Landing Pads for Australians Scaling Globally

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The Landing Pads Program is an initiative by Austrade, to support market-ready startups in their overseas expansion efforts. This program provides these startups with an operational base, along with customized support.
What are the main aims and objectives?
The main objectives of the Landing Pads Program are to stimulate innovation, support entrepreneurship, and aid the global expansion of Australian technology companies. It aims to provide market-ready startups with an operational base, customized support and advice for their overseas expansion efforts, helping them prioritize markets, validate entry plans, and execute market entry and scaling. The program is also intended to foster rapid growth and stimulate the Australian start-up ecosystem's global competitiveness. Likewise, it seeks to foster a 'born global' mindset among Australian startups, enabling them to achieve high growth and expand their businesses to international markets. 
How does the program work?

The Landing Pads program is built around dedicated working spaces in global innovation hubs such as Berlin, San Francisco, Tel Aviv, and Shanghai to give Australian entrepreneurs a space in which to find their feet when they first land in a foreign market. The landing pads offer coaching, introductions to mentors, investors and customers, training opportunities, tailored networking events and workspace facilities.  

The scheme offers market-ready startups a 90-day residency in a reputable coworking space, along with coaching, introductions to mentors, investors and customers, training opportunities, tailored networking events and state-of-the-art workspace facilities. The program, run by the government trade body, Austrade, works in partnership with other groups, enabling it to extend its reach and support to new locations. Landing Pads participants are required to meet all costs associated with their travel, accommodation and insurance, and obtain an appropriate visa for the market. 

The Landing Pads program provides market-ready startups and scaleups the opportunity to land and expand in global innovation hubs.  To apply, Australian startups must show that are ready to go global and have: 

  • Vision – what are the startup’s objectives and how are you going to achieve them? 

  • Scalability – can it deliver your product or service to 100 or 1 million customers? 

  • Traction – does it have a proof-of-concept, existing sales and customers, funding, investors and partners? 

  • Differentiation – how does its offering disrupt its marketplace, and what is your value proposition and vision for growth? 

  • Market relevance – how would 90 days in a Landing Pad make a difference to the startup? 

What is the overall cost?
The Australian government has allocated AUD 12.2 million ($8.9 million) for the Landing Pads program. This initiative aims to foster high-growth, high-return enterprises and provides support for Australian technology companies to expand globally. A portion of this budget, specifically AU$600,000, has been used for staff support. 
How was it implemented?

The Australian government created the startup Landing Pad initiative in early 2016, having initially announced it as part of former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's AU$1.1 billion National Innovation and Science Agenda in late 2015. Recognizing the need to support local startups in gaining access to international markets and fostering innovation, the government conceived the idea of the program. The development process involved extensive research, consultations, and pilot programs to identify the primary needs of startups and the unique challenges they face in global expansion. 

The initiative was given an initial AU$11 million, which was upped by another AU$1.2 million in the 2016-17 Budget, due mainly to bringing forward the opening of the Singapore and Berlin Landing Pads, which were stood up in May 2016. 

The Landing Pads program is managed by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), the government's trade, investment and education promotion agency. Austrade collaborates with other government and industry partners to deliver the program, which aims to assist Australian entrepreneurs in accessing global opportunities and networks. 

The program has since been continuously refined and updated based on feedback from the startups that have participated, as well as the changing landscape of the global startup ecosystem. This led to an enhancement of the program in 2020 which added flexible cohort models, and residential and mentoring opportunities. This iterative development approach ensures that the Landing Pads program remains relevant and effective in supporting Australian technological startups in their global expansion efforts. 

What impact has been measured?

As of September 2019, a total of 254 companies had accessed the Landing Pad program including 81 participants in sector-focused bootcamps. This was up significantly on mid-June 2018, when only 134 startups had accessed the program - 41 in San Francisco, 45 in Tel Aviv, 13 in Shanghai, 13 also in Berlin, and 21 in Singapore. 

There is currently no information available assessing the impact the launchpads have had for the companies that participated in the program.  

What lessons can be learned?

While the Landing Pads program has generally been successful, some criticisms have been made as well. These criticisms largely focus on the perceived lack of support for startups once they return to Australia after their tenure at a Landing Pad. Some entrepreneurs have expressed that they felt somewhat abandoned after their stint abroad, without adequate resources or support to maintain the momentum they had built overseas. Other criticisms include the selection process, with some arguing it does not sufficiently prioritize startups with high-growth potential. 

In 2018 a former participant highlighted some of the strengths and weaknesses in the program. Firstly, despite having great locations and offices, the program was not using the space to its full potential. In particular the pad was not well integrated with the local community which could have created more organic networking. Secondly, there was a lack of collaboration and unity between the different landing pads which could have expanded the impact of the program even further. By contrast, they highlighted the benefits of having government officials sharing private sector connections and opening doors for entrepreneurs that would otherwise be closed.  

CURATED BY

Siddharth Bannerjee

Researcher, Digital Startups
Nesta
United Kingdom