12-05-2025
- Business
- AU Financial Review
A hub where unicorns gather
Parkville is also home to SYNthesis BioVentures, a therapeutics-only venture capital fund focused on early stage medicines in development for diseases of high unmet need.
Locating SYNthesis BioVentures in Parkville was a natural decision, says managing director and cancer cell biologist Professor Andrew Wilks.
Melbourne isn't just a leading Australian bioscience hub. Wilks says the city sits alongside the likes of Boston, San Diego and San Francisco when comparing the quality of the output of local scientists.
'In addition to first class scientific output, we find that Melbourne's biotech ecosystem has the added benefit of being co-located with most of the country's life science focused venture capitalists and advanced bio-manufacturing hubs, as well as some of the country's most experienced and deal-focused academic technology transfer organisations,' he says.
'Taken together, this means that science, capital, the means of production and key stakeholders are all a short walk – or worst case, a tram ride – away.'
Melbourne attracts businesses across all sectors of the economy, with seven of the top 15 Australian companies headquartered in Melbourne – including Australia's largest telecommunication provider, Telstra, and two of Australia's big four banks in NAB and ANZ.
Many top global companies have also selected Melbourne for their Australian headquarters, including Alibaba, Asahi, BASF, Bosch, BUPA, CITIC Resources, CSL, Dassault Systèmes, Disney, Electronic Arts, ExxonMobil, GSK, Hanwha, Infosys, Moderna, RUAG, Siemens, Toyota, TotalEnergies, Qenos, Village Roadshow and Zendesk.
The city is renowned for its flourishing fintech startup community. Home to more than 330 fintech startups, Melbourne's fintech ecosystem is ranked 25th in the world, comprising a strong network of major players and innovators in banking, payments, credit and lending, wealth management and insurance.
The city has hosted the headquarters of home-grown heroes Afterpay and Airwallex, as well as international giants GoCardless, Stripe and Worldline. It is also home to Australia's largest fintech conference, the Intersekt Festival, which attracts more than 1000 industry participants annually.
Melbourne has been the perfect launchpad for global payments and financial platform Airwallex, boasting a rich pool of fintech talent, robust partnership opportunities and a vibrant startup ecosystem, says Airwallex co-founder and president Lucy Liu.
'The city's top-tier university programs produce highly skilled graduates who bring fresh, innovative ideas and a passion for the industry, making it easier for us to test, grow and adapt,' Liu says. 'In addition, there are many opportunities for government, industry and entrepreneurs to collaborate and tackle challenges together.'
'By launching Airwallex in Melbourne we've been able to leverage world-class expertise while maintaining the agility and ambition needed to serve our global customer base.'
Beyond fintech expertise, the city is home to world-class research institutes, such as the Australian Synchrotron, Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness, AgriBio and Carbon Nexus. It's also Australia's edutech capital, home to one third of the nation's education technology providers.
That's to be expected, when the City of Melbourne features eight universities across 40 square kilometres – including Australia's only two universities ranked in the world's top 60 – along with more than 25 technology, engineering and medical facilities.
