Govt opens innovation Landing Pad in San Francisco

The federal government has opened a Landing Pad at Rocketspace, a technology campus in San Francisco, that will help Australian entrepreneurs bring their ideas to market.

The Landing Pad will be designed to provide Australian technology start-ups with a collaborative workspace to help them pursue international opportunities.

Special envoy for trade Andrew Robb said San Francisco was chosen because it is a global innovation hotspot.

“Positioning the Landing Pad within RocketSpace will accelerate access to international business networks, entrepreneurial talent, business development and investors,” he said.

RocketSpace offers services to start-ups including office-as-a-service, accelerator-like programming, consulting and events.

The San Francisco Landing Pad will be one of five created worldwide. A second will be located in Israel and the location of the others will be selected in the near future. The government has allocated $11.2 million in funding to Austrade to establish the five facilities.

Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Christopher Pyne said the Landing Pads are a key component of the government’s $1.1 billion National Innovation and Science Agenda, announced last year.

“Landing pads form part of our global innovation strategy, a key component of the agenda, which will give Australian entrepreneurs an opportunity to compete globally,” he said.

“Our global innovation strategy will advance Australia’s international collaboration performance and encourage Australians to leverage entrepreneurial expertise found in key locations overseas, like San Francisco, Tel Aviv and others.”

Image courtesy of Melinda Seckington under CC