News

This $2 million commitment from the state’s Research and Innovation Fund acknowledges the impact of this annual, multi-day conference – supporting South Australian startups and scaleups to access global expertise and pursue new funding, customers, connections and staff.

From 2018 to 2025, _SOUTHSTART events have:

• Hosted more than 600 speakers from around the world
• Attracted more than 10,000 attendees
• Hosted investors with more than $30 billion of funds under management
• Resulted in more than 100 industry partnerships.

For two years running, _SOUTHSTART has been recognised as the nation’s top entrepreneurship event, as reported in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 Startup Muster national surveys.

Each year, it attracts business founders, leaders, investors and other key stakeholders from across Australia to Adelaide.

With deliberate programming taking attendees to select venues across Adelaide and regional South Australia, hosting _SOUTHSTART has the additional benefit of supporting local businesses and showing interstate visitors some of the very best experiences our state has to offer.

The next _SOUTHSTART conference will be held 17 - 19 March 2026.