The Victorian authorities has revealed the identify and newly appointed CEO of the successor to startup agency LaunchVic and government-backed funding physique Breakthrough Victoria.
The brand new organisation will likely be often called Innovation Victoria, with Rod Bristow, present CEO of Breakthrough Victoria, serving as chief govt officer.
Breakthrough Victoria chair and former Victorian premier John Brumby will end in his position as the brand new organisation is established, based on a press release from the Victorian Division of Jobs, Abilities, Business and Areas (DJSIR).
Aconex and Firmable co-founder Leigh Jasper can even quickly wind up his position as chair of LaunchVic, with a course of now underway to nominate a brand new chair and board for Innovation Victoria.
The consolidation comes after an unbiased overview of Victoria’s public sector spending, helmed by main bureaucrat Helen Silver, really helpful the state “consolidate and reduce its business help actions”.
The report additionally really helpful abolishing LaunchVic as a standalone entity.
The state authorities’s response to the Silver overview earned criticism from the local startup sector.
Founders and traders feared the loss of LaunchVic’s support for early-stage entrepreneurs, and its focused grant applications would go away native entrepreneurs with out enough help.
However the DJSIR stated the newly-minted Innovation Victoria will “present a brand new single entrance door for founders, researchers, entrepreneurs and traders” within the state, and assist “extra folks to show good concepts into profitable corporations constructed to scale and compete globally”.
In a press release shared to LinkedIn on Tuesday, Bristow stated Innovation Victoria has an “extraordinary alternative” to construct on the legacy of each predecessor organisations.
Ecosystem help actions run by way of Breakthrough Victoria, and LaunchVic will proceed by way of Innovation Victoria, added Bristow, who pledged “continuity” by way of the transition.
“We’re not beginning once more, or leaving something behind: we’re constructing on the very best to evolve this subsequent part of Victoria’s innovation ecosystem,” he stated.
Bristow stated the new-look organisation will “construct on what’s good to make it nice: making Victoria Australia’s most popular vacation spot for founders and entrepreneurs to start out, scale and succeed”.
Earlier this month, the merged entity was known as ‘New Co’ in a footnote in the recent Victorian budget, confirming reviews from December 2025 that LaunchVic would be wound down as an independent body.
On the time, the Victorian price range papers indicated the brand new entity would start working within the second half of 2026.
Additional updates are anticipated nearer to July 1.
This text initially appeared on SmartCompany.
