innovation, which has grown from $5 billion to over $90 billion in just six years, Ms Cornick says. 

“The sector is booming and incredibly bright for our future,” she says. 

“As any founder will tell you, the journey is really tough. It's filled with lots of pitfalls and obstacles. But we also hope success and a big part of LaunchVic’s Job is to make sure their journey is that little bit easier.” 

Ms Cornick says innovation is not just a nice-to-have but an important strategic pillar for meaningful employment and economic prosperity in Victoria. 

In a rapidly advancing technological world, innovation is a way of future-proofing jobs and industry in the state, which is why LaunchVic works to build the confidence and capability of Victorians to create, scale and invest in startups. 

“Fostering innovation is so important for every facet of our economy. If we're not innovating, we're not keeping up with the times. And if we're not keeping up with the times, we're not creating future-proof jobs. 

“We ultimately want to create jobs for Victorians. So it's really important we're innovating to do that.” 

LaunchVic takes a broad approach to partnering with organisations, running diverse programs to deliver accelerators, incubators, workshops, events and more to a range of founders, investors and startup talent in Victoria.  

“A great privilege of working at LaunchVic is that we get to see Victoria's smartest minds working on our biggest challenges and opportunities,” Ms Cornick says. 

“I can tell you the future is really bright. We've got some really exciting entrepreneurs and businesses coming down the line that are going to change our world. The next generation of talent in Victoria is phenomenal.” 

Exclusive event

Ms Cornick will be one of the expert panellists at the Victorian Chamber’s event, Victorian Chamber Presents: Victoria – the home of innovation. 

She will join Professor Colin McLeod, the inaugural Executive Director of the Melbourne Entrepreneurial Centre, and Tien-Ti Mak, General Manager Strategic Innovation at Transurban, to discuss how the state can continue to leverage our intellectual capital, attract investment and create thriving business environments.   

The event will also feature Minister for Industry and Innovation, Ben Carroll MP, delivering the keynote address and discussing how the Victorian Government will provide the next generation of entrepreneurs with the necessary resources, mentorship, and support to turn ideas and dreams into reality.   

“I'm so excited to be joining the Chamber for the Home of Innovation Panel,” Ms Cornick says. 

“It is so important that we are having a discussion around innovation – that we’re celebrating the phenomenal success that Victoria has had, but also encourage those businesses that are perhaps a bit afraid of innovating to make sure that they get on the wagon because it is the future.” 

Victoria – the home of innovation will be held at the Palladium at Crown on 23 August 2023 12:00pm - 2:30pm. More information and registration is available via the event page.