Side Stage Ventures and Dealroom have just released the 2026 edition of their landmark report on Australian venture. Grab your copy of the Australia Venture & Startup Report 2026 here: https://www.sidestage.vc/outliers-report-2026

Australia has created more unicorns per dollar of VC invested than anywhere else in the world — and Ben Grabiner has the data to prove it. In this replay, Cheryl and Maxine sit down with the Side Stage Ventures co-founder to unpack why the ecosystem punches so far above its weight, and why the next decade could belong to Aussie tech.

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Episode Summary

Ben Grabiner is the co-founder and General Partner of Side Stage Ventures and the author of a landmark report, produced with Dealroom and AWS, on Australia's venture ecosystem. Cheryl and Maxine sit down with Ben to unpack the data behind Australia's rise as one of the most efficient and exciting venture ecosystems in the world.

They dig into why Australia produces more unicorns per dollar of VC invested than anywhere on earth, how the country quietly matches Israel and India on decacorn creation, and why roughly 40% of local seed capital now comes from overseas, a sign global funds see the opportunity more clearly than we do. Ben explains why capital constraints have bred a culture of doing more with less, why fewer than 30 Australian seed funds made more than five investments last year, and what has to change to close the early-stage funding gap.

You'll also hear why the next wave of second- and third-time founders could be the ecosystem's secret weapon, what global LPs still need to understand about Australian venture, and Ben's own Big Cojones moment: throwing it all in mid-COVID to move from London to Australia.

Time Stamps

00:00 - Cold open: more unicorns per dollar than anywhere

00:52 - Intro

04:48 - Ben's first investment: 250 pounds in Tottenham Hotspur

07:01 - The headline stat and what drives Australia's capital efficiency

09:24 - Why constraints breed efficiency, and why it's good for VCs

12:31 - Decacorn creation: Australia on par with Israel and India

14:35 - 40% of seed capital comes from overseas

16:24 - What needs to happen to close the capital gap

20:41 - Can startups scale globally from Australia?

26:14 - What global LPs need to understand about Australian venture

28:28 - The rise of second- and third-time founders

30:37 - Why pre-seed funds and angel investors matter more than ever

34:41 - Ben's Big Cojones moment: moving to Australia mid-COVID

Resources

Ben Grabiner on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bengrabiner/

Side Stage Ventures - https://www.sidestage.vc/

Australia Venture & Startup Report 2026 - https://www.sidestage.vc/outliers-report-2026

Aussie Angels - https://www.aussieangels.com/

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