I posted this on the aus-dotnet mailing list a few weeks ago, but didn't get many responses so I'm gonna repost it here and see how it goes:
The list seems a bit slow this week, probably because all you guys are still recovering from Code Camp, or have decided to use your sick leave to take advantage of the long weekend coming up, so you can help me with a something I've been pondering recently. There are heaps of web
startups coming up in Australia, but
Melbourne doesn't seem to have its fair share (and Sydney seems to have the most grrrr). So the question is, where are the
Melbourne web
startups?
Here's what I can name so far:
- barren's
gnoos (
gnoos.com.au) and
nook (
nook.com.au), blog search and locality-based social network
- reilly's
The Podcast Network (
www.thepodcastnetwork.com)
- worth's
Chinswing (
www.chinswing.com), audio-based forums
- Montgomery's
TinFinger (
www.tinfinger.com), social search
-
redbubble (
www.redbubble.com), creative professionals social network
What am I missing? Whether they're social, enterprise or whatever - as long as its a web-related startup.
Thanks,
Sam
I did get one response suggesting that the VC firms were all in Sydney, hence the lack of startups in Melbourne, which is kind of true, but further research (mainly from the
australianwiki list) shows that doesn't really restrict web startups from forming.
Here are some more Melbourne web startups I found:
I also found SmartCompany, a Melbourne-based online magazine for entrepreneurs and SMEs. Speaking of which, a similar magazine available online and print, Australian Anthill, is also based in Melbourne - cool mag, nice designs to boot.
What surprised me while I was researching was that unsurprisingly, yes, Sydney had the most (and arguably the most successful), but anedoctal evidence shows that Western Australia (particularly Perth) seems to have the 2nd most! Of all places! Queensland comes next, then Melbourne followed by the other states. Wonder what's going on in Perth...
I was also surprised about the lack of responses on the aus-dotnet list, given a lot of aust web startups that I found ran on ASP.NET, and/or used .NET technologies. Maybe they're too cool for mailing lists...
Anyone got a Melbourne web-related startup I haven't got there, social, enterprise or whatever? Or can anyone explain the Perth anomaly (not that I have anything against Perth, it just isn't the first place I'd think of when it comes to technology, so good on them)?
UPDATE (14/4/2007): Just stumbled upon another two -
Reeltime Media (www.reeltime.tv), the digital movie distribution service.
Foghorn (http://www.foghorn.com.au/), design-your-own t-shirt and printing service.
UPDATE (21/4/2007): Read about another one in this month's Australian Anthill magazine (issue #21) -
Hippo (www.hippo.com.au), a jobs site dedicated to casual and part-time jobs. It's managed to secure funding, get the support of big companies (Boost, Dick Smith, Dominos etc.), and advertise at unis. Started by an entrepreneurial undergrad RMIT student - impressive stuff.
I think this page is fast turning into a fairly good list of melbourne web-related startups (the only list as far as I know), so I'm gonna keep updating it when I find something. Let me know if I'm missing anything!
UPDATE (29/5/2007): Found another two -
WriteToMyBlog (www.writetomyblog.com), an online blog post editor.
ripple.org (www.ripple.org), a online charity site without donations - simple view an ad, or use a sponsored search box, and the profits from them go directly to charities. Interesting idea, but not sure how they reduce abuse. Started in part by a University of Melbourne student!
UPDATE (02/08/2007): Update time again -
StreetAdvisor (www.streetadvisor.com), a site that lets you link, rate, share photos,write about and find out more about a particular street, at the local level. [via Frank Arrigo]
CoReap (http://coreap.com/), a del.icio.us style site, except this time it's all integrated into your browser, both Firefox and Internet Explorer. Thanks Norah123 for the heads up!
UPDATE (04/08/2007): Got notified to another -
Yoober (www.yoober.com), haven't launched yet, but they're creating a more IM-like version of SMS for mobiles using mobile internet. I don't really see how they're doing anything different to the various java-based instant messenging clients out there on mobiles already, and the current situation of crazy mobile internet costs doesn't help either. But best not to judge until they release 
UPDATE (15/08/2007): Another one -
Si-Mi (www.si-mi.com), a site that lets you, "Upload, share and sell your videos, music, podcasts, animations, ebooks and games.
You set your own price and receive 70% of the profits."
UPDATE (05/04/2008): It's been a fair while since the last update, but this lot should make up for it . I discovered these after looking through the results of the Australian Startup Carnival that recently concluded.
AppleBox (http://www.applebox.com.au/), a webified video store that allows you to browse and borrow videos online for pick up, with a branch currently located in Fairfield, VIC. I'm only new to the video rental world (having borrowed my first DVD only a few months back - go figure), but I'm still surprised that I can't browse through my local blockbuster's collection online, or even see what I have on loan and what's due when (which particularly sucks as they don't remind or give you a slip of paper to remind yourself). Even my local library tells me all that and more! Hope these guys open up shop near by, because until we get decent net speeds (read: never) downloading movies just takes too long.
Adimade (http://www.adimade.com/), a website that connects businesses/organisations with budding film makers to create ads for them for a chance at fame. It's kind of like what the TAC do with mafmad, except one a wider scale of course.
Community Enabler/Cagora (http://australia.cagora.com/), a social network effectively, however it is moving in a number of directions to capitalise on its social network capability to become more than just a social network.
SuburbView (www.suburbview.com/), an aggregator of real estate ads, and also maps them on to google maps too.