StartupWA Reports
Driving Insight for WA’s Startup Ecosystem
At StartupWA, we believe good policy and strong ecosystems are built on data and evidence. That’s why we regularly hold roundtables and publish reports, surveys and strategic documents to map the state of Western Australia’s startup sector, highlight opportunities and recommend action to government, industry and community stakeholders.
Mental Health & Wellbeing Report (Apr 2026)
This report highlights founder mental health and wellbeing as a whole-of-ecosystem issue, not just an individual challenge. Drawing on an anonymous survey of 129 WA founders and insights from a 32-person roundtable, it shows how financial pressure, isolation, burnout and startup culture are affecting founders, and calls for more practical, shared support across the ecosystem.
Pre-budget Submission 2025-26 (Feb 2026)
Our 2025-26 Pre-Budget Submission is a policy document outlining practical, evidence-based recommendations to the WA State Government to strengthen Western Australia’s startup and innovation ecosystem. Drawing on sector roundtables and broad stakeholder input, it highlights the need to improve national visibility of WA startups, educate and activate investors, and reform government procurement to better engage local innovators.
Promotions & Story Telling Report (Nov 2025)
A roundtable gathered 42 leaders from across the WA startup ecosystem to tackle the state's low national visibility and develop practical ways to tell WA's innovation story more effectively. The report outlines WA's strengths and delivers ten recommendations, including a storytelling advocacy group, targeted campaigns, shared media assets, stronger investor and startup education, global promotion of West Tech Fest, and consistent measurement of sector impact to grow investment, talent and public understanding.
Safe Space Report (June 2024)
StartupWA and Women in Technology WA (WiTWA) collaborated on a roundtable discussion, focusing on the question “How might we ensure WA startup-related events are welcoming, inclusive and safe?”
The report captures the event's findings, which include four tools/systems for development and implementation and three processes/practices to embed.
Procurement Report (Aug 2025)
A roundtable convened a diverse group of 57 startup founders, government officials, corporate leaders, and investors to tackle the barriers and opportunities for WA startups in government procurement.
The report highlights the unique value startups bring, identifies systemic challenges, and outlines ten practical recommendations to foster innovation and streamline procurement processes in Western Australia.
METS Innovation Report (Nov 2022)
The report is the result of a METS industry roundtable, where participants discussed the barriers and actions of the questions: "How might we grow the METS sector in WA and the startups within it?", "How might we increase government support in the METS sector in WA?", and "How might we increase the industry support for the METS sector in WA?"
The report presents practical recommendations on how industry, State Government, together with stakeholders from the Western Australian startup ecosystem, can deal with these challenges and contribute to the growth of the METS industry startup sector in Western Australia.
GreenTech Report (Sept 2024)
A roundtable brought together industry leaders, founders, government officials and students to explore how WA startups can drive decarbonisation in the mining and energy sectors.
The report identifies key challenges and opportunities across talent, funding, and government support and provides ten actionable insights to help GreenTech startups thrive.
Startup Report 2019
The previous edition of the Startup Report was published in 2015, which was a significant milestone for WA's small but rapidly-growing startup and digital innovation ecosystem.
The 2019 report shows an ecosystem continuing to mature and develop - testament to the incredible work of so many community-builders. This includes people running co-working spaces, hosting events, organising meetups, coaching startups, founding companies, educating future generations and continually backing entrepreneurs with a vision and the drive to make it happen.
Summit Series Report 2021
The combined report provides an overview of the collated participant feedback from all three Summits: Female Founders Summit, Regional Founders Summit, and Indigenous Founders Summit.
It presents recommendations on how the State Government, together with stakeholders from the Western Australian startup ecosystem, can deal with the challenges and contribute to the continuous development of a more diverse startup ecosystem in WA.
We want these roundtables to reflect the real challenges, questions, and opportunities facing founders, operators, investors, and the wider startup community in Western Australia. If there's a topic you'd like to see explored in a future session, we would love to hear it. Share your idea below to help shape upcoming roundtables and make sure the conversations are practical, relevant, and valuable for the people building and supporting startups across WA.